Biographies generously sponsored by Susan D. Whiting.
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Every woman has a story.
"The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon."
-Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings
Women have always played an active role in history. Explore some of the historical women and contemporary newsmakers that continue to impact the world. New biographies are added regularly, so check back to discover inspiring new stories!
Featured Biographies
Biography
Wilma Mankiller
Wilma Mankiller is honored and recognized as the first female Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.
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Biography
Frances Marion
The winner of two Academy Awards, Frances Marion is credited with writing more than 130 produced films during Hollywood’s silent and early sound eras.
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Biography
Sarah McBride
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.
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Biography
Ruth Hanna McCormick
Ruth Hanna McCormick Simms was a Republican United States Representative from Illinois who served from 1929 to 1931.
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Biography
Patsy Mink
Patsy Mink was the first woman of color elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and the first Asian-American woman to serve in Congress.
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Biography
Gabriela Mistral
Chilean author and educator Gabriela Mistral became the first Latin American author to receive the Nobel Prize in literature.
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Biography
Maria Mitchell
Maria Mitchell was the first female astronomer in the United States and the first American scientist to discover a comet.
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Biography
Janet Mock
Janet Mock became the first transgender woman of color to write and direct an episode of television.
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Biography
Charlotte Edith Anderson Monture
Canadian Charlotte Monture moved to the US for nursing training and served in the US Army during World War I.
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Biography
Rita Moreno
Rita Moreno became the first Latina woman to earn an “E.G.O.T.:” an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.
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Biography
Biography
Lucretia Mott
Lucretia Mott argued as ardently for women’s rights as for black rights, including suffrage, education, and economic aid.
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Biography
Ibtihaj Muhammad
A world-class fencer, Ibtihaj Muhammad made history as the first American to wear a hijab in Olympic competition at the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro.
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Biography
Judith Sargent Murray
A prominent essayist of the American republic, Judith Sargent Murray was an early advocate of women’s equality, access to education, and the right to control their earnings.
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Biography
Pauli Murray
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.
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Biography
Mary Musgrove
Mary Musgrove become a negotiator between English and Native American communities and played an important role in the development of Colonial Georgia.
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Biography
Admiral Mary Joan Nielubowicz
Mary Joan Nielubowicz was the only woman in the Navy Nurse Corps to earn the rank of Commodore and the first non-physician to earn the role of Deputy Commander for Health Care Operations in 1984.
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Biography
Florence Nightingale
Nurse Florence Nightingale is best known for making hospitals a cleaner and safer place to be.
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Biography
Indra Nooyi
Indra Nooyi, a business leader and strategic thinker, is widely considered to be one of the top CEOs in the world for her leadership of the global behemoth PepsiCo for 12 years.
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Biography
Antonia Novello
A dedicated public health advocate, Antonia Novello made history as the first female and first Hispanic U.S. Surgeon General in 1990.
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