The Mother List of Black Woman Pioneers
Christia V. Adair
Civil Rights
Osceola Adams
Acting & Fashion Design
Victoria Adams
Civil Rights Activism
Michelle Alexander
Legal Scholarship
Debbie Allen
Arts Institution Builder
Emma Amos
Visual Art & Activism
Marian Anderson
Opera Performance
Mary Annette Anderson
Higher Education
Naomi B. Anderson
Writing & Civil Rights Activism
Regina M. Anderson
Playwrighting & Library Science
Maya Angelou
Literature & Culture
Autumn Durald Arkapaw
Cinematography
Barbara Arnwine
Legal Leadership
Cora "Lovie" Austin
Blues Piano
Ella Baker
Movement Organizing
Josephine Baker
Entertainment & Activism
Shalanda Baker
Energy Justice Policy
Maria L. Baldwin
Education & Civil Rights
Anna B. Sims Banks
Education & Politics
Janie P. Barrett
Education & Social Welfare
Charlotta Bass
Journalism & Politics
Daisy Bates
Civil Rights Leadership
Dr. Patricia Bath
Medical Innovation
Dorothy Pelham Beckley
Education
Gwendolyn Bennett
Art & Writing
Gladys Alberta Bentley
Entertainment
Mary McLeod Bethune
Education Institution Builder
Camille Billops
Archives & Art
Lady Bo
Guitar Performance
Dorothy Lee Bolden
Labor Organizing
Eva del Vakia Bowles
Education & Organizer
Carol Moseley Braun
Governance & Public Office
Rosalind Brewer
Corporate Governance
Mary E. Britton
Medicine & Civil Rights
Elizabeth Carter Brooks
Architecture & Education
Gwendolyn Brooks
Poetry & Culture
Charlotte L. Brown
Civil Rights Activism & Education
Clara Brown
Entrepreneurship
Hallie Quinn Brown
Education & Activism
Vivian Browne
Visual Art & Activism
Clara Burill Bruce
Legal Scholarship & Education
Josephine Bruce
Activism & Education
Kimberly Bryant
STEM Access
Mary P. Burill
Education & Playwriting
Selma Burke
Sculpture
Yvonne Brathwaite Burke
Governance & Public Office
Ursula Burns
Corporate Governance
Nannie Helen Burroughs
Education Institution
Octavia Butler
Literature & Culture
Anita Cameron
Disability Justice
Alexa Canady
Medical Innovation
Eunice Hunton Carter
Legal Leadership
Mary Ann Shadd Cary
Civil Rights Advocacy
Elizabeth Catlett
Visual Arts & Activism
Susie Revels Cayton
Print media & Activism
Fanya Chandler
Corporate Governance
Shirley Chisholm
Governance & Public Office
Augusta T. Chissell
Suffrage Leader
Septima Clark
Education Institution
Pearl Cleage
Literature & Culture
Lucille Clifton
Poetry & Culture
Johnetta Betsch Cole
Education Leadership
Patricia Hill Collins
Sociological Theory
Bessie Coleman
Aviation
Coralie Franklin Cook
Education & Suffrage
Helen A. Cook
Community Activism
Anna Julia Cooper
Black Feminist Theory
Misty Copeland
Ballet
Fanny Jackson Coppin
Educational Leadership
Kizzmekia Corbett
Immunology
Ida Cox
Blues Vocals
Andrea Motley Crabtree
Military
Kimberlé Crenshaw
Legal Theory
Rebecca Lee Crumpler
Medicine
Helen Noble Curtis
Civil Rights Activist
Marie Maynard Daly
Chemistry
Linda Darling-Hammond
Education Policy
Julie Dash
Film & Narrative
Jane Datcher
Botany & Education
Angela Davis
Political Theory
Betty Davis
Musical Arts & Culture
Selma Day
Visual Arts
Doris Derby
Archives & Movement Memory
Annie Devine
Civil Rights Activist
Ophelia DeVore
Fashion Entrepreneurship
Helen Octavia Dickens
Surgery & Advocacy
Grace Bustill Douglass
Suffragist & Abolitionist
Sarah Mapps Douglass
Writer & Abolitionist
Thasunda Brown Duckett
Finance Leadership
Alice Dunbar-Nelson
Activism & Writing
Katherine Dunham
Dance & Anthropology
Emma Dupree
Herbalism
Ava DuVernay
Film & Narrative
Marian Wright Edelman
Policy Advocacy
Jocelyn Elders
Public Health
Ruth C. Ellis
Entrepreneurship & Activism
Elizabeth Piper Ensley
Education & Suffrage
Jessie Redmon Fauset
Writing & Editing
Angelia Dorothea Ferguson
Medical Innovation
Mary Fields
Entrepreneurship
Elizabeth Thorne Scott Flood
Education
Julia A.J. Foote
Religious Leadership
Dr. Justina Ford
Medicine & Suffrage
Syvilla Fort
Dance & Education
Margaretta Forten
Suffrage & Abolition
Bettiola Heloise Fortson
Suffrage & Poetry
Nellie G. Francis
Suffrage & Activism
Aretha Franklin
Musical Arts & Culture
Meta Warrick Fuller
Visual Arts & Playwrighting
Mindy Fullilove
Urban Health
Sarah J. Garnet
Education & Suffrage
Helene Gayle
Global Health
Lisa Gelobter
Technology Innovation
Althea Gibson
Professional Sports
Haben Girma
Disability Rights
Thelma Golden
Art Institution Leadership
Ruby Berkley Goodwin
Education & Journalism
Dr. Rosa L. Gragg
Education & Civil Rights
Elizabeth Jennings Graham
Civil Rights & Education
Kathy Stanford Grant
Dance & Movement
Keri Gray
Disability Justice
Beverly Lorraine Greene
Architecture
Farah Jasmine Griffin
Literary Scholarship
Angelina Weld Grimké
Journalism, Poetry & Playwrighting
Charlotte Forten Grimké
Education
Prathia Hall
Faith & Movement
Fannie Lou Hamer
Movement Organizing
Lorraine Hansberry
Playwrighting
Bertha Hansbury
Piano Performance & Education
Bethann Hardison
Fashion Equity
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
Literature & Culture
Carla Harris
Finance Leadership
Sadiya Hartman
Black Feminism & Historical Theory
Margaret G. Hawkins
Education & Civil Rights
Crystal Hayling
Philanthropy
Elizabeth Ross Haynes
Sociology & Writing
Anna Arnold Hedgeman
Movement Strategy
Dorothy Height
Civil Rights Activism
Charlotte Lottie Henderson
Suffrage
Erma Henderson
Governance & Public Office
Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham
Historical Theory
Darlene Clark Hine
History Scholarship
Mellody Hobson
Finance Leadership
bell hooks
Black Feminism
Eugenia B. Hope
Social Reform
Cora Calhoun Horne
Suffrage & Activism
Lena Horne
Entertainment & Activism
Ayana Howard
Robotics
Janice Bryant Howroyd
Entrepreneurship
Alberta Hunter
Blues Vocals
Addie W. Hunton
Education & Civil Rights
Zora Neale Hurston
Literature & Culture
Gwen Ifill
Journalism
Sherrilyn Ifill
Civil Rights Law
Charlotte Lottie Wilson Jackson
Visual Arts & Activism
Ketanji Brown Jackson
Legal Leadership
Aurora James
Fashion Economy
Judith Jamison
Dance Institution
Valerie Jarrett
Policy Leadership
Hester C. Jeffrey
Civil Rights
Mae C. Jemison
Space Science
Eunice Johnson
Media Leadership
Georgia Douglas Johnson
Poetry & Playwrighting
Katherine Johnson
Mathematics
Kathryn Magnolia Johnson
Education & Activism
Marcia Johnson-Blanco
Civil Rights Law
Sheila Johnson
Entrepreneurship
Elaine Jones
Civil Rights Law
Loïs Mailou Jones
Visual Arts
Stephanie Tubbs Jones
Governance & Public Office
Dr. Verina M. Jones
Medicine & Civil Rights
Barbara Jordan
Governance & Public Office
June Jordan
Poetry & Activism
Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley
Dressmaking & Activism
Mikki Kendall
Digital Culture
Florynce Kennedy
Legal Activism
Eartha Kitt
Entertainment & Activism
Gwendolyn Knight
Visual Art
Joyce Ladner
Sociology
Gloria Ladson-Billings
Education Theory
Daisy E. Lampkin
Civil Rights Activism
Lucy Craft Laney
Education Institution
Catharine D. Lealtad
Medicine & Civil Rights
Jarena Lee
Religious Leadership
Jamilah Lemieux
Digital Commentary
Edmonia Lewis
Sculpture
Dr. Violet T. Lewis
Education Institution
Indiana Little
Black Suffrage
Adella Hunt Logan
Education & Civil Rights
Audre Lorde
Black Feminist Theory
Maritcha Remond Lyons
Education & Civil Rights
Mary Mahoney
Medicine
Annie Turnbo Malone
Entrepreneurship
Vivian Osborne Marsh
Civic Leadership
Bridget Biddy Mason
Entrepreneurship & Philanthropy
Victoria E. Matthews
Writing & Activism
Mary A. McCurdy
Journalism & Suffrage
Hattie McDaniel
Film & Voice Acting
Amaza Lee Meredith
Architecture
Irene L. Moorman
Business & Suffrage
Irene Morgan
Civil Rights Activism
Toni Morrison
Literature & Culture
Gertrude Bustill Mossell
Journalism & Activism
Constance Baker Motley
Civil Rights Law
Pauli Murray
Legal Theory
Ethel Ray Nance
Civil Rights Activism
Diane Nash
Civil Rights Activism
Jessica Gordon Nembhard
Cooperative Economics
Aisha Nyandoro
Guaranteed Income
Jackie Ormes
Journalism & Cartooning
Pat Parker
Poetry & Activism
Jacqueline Patterson
Environmental Justice
Mary Jane Patterson
Educational Leadership
Millie B.Paxton
Suffrage
Ethel Payne
Journalism
Leah Penniman
Food Sovereignty
Juno Frankie Pierce
Education & Suffrage
Vera Pigee
Entrepreneurship & Civil Rights
Mary Ellen Pleasant
Entrepreneurship & Abolition
Georgette Seabrooke Powell
Visual Art
Florence B. Price
Classical Piano & Education
Glenda Price
Higher Education
Leontyne Price
Opera Performance
Nancy Elizabeth Prophet
Sculpture
Harriet Forten Purvis
Abolitionist Thought
Phylicia Rashad
Arts & Education
Harriet Hattie Redmond
Suffrage
Tracy Reese
Fashion & Entrepreneurship
Martha Reeves
Culture & Governance
Sarah Parker Remond
Medicine & Civil Rights
Lisa Rice
Housing Policy
Susan Rice
Diplomacy
Gloria Richardson
Civil Rights Advocacy
Florida Ruffin Ridley
Education & Activism
Faith Ringgold
Visual Art
Andrea Ritchie
Justice Advocacy
Jo Ann Robinson
Movement Strategy
Amelia Boynton Robinson
Voting Rights
Victoria Clay Haley Roland
Suffrage & Activism
Charlotte Rollin
Suffrage
Frances Ann Rollin
Suffrage
Wilma Rudolph
Athlete
Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin
Journalism, Suffrage & Abolistion
Sonja Santelises
Education Leadership
Augusta Savage
Visual Art & Poetry
Alice Wiley Seay
Suffrage
Peggy Shepard
Environmental Justice
Myra Virginia Simmons
Suffrage
Dr. M. Cravath Simpson
Medicine & Activism
Lowery Stokes Sims
Curatorial Leadership
Norma Merrick Sklarek
Architecture
Lucy Diggs Slowe
Higher Education
Lena Olive Smith
Legal Activism
Lucy Wilmot Smith
Education & Civil Rights
Ruby Doris Smith
Movement Strategy
Betty Reid Soskin
Government & Vocal Performance
Anne Spencer
Education & Civil Rights
Maria W. Stewart
Abolitionist Thought
Bessie Stringfield
Motorcycling
Mary Burnett Talbert
Oration & Activism
Susan L. Taylor
Media Leadership
Mary Church Terrell
Civic Leadership
Rosetta Tharpe
Musical Art & Culture
Alma Thomas
Visual Art
Linda Thomas-Greenfield
Diplomacy
Hettie Tilghman
Activism
Sojourner Truth
Civil Rights Activism
C. Delores Tucker
Governance Leadership & Civil Rights
Carrie A. Tuggle
Education & Civil Rights
Dorothy Vaughn
Mathematics
Madame C.J. Walker
Entrepreneurship
Maggie Lena Walker
Financial Institution
Alice Walker
Literature & Culture
Margaret Walker
Literature & Culture
Richetta Wallace
Administration
Laura Wheeler Waring
Visual Arts
Karen Washington
Food Justice
Margaret Murray Washington
Education
Sara Spencer Washington
Entrepreneurship
Maxine Waters
Governance & Public Office
JoAnn Watson
Governance & Public Office
Ida B. Wells
Journalism & Politics
Dorothy West
Literature & Culture
Gladys West
Mathematics
Sarah West
Visual Arts
Phillis Wheatley
Writing & Publishing
Deborah Gray White
History Scholarship
Eartha M.M. White
Philanthropy
Lulu Belle Madison White
Education & Civil Rights
Isabel Wilkerson
Literature & Culture
Fannie Barrier Williams
Education & Civil Rights
Mary Lou Williams
Jazz Piano & Music Composition
Maude E. Craig Sampson Williams
Education & Civil Rights
Deborah Willis
Archives & Photography
Mary Wilson
Musical Arts & Culture
Mabel O. Wilson
Architecture
Beverly Wright
Environmental Justice
Deborah Wright
Banking & Finance Leadership
Elizabeth Evelyn Wright
Education Institution
Jane Cooke Wright
Medicine & Oncology
Addie Wyatt
Labor Leadership
Josephine Silone Yates
Higher Education
Estelle Hall Young
Suffrage
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