Katherine of Aragon: (1485-1536) Married to King Henry VIII, Katherine of Aragon was Queen of England for 20 years. As the daughter of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, she received a classical education and was well-respected for her scholarship, particularly in Latin and theology. Before marrying Henry, Katherine was married to his older brother, Arthur; a marriage intended to seal an alliance between England and Spain, but Arthur died just months after their wedding. With Henry, Katherine bore six children; but only one daughter, Mary I, survived to adulthood. Fueled by the desire for a male heir, Henry sought an annulment on the grounds that Katherine’s previous marriage to his brother made their union illegitimate, although Katherine swore her first marriage was never consummated. Henry ultimately broke from the Catholic church and established the Church of England in order to divorce her. Katherine refused to acknowledge the divorce, publicly or privately. As punishment, Henry kept her separated from her daughter Mary. Katherine died at the age of 50, likely from cancer, though popular rumors of the day suggested poisoning by Henry’s second wife, Anne Boleyn.

Rosalind Franklin: (1920-1958) Often referred to as “the dark lady of DNA” or the “forgotten heroine,” Rosalind Franklin was a British Jewish chemist, holding a PhD from Cambridge University.  While working as a researcher at King’s College, Franklin’s work with x-ray crystallography led to her discovery of the double-helix shape of DNA in 1952, with a photo known as Photo 51. Shortly after this discovery, Franklin left King’s College for a new research position studying RNA.  Her discovery was published by Nobel prize winners Watson and Crick in 1953, without acknowledging her groundbreaking contribution.  Franklin spent the rest of her career studying polio before passing away at age 37 from ovarian cancer. 

Hallie Flanagan: (1890-1969) Hallie Flanagan was an American theatrical producer and director, playwright and author, best known for running the Federal Theatre Project (FTP), a part of the Works Progress Administration during the New Deal.  While working as a professor at Vassar College she became the first woman awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to study theatre in 1926. In 1934, head of the WPA and former college classmate of Flanagan’s, Harry Hopkins, asked her to head the Federal Theatre Project. Under her leadership, the project employed thousands of artists and produced innovative, socially engaged performances including children’s theatre and Living Newspaper plays. By 1936, the FTP employed 12,500 artists and played weekly to audiences of 350,000 across the United States. In 1939, Flanagan was called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee, accused of supporting a communist agenda and subverting American values through the FTP. After just four years, the FTP was shut down and Flanagan returned to teaching at Vassar College, later retiring from Smith College.   

Rachel Carson: (1907-1964) Best known for her book Silent Spring exposing the dangers of chemical pesticides, Rachel Carson was a marine biologist, writer and environmental activist. Carson spent much of her professional career working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service, eventually serving as the editor in chief of all USFWS publications. Her work led to the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency and the first Earth Day celebration in 1970. Carson died of breast cancer before she was able to see the full influence of Silent Spring, including the ban of DDT in 1972.  

Isabella Bird: (1831-1904) Isabella Bird was a British explorer, writer, and photographer known for her adventurous travels in the 19th century. From early childhood in Yorkshire, she struggled with chronic illness, but found that travel improved her health. Defying Victorian expectations for women, she journeyed across places such as Colorado, Japan, and Korea, documenting landscapes and cultures in vivid detail. Her book A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains brought her widespread fame. Despite her lack of formal education, she became the first woman elected to the Royal Geographical Society in 1892, inspiring future generations of women travelers.

Lucy Stone: (1818-1893) Lucy Stone was a political organizer, newspaper editor, suffragist and abolitionist. Stone was the first Massachusetts woman to graduate from college, earning a degree at Oberlin College. Stone broke from others in the women’s suffrage movement over the passing of the 15th Amendment, which granted voting rights to Black men, while still excluding all women. Stone supported the amendment, believing it to be an important step toward equal rights for all, but other leaders believed it to be a betrayal of their cause. The battle of over equal rights for women of all races led Stone and fellow suffragists Julia Ward Howe and Mary Livermore to found the American Woman Suffrage Association, in order to work for suffrage without compromising on issues of racial equality, separating from famed Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the National Women’s Suffrage Association.  

Emma Lazarus: (1849-1887) One of the first successful Jewish American authors, Emma Lazarus was recognized by contemporaries as an important poet. During a time of rising Antisemitism, when many spaces and opportunities were closed to Jews, she publicly and proudly proclaimed her identity. Horrified by the pogroms in Eastern Europe and the appalling conditions Jewish refugees suffered upon arriving in America, Lazarus advocated for Jewish rights, including self-determination in their ancestral homeland. She also helped establish a vocational school for immigrants. “The New Colossus” was presented at a fundraiser for the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. After her death, Lazarus’s friends arranged to have it engraved on a plaque at the pedestal, her words becoming almost as famous as the statue itself. 

Marilyn Monroe: (1926-1962) Marilyn Monroe was an actress, model and cultural icon of the 1950s. Born Norma Jeane Mortensen, she experienced a difficult upbringing. Her mother struggled with mental illness, and she spent much of her childhood in and out of multiple foster homes and orphanages. Monroe dropped out of school at 15 and married her first husband, James Dougherty at 16.  Monroe began modeling and divorced Dougherty by age 20, making her first film in 1947 at age 21. Known for her roles in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes  and The Seven Year Itch, she studied at the Actors Studio and went on to make a total of 29 films, winning three Golden Globe awards.  After a lifetime of trauma and struggle with addiction, Monroe died at age 36 of an overdose.   

Annie Oakley: (1860-1926) Annie Oakley was a legendary American sharpshooter, who rose from poverty to international fame. Born Phoebe Ann Mosey in 1860 in rural Ohio, she learned to hunt as a young child to help support her family after her father’s death. Her remarkable marksmanship led her to join Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, where she amazed audiences by shooting coins in the air and performing complex trick shots, including her most famous: shooting a playing card (often the ace of spades) multiple times from 30 paces away before it touched the ground, frequently splitting the card edge-on. Oakley became one of the show’s biggest stars and toured internationally, earning great wealth. Oakley supported women’s independence and believed women should learn shooting skills for self-reliance and confidence, and donated generously to organizations for women and children in poverty. 

Josephine Baker: (1906-1968) Josephine Baker was an African American dancer, singer, actress, and civil rights activist who found fame as an expatriate performer in Europe. Baker was born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri, to a washerwoman and vaudeville performer. Having experienced the horrors of the East St. Louis riots in 1917, she embraced her talents as a way out of discrimination and poverty. She was the first African American woman to star in a motion picture, to perform with an integrated cast at the American concert hall, and one of the first African American entertainers who achieved acclaim both in movies and on the stage. During World War II, Baker performed for integrated audiences of French and American troops. She also served as a member of the French Resistance forces and smuggled messages in her lyrics that were sent back to France from opposing forces. She received the Croix de Guerre for her efforts. Baker later returned to America to take part in the Civil Rights Movement. She was the only female speaker at the March on Washington in 1963, where she honored women civil rights activists.