Women of Fame

A month ago the US National Women’s Hall of Fame announced its latest group of inductees. Among those listed was Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965), dramatist and playwright. She was a member of the Daughters of Bilitis, an early lgbt rights group, and a campaigner for gay rights. She had already been inducted posthumously into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in 1999.

To celebrate International Women’s Day we’ll look at those lesbian, bisexual and transgender (lbt) women who have been inducted into the US national Women’s Hall of Fame.

The National Women’s Hall of Fame was founded in 1969 in the location of the 1848 Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York State. The Hall of Fame honours women in American history and culture, living or dead, whose lives have had a significant effect on society. The first women inducted into the Hall were in 1973.

The Hall of Fame has recognised a number of lbt women since that first list was made and today they make up almost 10 percent of the whole group. I’ve listed them below in the chronological order in which they were inducted. The first living lbt inductee was Margaret Mead in 1976.

1973
Jane Addams (1860-1935), philanthropist and social reformer.
Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906), social reformer.
Rachel Carson (1907-1964), journalist and writer.
Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), poet.
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), First Lady of America.

1976

Margaret Mead (1901-1978), anthropologist.
Mildred Didrikson Zaharias (1911-1956), Olympic athlete.

1982

Carrie Chapman Catt (1859-1947), suffragette.

1984

Bessie Smith (1894-1937), blues singer.

1988

Willa Cather (1873-1947), writer and novelist.
Sally Ride (1951-2012), first female American astronaut.

1990

Barbara Jordan (1936-1996), civil rights leader.
Billie Jean King (b.1943), tennis champion and activist.

1993

Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986), artist.
Helen Stephens (1918-1994), Olympic athlete.

1995

Ann Bancroft (b.1955), explorer and adventurer.
Margaret Fuller (1820-1850), writer and journalist.

1996

Charlotte Anne Bunch (b.1944), writer and activist.

2005

Ruth Fulton Benedict (1887-1948), anthropologist.

2013

Kate Millett (b.1934), author.

2017

Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965), dramatist and playwright.