19 Women Activists in History

BIOGRAPHIES & LINKS

Our artwork depicts 19 women in history who -- along with countless others -- have fought tirelessly for women’s rights and civil rights in the United States. Below are brief biographies on each woman, as well as links that will take you to additional information. Please also visit our ‘For Educators’ page to access more links to information on the 19 activists. We encourage you to continue your research on these women, as there is much more to be discovered through the Internet, libraries, museums, videos, documentaries, and more.

Bella Abzug //  Shirley Anita Chisholm // Septima P. Clark // Angela Davis  // Ruth Bader Ginsburg // Dorothy Height // Julia Ward Howe // Dolores Clara Fernández Huerta // Coretta Scott King //  Wilma Mankiller // Patsy Mink // Rosa Parks // Sylvia Rae Rivera // Eleanor Roosevelt // Gloria Steinem // Sojourner Truth // Harriet Tubman // Ida B. Wells // Edith "Edie" Windsor

Bella Savitzky Abzug

Bella Abzug (July 24, 1920 – March 31, 1998) was born in The Bronx, New York. In 1942 she received an A.B. from Hunter College, and immediately entered Columbia University Law School in 1944. After graduation, Abzug began practicing law and working on behalf of people whom the existing legal/social structures bypass. In 1970, Abzug successfully ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in Manhattan's Upper West Side using the slogan “This woman’s place is in the House…The House of Representatives.” During her four terms in Congress, she was one of the first politicians to support gay rights, and co-introduced the first gay-rights act into congress-- the Equity Act of 1974. She also co-authored the Child Development act with Shirley Chisholm. In 1977 she presided over the first National Women’s Conference in Houston, and headed President Carter’s National Advisory Committee on Women until she was fired for criticizing the administrations economic policies in 1979. In 1980 she responded by forming Women USA, a grassroots political action organizations. She also developed the Women’s Caucus, which helped get women involved in UN conferences, and co-found the Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), an international activist and advocacy network.

“Women will run the 21st Century…This is going to be the women’s century and young people are going to be its leaders.” -- Bella Abzug 

MORE RESOURCES:  House of Rep. I  JWA  I  History  I  Bella Abzug Leadership Inst.  I  JVL

Shirley Chisholm (Nov. 30, 1924 – Jan. 1, 2005) became the first black woman elected to the United States Congress, representing New York’s 12th Congressional District from 1969-1983. During her time in Congress, Chisholm expanded the food stamp program, played a critical role in creating "Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants & Children," and was one of the founding members of the Congressional Black Caucus and the National Women's political Caucus. In 1972 she was the first black candidate for a major party nomination, and the first woman to run for the Democratic party nomination. After leaving Congress in January 1983, Chisholm helped cofound the National Political Congress of Black Women. In 2015 she was awarded a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom for her groundbreaking work in politics.

"You don't make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas." — Shirley Chisholm

 MORE RESOURCES:  House of Representatives History  |  National Women's History Museum  |  The Nation  I  BBC I New York Times

Septima Poinsette Clark

Septima Clark (May 3, 1898 – December 15, 1987) has been dubbed the “Queen Mother” of the American Civil Rights movement and is most well known for founding Citizenship Schools. These schools focused on teaching adults to read in response to legislation in the Deep South that required a literacy test and interpreting the constitution before registering to vote. Legislation used to disenfranchise black citizens. Citizenship schools taught adults not only how to read, but also about citizenship rights. This curriculum not only increasing the number of registered black voters, it also helped develop leaders that would help further the civil rights movement. Citizenship Schools grew to house 10,000 teachers, and between 1858-1969, approximately 700,000 African Americans registered to vote as a result of attending.

"My philosophy is such that I am not going to vote against the oppressed. I have been oppressed, and so I am always going to have a vote for the oppressed, regardless of whether that oppressed is black or white or yellow or the people of the Middle East, or what. I have that feeling." — Septima Clark

 MORE RESOURCES:  Time.com  |  African American Registry  I Video  I  SNCC

Angela Yvonne Davis

Angela Davis (born January 26, 1944) became involved with the Black Panther Party as well as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee at Brandeis University in 1967. Her work evolved in the early 1970’s when she began working to improve prison conditions for inmates, and on a specific campaign for three prisoners of Soledad prison. When guns registered under her name were used in a courtroom rescue attempt for these prisoners, Davis was arrested and held in prison for over a year. This inspired an international movement to “Free Angela,” and brought light to the abusive power of the criminal justice system. She was acquitted in 1972. Davis then ran for Vice President on the CPUSA ticket in 1980. Davis has also devoted her academic research, and numerous publications, to the understanding of the oppression of women-- specifically the oppression of Black women. Through research and numerous publications, she has helped illuminate the importance of the intersections between race, gender, and class for Black women in the U.S. She has also brought to light the racisms and classism that plagues the Suffrage movement and fight for reproductive rights. While Davis is retired from teaching, she continues to lecture at universities across the country on race, women’s rights, and the criminal justice system.

"Black women have had to develop a larger vision of our society than perhaps any other group. They have had to understand white men, white women, and black men. And they have had to understand themselves. When black women win victories, it is a boost for virtually every segment of society." — Angela Davis

 MORE RESOURCES: NYTimes T Magazine | BlackPast.org  |  Fembio.org  |  The History Makers  I  Interview Video

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Ruth Bader Ginsburg (March 15, 1933 - September 18, 2020) is a current associate judge in the Supreme Court. After graduating first in her class from Columbia University law school in 1959, Ginsburg clerked for U.S. District Judge Edmund L. Palmieri from 1959–61. She then taught at Rutgers University from 1963-1972 and then at Columbia University from 1972-1980, where she was the first woman to receive tenure. During the 1970s Ginsburg also served as the director of the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), where she argued 6 landmark cases on gender equity before the Supreme Court. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, where she served until her appointment to the Supreme Court in 1993. Since her appointment, Ginsburg has supported a woman’s right to safe and accessible reproductive care, gay marriage, the integration mandate, and challenged pay discrepancies based on gender, and gender-exclusive admissions policies.

"Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you." — Ruth Bader Ginsgburg

MORE RESOURCES:  Oyez.org  |  Biography.com  |  World Biography  I  Documentary on RGB  I  History

Dorothy Irene Height

Dorothy Height (March 24, 1912 – April 20, 2010) began her political career at a young age, volunteering on voting rights and anti-lynching campaigns. After graduating from New York University in 1933 with a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in educational psychology, Height moved into social work. Height became heavily involved with the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) where she advocated for improved conditions of black workers, and integration. At 25 she joined the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) overseeing programs on issues like voting rights, poverty, and AIDS. Height was voted president in 1957, and served as president for forty years. During this time she led the NCNW push for voter registration in the South, voter education in the North, and scholarship programs for student civil rights workers. In the 1970s she helped the NCNW win grants to provide vocational training and assist women in opening businesses. In 1971, Height helped found the National Women’s Political Caucus. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004.

"We have to improve life, not just for those who have the most skills and those who know how to manipulate the system. But also for and with those who often have so much to give but never get the opportunity."  — Dorothy Height

MORE RESOURCES:  The New York Times  |  National Women's History Museum  |  The History Makers  I  Biography 

Julia Ward Howe

Julia Ward Howe (May 27, 1819 – October 17, 1910) was a leading advocate for women’s suffrage. In 1868, Howe helped found and then serve as president for the New England Woman Suffrage Association. One year later Howe became co-leader of the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) with Lucy Stone. Unlike its rival organization National Woman's Suffrage Association, the AWSA allowed male members, and endorsed the fifteenth amendment, which granted African American men the right to vote. In 1872 Howe became the editor of Woman’s Journal, a suffragist magazine that she contributed for twenty years. She also served as president of the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association, the Association for the Advancement of Women, and the Association of American Women, which advocated for women’s education.

"Much of the work of every life is done in the dark." — Julia Ward Howe

MORE RESOURCES: JuliaWardHowe.org  |  Poetry Foundation  |  National Women's History Museum  I  Songwriter's Hall of Fame

Dolores Clara Fernández Huerta

Dolores Huerta (born April 10, 1930) is a Mexican American Labor leader and civil rights activist. In 1960 Huerta co-founded the Agricultural Workers Association, which helped improve voter registration and pressed local governments for barrio improvements. During this time Huerta also helped organize boycotts and became an active lobbyist, working to pass laws that would better the lives of farm workers. Agricultural Workers Association would later become the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee and Huerta became the principal legislative advocate. Beyond these efforts to support farm workers, Huerta is also recognized as being the main driving force that brought women into the labor movement, and fighting for gender representation in leadership. Huerta has continued her work to elect more Latinos and women to political office and has championed women’s issues. She was awarded the United States Presidential Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and was the first Latina inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1993.

"We as women should shine light on our accomplishments and not feel egotistical when we do. It's a way to let the world know that we as women can accomplish great things!" — Delores Huerta

MORE RESOURCES:  Dolores Huerta Foundation  |  Biography.com  |  NPR.org  I  National Women's History Museum  I  Documentary: DOLORES 

Coretta Scott King

Coretta Scott King  (April 27, 1927 — January 30, 2006) became a distinguished activist during the civil rights movement, operating as a public mediator to peace and justice organizations, participating in numerous marches and boycotts, and working alongside her husband Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. After her husband’s assassination in 1968, King devoted her time and energy to being President, Chair, and C.E.O. of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. She has personally spoken internationally on behalf of racial and economic, women’s rights, gay and lesbian dignity, health care, educational opportunities, and environmental justice. In addition to her educational efforts, Coretta Scott King has helped found numerous organizations including the Black Leadership Forum, the National Black Coalition for Voter Participation, and the Black Leadership Roundtable, and helped guide the campaign to establish Dr. King’s birthday as a national holiday.

"It doesn't matter how strong your opinions are. If you don't use your power for positive change, you are, indeed, part of the problem." — Coretta Scott King

MORE RESOURCES:  The King Center  |  NotableBiographies.com  |  Academy of Achievement I The Atlantic

Wilma Pearl Mankiller 

Wilma Mankiller (Cherokee Name - A-ji-luhsgi Asgaya-dihi) (November 18, 1945-April 6, 2010) was born in Tahlequa, Oklahoma. When she was 11 her family moved to San Francisco as part of a federal government program. While in San Francisco, Mankiller became involved in the occupation of Alcatraz, and worked as a social worker and coordinator of Native American programs for Oakland public schools. In 1976 Mankiller was hired as an economic stimulus coordinator by the Cherokee Nation and moved back to Oklahoma. By the early 1980's she was directing the new Community Development Department of the Cherokee Nation, which designed and supervised community projects. In 1983 she ran for Deputy Chief of the Cherokee Nation under Ross Swimmer. She was elevated to Principal Chief when Swimmer took a position at the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1985 making her the first woman Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. She was re-elected in 1987 and again in 1991. During her service as Principal Chief, she advocated for community development, education and healthcare programs. She tripled her tribe’s enrollment, doubled employment, created new health clinics, early and adult education programs, launched job training programs, and established self governance in an agreement that gave the tribe direct control over millions of dollars in federal funding. After she left office in 1995, Mankiller remained a strong voice worldwide on topics of the misappropriation of Native Heritage, social justice, native people, and women. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998.

Friends describe me as someone who likes to sing and dance along the edge of the roof. I try to encourage young women to be willing to take risks, to stand up for the things they believe in, and to step up and accept the challenge of serving in leadership roles.. -- Wilma Mankiller

MORE RESOURCES: Smithsonian  I  Film: The Cherokee Word for Water  I  Documentary:  MANKILLER  I   Biography.com    Foundation: The Wilma Mankiller Foundation 

Patsy Matsu Takemoto Mink

Patsy Mink (December 6, 1927 — September 28, 2002) became the first Asian-American woman to be elected to the United States Congress, and the second woman to serve for the state of Hawaii, serving six consecutive terms from 1965-1972. During this time, Mink authored the first comprehensive Early Childhood Education Act, the Women’s Education Equity Act, and co-authored the Title IX Amendment of the Higher Education Act-- groundbreaking legislation mandating that any institution receiving federal funding equally support men and women in academics and athletics. She also fought on national issues affecting Asian Pacific Americans, rewriting provisions in several immigration reform bills to preserve family reunification, and educating Americans about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. In 1972, Mink because the first Asian American to seek the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party. In 1976 Mink was appointed by Jimmy Carter to be Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. Mink served in the U.S. House of Representatives for Hawaii from 1990 to 2002.

"We have to build things that we want to see accomplished, in life and in our country, based on our own personal experiences ... to make sure that others ... do not have to suffer the same discrimination." — Patsy Mink

MORE RESOURCES:  History.House.gov  |  Manuscript Reading Room  |  UChicago Magazine  I  Women's Sports Foundation

Rosa Louise McCauley Parks

Rosa Parks (February 4, 1913 — October 24, 2005) became active in the civil rights movement in 1943 when she joined the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP. In 1945, despite Jim Crow laws working to suppress minority voters, Rosa Parks registered to vote on her third try. In 1955, Rosa Parks was famously arrested for her refusal to give up her bus seat to a white male passenger. Although she was not the first person to resist bus segregating, the NAACP believed she was the best candidate to challenge her arrest in court. This act of resistance triggered a wave of protest that reverberated throughout the United States, redirecting the course of history. She soon became an icon in the civil rights movement, collaborating with Martin Luther King Jr. and Edgar Nixon, and becoming the president of her local NAACP chapter. She also served as secretary and receptionist to John Conyers from 1965 to 1988, an African American US Representative, and showed active support to the Black Power movement and political prisoners in the US. Parks was awarded the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal in 1979, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Congressional Gold Medal for her efforts in the civil rights movement.

"You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right." — Rosa Parks

MORE RESOURCES:  RosaParks.org  |  History.com  |  Biography.org  I Henry Ford Museum

Sylvia Rae Rivera

Sylvia Rae Rivera (July 2, 1951 - February 19, 2002) was born “Rae Rivera” in 1951 in New York to a Puerto Rican father and a Venezuelan mother. Rivera’s birth father left shortly after her birth and her mother committed suicide when Rivera was three years old, leaving her to live with her grandmother. Rivera left her home at ten years old to live as a sex worker on the streets of New York. She was soon taken in by a local community of drag queens, who gave her the name Sylvia. During this time Rivera was a regular patron of the Stonewall Inn, and became an active participant of the Stonewall Riots of 1969, when members of the LGBTQ community rose up against what started as a raid by the police apart of the anti-gay legal system. The stonewall riots are widely considered to be one of the most important event leading to the modern fight for LGBTQ rights. In 1970, Rivera and Marsha Johnson, a friend and fellow activist, founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), a shelter and advocacy program for homeless transgender youth. She was also an early member of groups like the Gay Activists Alliance and the Gay Liberation Front, which were the forerunners of today’s LGBT advocacy organizations. Rivera was dedicated in her activism throughout her life, giving speeches about the Stonewall Uprising, discussing her battle with depression and substance abuse, and dedicating her voice to amplify the voices of low-income queer and trans people of color who continue to face systemic poverty and racism. New York is also home to the Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP), an organization that works to secure the rights of gender non-conforming people.

“I was a radical, a revolutionist. I am still a revolutionist…I am glad I was in the Stonewall riot. I remember when someone threw a Molotov cocktail, I thought, “My god, the revolution is here. The revolution is finally here!” -- Sylvia Rae Rivera

MORE REOURCES: Timeline  I  Ubuntu  I  Speech/Youtube I  XQSIMagazine  I  Medium  

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt (October 11, 1884 — November 7, 1962) redefined the role of the First Lady of the United States when FDR was inaugurated in 1933. Unlike previous First Ladies, Eleanor Roosevelt continued her business and speaking agenda she had before her husband took office. She was the first spouse to hold regular press conferences, write a magazine column, host a weekly radio show, and was the first to speak at the national party convention in 1940. During her time as First Lady, she also worked on racial justice issues, lobbying behind a bill to make lynching a federal crime, and speaking out against Japanese American prejudice after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Following her husband's death, Roosevelt remained active in politics, serving as United States Delegate for the UN General Assembly from 1945-1952, serving as a first chair to the UN Commission on Human Rights, and oversaw the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and was chaired the John F Kennedy administrations Presidential Commission on the Status of Women.

"We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face...we must do that which we think we cannot." 

 — Eleanor Roosevelt

MORE RESOURCES:  Whitehouse.gov  |  National First Ladies' Library  |  National Women's History Museum  I  GWU Paper

Gloria Marie Steinem

Gloria Steinem (born March 25, 1934) began her journalistic career in New York and became a contributing editor and political columnist at the New York Times in the late 1960s. In 1972, Steinem launched Ms., a magazine that would become a landmark publication in second-wave feminism. In 1971 Steinem founded the National Women’s Political Caucus, a multi partisan organization working to increase the participation of women in politics. Steinem also helped found the Women's Action Alliance, a national information center that specialized in nonsexist, multiracial children's education, Voters for Choice, Choice USA, Ms. Foundation for Women, and additional organizations that work to empower and support girls and women. Steinem has also fought for the Equal Rights Amendment, abortion rights, eliminating the gender pay gap, and ending domestic violence. Steinem is currently on the Board of Director for the Women’s Media Center, and continues to lecture across the country on a variety of political issues.

"Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for women everywhere. It's not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for that. It's about baking a new pie."  — Gloria Steinem

MORE RESOURCES:  GloriaSteinem.com  |  Jewish Women's Archive  |  Thoughtco.com  I  The New Yorker

Sojourner Truth

Sojourner Truth (c.1797 — November 26, 1883) was born into slavery in 1797 as Isabella (Belle) Baumfree, and escaped with her infant daughter in 1826; she had been forced to leave her other children behind. Once escaped, Truth found her way to the house of Isaac and Maria Van Wagenen in New Paltz, NY. She stayed with them until the New York State Emancipation Act was approved in 1827. Truth then learned that her son Peter had been sold illegally by Dumont to an owner in Alabama. With the help of the Van Wagenens, she took the issue to court and in 1828, she got back her son. The ruling was groundbreaking and Truth was one of the first black women to win a court case against a white man. In June of 1843, she legally changed her name to Sojourner Truth and began traveling across the country speaking about the abolition of slavery. In 1851 she gave a speech on racial inequalities titles “Ain't I a Woman?” at the Women’s Rights Convention in Ohio. She continued her activism in prison reform, property rights, and universal suffrage until her death in 1883.

"Life is a hard battle anyway. If we laugh and sing a little as we fight the good fight of freedom, it makes it all go easier. I will not allow my life's light to be determined by the darkness around me." — Sojourner Truth

MORE RESOURCES:  SojournerTruth.org  |  Biography.com  |  National Women's History Museum  I  PBS  

Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman (c.1820 — March 10, 1913 ) was born into slavery in 1820, escaped at the age of 29, and then used the Underground Railroad to make 13 missions to rescue approximately seventy enslaved people. After the Fugitive Slave Act was passed in 1850, Tubman helped guide fugitives and newly freed slaves find work in British North America. In her later years, Tubman worked to promote women’s suffrage, attending suffragist organizations, and worked alongside Susan B. Anthony and Emily Howard until her death in 1913.

"If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If there's shouting after you, keep going. Don't ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going."  — Harriet Tubman

MORE RESOURCES:  Harriet-tubman.org  |  Biography.com  |  Oxford U. Press I  American National Biography

Ida Bell Wells-Barnett

Ida B. Wells (July 16, 1862 — March 25, 1931) was one of the early leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. In 1893, Wells published an article documented lynching in the United States, helping dismantle the claim that lynchings were based on criminal acts by black people. In 1894 Wells helped form a Republican Women’s Club in Illinois, and in 1913, helped form the Alpha Suffrage Club of Chicago, the first African-American suffrage club in the United States. In 1909, Ida B Wells helped found the National Associated for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), an organization working to eliminate race-based discrimination in political, educational, social, and economic realms.

"Somebody must show that the Afro-American race is more sinned against than sinning, and it seems to have fallen upon me to do so." — Ida B. Wells

MORE RESOURCES:  Mississippi History Now  |  Biography.com  |  NYU Alumni Magazine  I  NYT 

Edith "Edie" Windsor

Edith "Edie" Windsor (June 20, 1929 – September 12, 2017) has a long history of LGBTQ activism. After working as at IBM for 16 years, Windsor left the company as a Senior Systems Programmer to found and become the president of PC Classics, a consulting firm specialized in software development projects. During this time she was also dedicated to helping many LGBTQ organizations update their tech systems, including their mail systems. Windsor volunteered for numerous organizations over the years, including the Gay and Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, the LGBT community center, the East End Gay Organization, and served intermittently on the board of Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE). In addition to her involvement in LGBTQ organizations, Windsor is well known for her role as the main plaintiff in the 2013 Supreme Court case United States v. Windsor. Windsor initially sued the government for a $363,053 refund of the estate taxes she was asked to pay when her spouse, Dr. Spyer, died. Windsor had legally married Dr. Spyer in Canada in 2007, but because they were a same sex couple, a federal law dubbed “Defense of Marriage Act” (DOMA) excluded them from the benefits and protections of marriage -- including the estate-tax exemption for surviving spouses. On June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court decided 5-4 in Windsor’s favor, declaring Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, and marking the first time the U.S. recognized marriage between same-sex partners. Windsor continued her advocacy for same-sex marriage in the years following United States v. Windsor, and married fellow activist Judith Kasen in 2016.

"The next generation is so far advanced over us ... I love that a lot of younger people now come out that would never have come out in the old days. Of course, they are born into a community already. They just have to discover it, whereas we were still building it."  — Edie Windsor

MORE RESOURCES:  EdieWindsor.com  I  The New Yorker  I Time  I  Smithsonian  I The LOFT