Sarah Josepha Hale is best known for creating the nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Her influence can also be seen in historic sites and a national holiday still widely celebrated today.

Shirley Temple was a child actor with curly hair and later worked as an ambassador for the US government.

Ida B. Wells-Barnett was a prominent journalist, suffragist, activist, and researcher.

World renowned performer, World War II spy, and activist are few of the titles used to describe Josephine Baker.

Maria Tallchief was one of America's most popular ballerinas.

Zora Hurston was a world-renowned writer and anthropologist.

Although raised on a slave-owning plantation, Angelina Grimké Weld became an ardent abolitionist.

Mercy Otis Warren was a published poet, political playwright and satirist during the age of the American Revolution.

Phillis Wheatley was the first African American woman to publish a book of poems.

Undeterred by deafness and blindness, Helen Keller rose to become a major 20th century humanitarian, educator and writer.

Julia Ward Howe was a writer, lecturer, abolitionist and suffragist.

Catharine Esther Beecher was a nineteenth century teacher and writer who promoted equal access to education for women.