100 historical and notable women everyone should know!
I venerate the housewife, and I value women who dedicate themselves to raising and shaping the lives of their children. But I also venerate all the women who have made big achievements in history.
March is National Women’s History Month. Back before I was a mom of girls during my college days, I had a Women’s History Month folder in my curriculum file. I decided to build upon that and create a list of 100 women from around the world to study during Women’s History Month. 10 categories, 10 women in each category. This is by no means a complete list, but the results of my brainstorming and researching. The list is in no particular order and any links provided go to a book by her or a children’s book about her.
Here is to 100 strong women.
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100 Women to Study for Women’s History Month
Activists
Susan B. Anthony – suffragist
Rachel Carson – environmentalist
Jane Goodall – animal rights
Temple Grandin – autism rights
Helen Keller – disability rights
Aung San Suu Kyi – Burmese opposition activist
Rosa Parks
Betty Friedan
Nancy Wake – special operations executive
Malala Yousafzai – human rights
Athletes
Bonnie Blair – speed skating
Mia Hamm – soceer
Jackie Joyner-Kersee – track and field
Billie Jean King – tennis
Lisa Leslie – basketball
Martina Navratilova – tennis
Rhonda Rousey – mixed martial arts
Wilma Rudolph – track and field
Serena Williams – tennis
Babe Didrikson Zaharias – golf, basketball, track
Authors
Maya Angelou
Jane Austen
Anne Frank
Harper Lee
Toni Morrison
J.K. Rowling
Sappho
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Mary Wollstonecraft
Virginia Woolf
Entertainers
Lucille Ball – actress
Kathryn Bigelow – director
Dorthy Dandridge – actress, singer, dancer
Katherine Hepburn – actress
Billie Holiday – singer
Rita Moreno – actress and singer
Annie Oakley – sharpshooter
Joan Rivers – comedian
Meryl Streep – actress
Barbra Walters – journalist
Entrepreneurs
Mary Kay Ash – founder of Mary Kay comsmetics
Olive Ann Beech – aviation
Julia Child – chef
Ruth Handler – inventor of Barbie Doll
Ariana Huffington – co-founder of The Huffington Post
Rosabeth Moss Kanter – economics
Helena Rubinstein – cosmetics
Muriel Siebert – finance
Martha Stewart
Oprah Winfrey
Fashion
Coco Chanel – designer
Audrey Hepburn – icon
Iman – model
Donna Karen – designer
Estee Lauder – beauty products
Claire McCardell – designer
Mary Quant – designer
Diane von Fürstenberg – designer
Diana Vreeland – columnist and editor
Anna Wintour – editor-in-chief of American Vogue
History
Abigail Adams
Catherine the Great
Cleopatra
Amelia Earhart
Joan of Arc
Queen Elizabeth I
Queen Victoria
Sacagawea
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Sojourner Truth
Humanitarians
Jane Addams – pioneer of social work
Clara Barton – founder of the American Red Cross
Princess Diana
Elizabeth Glaser – AIDS activist
Angelina Jolie – UN Ambassador
Rebeccca Lolosoli – woman’s rights
Juliette Gordon Low – founder of the Girl Scouts
Eunice Kennedy Shriver – Special Olympics
Mother Theresa
Harriet Tubman
Politics
Madeline Albright – first female Secretary of State
Benazir Bhutto – former Prime Minister of Pakistan
Hillary Clinton
Indira Gandhi – former Prime Minister of India
Angela Merkel – Chancellor of Germany
Sandra Day O’Connor – former Supreme Court Justice
Frances Perkins – first woman appointed to the U.S. Cabinet
Condeleeza Rice – former Secretary of State
Eleanor Roosevelt
Margaret Thatcher – former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
STEM
Dr. Virginia Apgar – obstetrics
Elizabeth Blackwell – first woman to receive a medical degree in the U.S.
Marie Curie – physicist and chemist
Gertrude Elion – biochemist and pharmacologist
Alice Hamilton – occupational health
Grace Hopper – computer science
Florence Nightingale – founder of modern nursing
Sally Ride – physicist and astronaut
Marie Stopes – pioneer in family planning
Flossie Wong-Staal – virologist and molecular biologist
I wanted to do something for Women’s day this year, but got laid up in bed wit ha nasty cold. I am so glad you write this! My daughters and I did talk about it and even talked about some of the women on your list.P.S. Love your quote image!
Thanks!! I’m glad it was a helpful resource for ya. My kids are still a little young to understand the importance of people in history, but I will be glad I have this when the time comes!!
Oh sheesh, note to self: check spelling and spacing! write/wrote (tomato- tomatoe) I think the nasty cold is still affecting my brain!`
Ha! Can I tell you something? Didn’t even notice! I will take any comment. Typos and all 🙂
What a fabulous list!
I recently started buying a children’s series of biographies. I purchased 8 women’s biographies because I wanted my girls to learn about the strong women in history.
Great list! Thanks for sharing.
Pinning!
xoxo
I was so distracted by how much I enjoyed this list, I almost forgot to say…
Thanks for sharing and for linking up to the #SHINEbloghop.
Wishing you a lovely day.
xoxo
Thanks! It think it’s so important for young girls to understand those who have paved the way for them.
Thanks so much for pinning and recommending the pinning perfect course. I am learning so much 🙂
Thanks again for hosting and stopping by!!
We rock! Your post says it all!
Yeah we do!! Thanks so much for stopping by 🙂
Awesome list! And what a great idea for International Women’s Day/Month. I really have to remember to write something specifically on this topic next year.