As one of the first female veterans elected to the Senate, Senator Ladda Tammy Duckworth has been a tireless advocate for veterans and new mothers.

As the first Hispanic and third woman appointed to the Supreme Court, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor has made an impact in and out of the courtroom.

Poet and author Audre Lorde used her writing to shine light on her experience of the world as a Black lesbian woman and later, as a mother and person suffering from cancer.

Lani Ka’ahumanu, a leader of the bisexual rights movement in the U.S., has worked for greater visibility for bisexuals both within the LGBTQ movement as well as broader society.

The first openly transgender person elected to a state senate in the U.S., Sarah McBride won a seat in the Delaware Senate on November 3, 2020.

Octavia Butler was one of the first African-American and female science fiction writers, focusing on themes of injustice.

Wilma Mankiller is honored and recognized as the first female Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.

Environmental health advocate Catherine Coleman Flowers is determined to battle “America’s Dirty Secret”: unequal sewage and sanitation access for rural communities and people of color.

Judy Bonds led the fight in West Virginia to stop the mountaintop mining that was destroying her Appalachian homeland.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas, the “Guardian of the Glades,” led the charge to protect the Everglades and reveal their rich natural heritage to the rest of the world.

Marine biology expert Dr. Sylvia Earle holds the record for deepest walk on the sea floor, and was the first woman to lead the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

Winona LaDuke, a Native American activist, economist, and author, has devoted her life to advocating for Indigenous control of their homelands, natural resources, and cultural practices.

Throughout her long life, Hedgeman advocated for civil rights, education, social justice, poverty relief, and women.

As one of the newest members of Congress, Bush pushes for progressive legislative goals that will benefit her constituents—people just like her.

As a poet, writer, activist, organizer, legal theorist, and priest, Murray was directly involved in, and helped articulate, the intellectual foundations of two of the most important social justice movements of the twentieth century.

Abrams is now one of the most prominent African American female politicians in the United States.

A veteran of the 1969 Stonewall Inn uprising, Sylvia Rivera was a tireless advocate for those silenced and disregarded by larger movements.

Harlem Renaissance poet Anne Spencer lived her entire life in Virginia, where she tended her garden, worked as a librarian and teacher, hosted luminaries of Black intellectual and cultural life, and fought for equal rights for African Americans. 

Often called the “Mother of the Blues,” Ma Rainey was known for her deep-throated voice and mesmerizing stage presence that drew packed audiences and sold hit records in the early twentieth century.

On May 2, 1963, 9 year old Audrey Faye Hendricks became the youngest known person arrested during the Civil Rights Movement.