On October 7, 2000, the National Women’s Hall of Fame inducted 19 women into the Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Seneca Falls, New York, the birthplace of women’s rights and the location of the first Women’s Rights Convention in 1848.
This year’s inductees include:
Faye Glenn Abdellah (1919 -) – the first woman nurse to hold the rank of Rear Admiral, two stars, and the title of Deputy Surgeon General, U.S. Emma Smith DeVoe (1848 – 1927) – the head organizer of the 1910 state campaign for the vote for women in Washington state.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas (1890 – 1998) – founded the Friends of the Everglades.
Mary Barret Dyer (unknown – 1660) – defied the Puritan church authorities and helped establish the right to worship freely in the colonies. Sylvia Earle (1935 -) – founded and directs Deep Ocean Engineering. Crystal Eastman (1881 – 1928) – co-founded the ACLU.
Major General Jeanne Holm (Ret.) (1921 -) – first woman to achieve the rank of major general.
Bishop Leontine Kelly (1920 -) – first African-American woman bishop elected in any religious denomination.
Frances Kathleen Oldham Kelsy (1914 -) – medical and pharmaceutical researcher who did not approve the use of thalidomide in the U.S.
Kate Mullany (1845 – 1906) – first woman to hold a national labor union office.
Janet Reno (1938 -) – first female Attorney General of the U.S.
Rev. Doctor Anna Howard Shaw (1847 – 1919) – first woman to win the U.S. Distinguished Service Medal in 1919.
Sophia Smith (1796 – 1870) founded Smith College in 1871.
Ida Tarbell (1857 – 1944) wrote The History of the Standard Oil Company, a book considered to be a landmark in “muckraking” journalism.
Brigadier General Wilma Vaught (Ret.) (1930 -) – helped in the building of the Women in Military Service for America Memorial.
Mary Walker (1832 – 1919) – Civil War surgeon who was the first woman to receive the Medal of Honor in 1865.
Annie Dodge Wauneka (1910 – 1997) – first woman elected to the Navajo Tribal Council.
Eudora Welty (1909 -) – won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973 for her novel, The Optimist’s Daughter.
Frances Willard (1839 – 1898) – founded the World’s Woman’s Christian Temperance Union.
