# Maryland Women's Hall of Fame

The Maryland Women's Hall of Fame (MWHF) recognizes significant achievements and statewide contributions made by women who are Maryland-natives or state residents. It was established in 1985 by the Maryland Commission for Women and the Women Legislators of Maryland. Honorees are selected by an independent committee each year and are inducted in March during Women's History Month.

## Inductees

| Name | Birth–Death | Year | Area of achievement |
| Adrienne A. Jones | (b. 1954) | 2024 | First female and first African-American Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates |
| Susan C. Lee | (b. 1954) | 2024 | First Asian American to serve as Maryland Secretary of State, first Asian American to be elected to the Maryland Senate, and first Chinese American and first Asian American woman to serve and be elected to the Maryland House of Delegates |
| Brooke Lierman | (b. 1979) | 2024 | 34th Comptroller of Maryland, first female Comptroller and first woman to be elected to an independent state government office in Maryland; member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 2015 to 2023 |
| Aruna Miller | (b. 1964) | 2024 | 10th Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, first immigrant elected to a statewide office; member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 2010 to 2019 |
| Nancy Pelosi | (b. 1940) | 2024 | First woman to serve as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011 and from 2019 to 2023 |
| Janeen L. Birckhead | | 2023 | Brigadier General, Commander of the Maryland Army National Guard, Assistant Adjutant General, Maryland Joint Force Headquarters, Baltimore, Maryland; Deputy Commanding General-Reserve Affairs, United States Army War College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania |
| Charlotte M. Cooksey | (b. 1947) | 2023 | District Court of Maryland, District 1, the first presiding judge of Baltimore's Mental Health Court |
| Ana Sol Gutierrez | (b. 1942) | 2023 | Maryland House of Delegates from District 18, first Latina elected to state office |
| Gloria G. Lawlah | (b. 1939) | 2023 | Secretary of the Maryland Department of Aging, Maryland state senator from the 26th district |
| Jackie Ronne | (1919–2009) | 2023 | Antarctic expedition (1947–48) |
| Dorothy Blum | (1924–1980) | 2022 | Computer pioneer, cryptanalyst |
| Mary L. Cleave | (b. 1947) | 2022 | American engineer and a former astronaut |
| Gloria Richardson | (1922–2021) | 2022 | Civil rights activist |
| Beatrice Rodgers | | 2022 | Community activist for people with disabilities |
| Odessa M. Shannon | (1928–2020) | 2022 | Founder of the Montgomery County Human Rights Hall of Fame; recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award for Volunteerism from President Barack Obama |
| Elizabeth Bobo | (b. 1943) | 2021 | Elected to serve as the Howard County Chief Executive, served 20 years as a representative in the Maryland House of Delegates, and served on the Howard County Council. |
| Margaret Briggs Gregory Hawkins | (1877–1969) | 2021 | Educator, suffragist |
| Ruby Reese Moone | (b. 1938) | 2021 | Civil rights |
| Nancy K. Welker | (b. 1941) | 2021 | Physicist, expert in superconducting electronics |
| Celeste Revillon Winans | (1823–1861) | 2021 | Ran a soup house for the poor |
| Victorine Quille Adams | (1912–2006) | 2020 | Baltimore City Council |
| Evelyn O. A. Darden | | 2020 | Lawyer |
| Claire L. Parkinson | (b. 1948) | 2020 | Climate Scientist |
| Nancy Grace Roman | (1925–2018) | 2020 | Astronomer |
| Leslie R. Wolfe | (1943–2017) | 2020 | Women's rights leader |
| Marielsa A. Bernard | | 2019 | Senior Judge of the Circuit Court for Montgomery County |
| Augusta T. Chissell | (1880–1973) | 2019 | Suffragist; Vice President of Baltimore NAACP |
| Dominique Dawes | (b. 1976) | 2019 | Olympic champion gymnast |
| Virginia Hall | (1906–1982) | 2019 | Intelligence officer in Vichy France during World War II |
| Rosa Gumataotao Rios | (b. 1956) | 2019 | 43rd Treasurer of the United States |
| Evelyn Williams Townsend | (1922–2008) | 2019 | Community activist; President of the Harriet Tubman Museum and Educational Center |
| Phyllis B. Trickett | (b. 1927) | 2019 | Community activist; equal rights |
| Pauline Woo Tsui | (1920–2018) | 2019 | Anti-discrimination activist; co-founder of the Organization of Chinese American Women |
| Sandra I. Barnes | | 2018 | Child welfare advocate; Assistant Attorney General, Maryland Department of Human Services |
| Sandra Williams Ortega | (b. 1937) | 2018 | Maryland's first African American woman commissioned as a U.S. Air Force Officer, community service |
| Emily Saunders Plummer | (1815–1876) | 2018 | Former slave |
| Rita L. Robinson | (1936–2019) | 2018 | Professor at Bowie State University |
| Hattie N. Washington | | 2018 | Professor of Education at Coppin State University |
| Marsha Coleman-Adebayo | (b. 1952) | 2017 | Founder of the No FEAR Institute, an organization devoted to educating the American public about federal sector discrimination and the implementation of the No FEAR Act. |
| Carolyn Colvin | (b. 1942) | 2017 | Deputy Commissioner for Social Security |
| Donna Edwards | (b. 1958) | 2017 | First African American woman to represent Maryland in the US House of Representatives |
| Mary Garrett | (1854–1915) | 2017 | Suffragist and philanthropist |
| Katharine Blodgett Gebbie | (1932–2016) | 2017 | Astrophysicist |
| Kathleen Ledecky | (b. 1997) | 2017 | Olympic gold medalist for swimming |
| Helen Maroulis | (b. 1991) | 2017 | Gold medalist 2015 World Wrestling Championships |
| Lilian Welsh | (1858–1938) | 2017 | Physician, educator, suffragist |
| Sophia Arabatzis Balis | (1930–2018) | 2016 | Professor Emeritus of the University of Maryland Dental School |
| Oretha Bridgwaters-Simms | | 2016 | Educator |
| Mary C. Goodwillie | (1870–1949) | 2016 | Established the Junior League of Baltimore |
| Elaine Danforth Harmon | (1919–2015) | 2016 | 2009 Congressional Gold Medal for U.S. Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II |
| Joanne Katz | | 2016 | President of the Faculty Senate of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Institutional Review Board chair |
| Lizette Woodworth Reese | (1856–1935) | 2016 | Poet |
| Beverly B. Byron | (b. 1932) | 2015 | U.S. House of Representatives |
| E. Gail de Planque | (1945–2010) | 2015 | Physicist, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission |
| Mary Feik | (1924–2016) | 2015 | Aviation, pilot, flight engineer, master mechanic |
| Katherine O'Brien | (b. 1963) | 2015 | Physician, member of the World Health Organization's Scientific Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) |
| Linda L. Singh | (b. 1964) | 2015 | Adjutant General of the Maryland National Guard |
| Sue Fryer Ward | (1935–2014) | 2015 | Government service, advocate for human rights |
| Dorothy F. Bailey | | 2014 | Civic activist |
| Agnes Kane Callum | (1926–2015) | 2014 | Founding member of the Baltimore Afro American Historical Genealogic Society |
| Renee E. Fox | | 2014 | Executive director of the Institute for a Healthiest Maryland |
| Susan K. Goering | (b. 1952) | 2014 | Civil rights attorney |
| Henrietta Lacks | (1920–1951) | 2014 | HeLa the oldest and most commonly used human cell line came from cervical cancer cells taken from Lacks. |
| Ann Cipriano Rees | (b. 1943) | 2014 | Philanthropist |
| Helen Delich Bentley | (1923–2016) | 2013 | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1985 to 1995 |
| Jean B. Cryor | (1938–2009) | 2013 | Member of the Maryland House of Delegates for District 15 |
| Charlene Mickens Dukes | (b. 1954) | 2013 | President of Prince George's Community College |
| Ellen R. Sauerbrey | (b. 1937) | 2013 | Former head of the United States Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration |
| Linda A. Shevitz | | 2013 | Equity Office Director at the Maryland State Department of Education |
| Beatrice P. Tignor | (b. 1940) | 2013 | Maryland House of Delegates |
| Maureen Black | (b. 1945) | 2012 | Physician |
| Margaret Dunkle | (b. 1947) | 2012 | Equal opportunities for women in athletics |
| Nancy K. Kopp | (b. 1943) | 2012 | Treasurer of Maryland |
| Alice Manicur | (1924–2017) | 2012 | Educator |
| Diana Gribbon Motz | (b. 1943) | 2012 | United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit |
| Gwendolyn Rooks | | 2012 | Community service |
| Carol W. Greider | (b. 1961) | 2011 | Molecular biologist |
| Barbara Holdridge | (b. 1929) | 2011 | Co-founder Caedmon Records, founder Stemmer House Publishers |
| Ligia Peralta | (b. 1961) | 2011 | University of Maryland School of Medicine |
| Gertrude Poe | (1915–2017) | 2011 | Journalist |
| Lucy Diggs Slowe | (1885–1937) | 2011 | Advocate for black women |
| June A. Willenz | (1924–2020) | 2011 | Author, military veterans advocate; Executive Director of the American Veterans Committee (AVC) |
| Claire M. Fraser | (b. 1955) | 2010 | Microbiologist |
| Anne Catharine Hoof Green | (c. 1720–1775) | 2010 | Publisher The Maryland Gazette |
| Irene Morgan Kirkaldy | (1917–2007) | 2010 | Jailed in 1944 for refusing to give up her seat to a white person on a Greyhound bus; 1946 Irene Morgan v. Commonwealth of Virginia, United States Supreme Court overturned Virginia state law requiring segregation on interstate transportation. |
| Almira Hart Lincoln Phelps | (1793–1884) | 2010 | Educator, publisher |
| Bernice R. Sandler | (1928–2019) | 2010 | Women's rights |
| Lillie D. Shockney | (b. 1956) | 2010 | Leader in breast cancer treatment |
| Ilia Fehrer | (1927–2007) | 2009 | Environmentalist |
| Diane Griffin | (b. 1940) | 2009 | University Distinguished Professor, and a Professor in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, department chair from 1994 to 2015 |
| Harriet Legum | (b. 1944) | 2009 | Advocate for research and treatment of women's breast cancer |
| Allyson R. Solomon | (b. 1961) | 2009 | Brig. General, Maryland National Guard, Assistant Adjutant General, Air, Maryland National Guard |
| Anne St. Clair Wright | (1910–1993) | 2009 | Historic preservationist |
| Ramona McCarthy Hawkins | (1928–2018) | 2008 | Pharmacist |
| Ellen Moses Heller | (b. 1941) | 2008 | Judge |
| Billie Holiday | (1915–1959) | 2008 | Jazz singer |
| Pauline Menes | (1924–2009) | 2008 | Maryland House of Delegates |
| Toby Orenstein | (b. 1937) | 2008 | Patron of the arts |
| Emily Wilson Walker | (1904–2007) | 2008 | Physician |
| Annette M. Deener | (b. 1953) | 2007 | Brigadier General Maryland National Guard, Director MD Joint Staff Hdqt |
| Sally T. Grant | | 2007 | Volunteerism, women's right, co-founder of Maryland Women's Hall of Fame |
| Prasanna Nair | | 2007 | Primary Health Care physician, specifically with infants of mothers with HIV/AIDS or substance abuse issues |
| Karen H. Rothenberg | | 2007 | Dean, Marjorie Cook Professor of Law at the University of Maryland Law School |
| Audrey E. Scott | | 2007 | Community activist |
| Susan P. Baker | (b. 1930) | 2006 | Doctor of Public Health |
| Liebe Sokol Diamond | (1931–2017) | 2006 | Orthopedics |
| Bea Gaddy | (1933–2001) | 2006 | City Council Woman, advocate for the poor and the homeless |
| Marilyn Hughes Gaston | (b. 1939) | 2006 | Physician |
| Rebecca Alban Hoffberger | (b. 1952) | 2006 | Founder American Visionary Art Museum |
| Grace Snively | (1913–2014) | 2006 | Civil rights, community activism |
| Shoshana Shoubin Cardin | (1926–2018) | 2005 | Philanthropist, volunteerism |
| Bessie Olive Cole | (1883–1971) | 2005 | "First Lady of Maryland Pharmacy" |
| Susan R. Panny | (b. 1943) | 2005 | Physician |
| Edyth H. Schoenrich | (1919–2020) | 2005 | Health care |
| Emily Edmonson | (1835–1895) | 2004 | Freed black woman, abolitionist |
| Nancy T. Grasmick | (b. 1939) | 2004 | Former Maryland state Superintendent of Schools |
| Esther McCready | (1931–2020) | 2004 | Nurse, educator |
| Margaret Byrd Rawson | (1899–2001) | 2004 | Dyslexia research |
| Vivian V. Simpson | (1903–1987) | 2004 | Lawyer |
| Virginia Walcott Beauchamp | (1920–2019) | 2003 | Author, woman's advocate |
| Edith Clarke | (1883–1959) | 2003 | First woman employed as an electrical engineer in the United States, as well as the country's first female professor of electrical engineering |
| Kathryn J. DuFour | (1910–2005) | 2003 | Chief justice, Sixth Judicial Circuit Court of Maryland |
| Ruth L. Kirschstein | (1926–2009) | 2003 | Pathologist |
| Etta H. Maddox | (1860–1933) | 2003 | Lawyer, suffragist |
| Deborah A. Yow | (b. 1950) | 2003 | Athletic Director for the University of Maryland |
| Mabel Houze Hubbard | (1936–2006) | 2002 | Judge, first African-American woman to serve as a judge of the District Court of Maryland |
| Florence Peterson Kendall | (1910–2006) | 2002 | Physical therapist |
| Mary Young Pickersgill | (1776–1857) | 2002 | Flag maker during the War of 1812; sewed the Star-Spangled Banner (flag) |
| Lorraine Sheehan | (1937–2009) | 2002 | Maryland General Assembly |
| Kathleen Feeley | (b. 1929) | 2001 | Former president College of Notre Dame of Maryland |
| Misbah Khan, MD, MPH, FAAP | | 2001 | Pediatrician, medical school teacher and researcher, health policy advisor, and medical director for numerous community health programs |
| Charmaine Krohe | | 2001 | Founder St. Ambrose Family Outreach Center |
| Eunice Kennedy Shriver | (1921–2009) | 2001 | Special Olympics |
| Sandra W. Tomlinson | (1942–2000) | 2001 | Educator |
| Constance Urciolo Battle | (b. 1941) | 2000 | Pediatrician |
| Lois Green Carr | (1922–2015) | 2000 | Economic and social historian, specialist in the history of colonial Maryland |
| Sonia Pressman Fuentes | (b. 1928) | 2000 | Co-founder National Organization for Women |
| Josephine Jacobsen | (1908–2003) | 2000 | Poet, short story writer, critic |
| Rosetta Stith | (1945–2017) | 2000 | Director of the Laurence G. Paquin Middle/Secondary School for Expectant Teenage Mothers |
| Florence Riefle Bahr | (1909–1998) | 1999 | Artist |
| Lillian C. Compton | (1884–1973) | 1999 | Educator |
| Edith Houghton Hooker | (1879–1948) | 1999 | Suffragist, first woman accepted into Johns Hopkins University Medical School |
| Elizabeth Fran Johnson | (b. 1928) | 1999 | Educator, volunteerism |
| Bernice Smith White | (1924–2020) | 1999 | Community activist, women's equality |
| Constance Ross Beims | (b. 1938) | 1998 | Educator |
| Mary Katherine Goddard | (1738–1816) | 1998 | Publisher, postmistress |
| Elaine Ryan Hedges | (1927–1997) | 1998 | Journalist with the Feminist Press |
| Mary Carter Smith | (1919–2007) | 1998 | Poet, story teller |
| Diane L. Adams | (b. 1948) | 1997 | Physician |
| Sol del Ande Mendez Eaton | (1932–2020) | 1997 | Research chemist, civil rights, women's rights, health care |
| Catherine R. Gira | (1932–2019) | 1997 | Educator |
| Helen L. Koss | (1922–2008) | 1997 | Maryland House of Delegates |
| Rosa Ponselle | (1897–1981) | 1997 | Opera singer, honored on a U.S. postage stamp |
| Madeleine L. Ellicott | (1856–1945) | 1996 | Women's suffrage |
| Ethel Llewellyn Ennis | (1932–2019) | 1996 | Jazz musician |
| Mary Digges Lee | (1745–1805) | 1996 | Provided aid to George Washington's troops |
| Brigid G. Leventhal | (1935–1994) | 1996 | Physician |
| Barbara A. Robinson | (b. 1938) | 1996 | Maryland House of Delegates |
| Jill Moss Greenberg | (b. 1943) | 1995 | Volunteerism, civil rights, women's rights |
| Mary L. Nock | (1903–1987) | 1995 | Maryland General Assembly |
| Amanda Taylor Norris | (1849–1944) | 1995 | First woman physician in Maryland |
| Nettie Barcroft Taylor | (1914–2016) | 1995 | Library services |
| Euphemia Mary Goldsborough Willson | (1836–1896) | 1995 | Nurse during the Civil War |
| Rosalie Silber Abrams | (1916–2009) | 1994 | Maryland House of Delegates, Maryland State Senate, first female and Jewish majority leader of the state Senate. |
| Mary Elizabeth Banning | (1822–1903) | 1994 | Mycologist, painter, naturalist |
| Harriet Elizabeth Brown | (1907–2009) | 1994 | 1937 legal case against Calvert County; was one of the foundations for the Maryland Teachers Pay Equalization Law |
| Constance A. Morella | (b. 1931) | 1994 | United States Ambassador to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development |
| Mary Adelaide Nutting | (1858–1948) | 1994 | Nursing educator |
| Rosalyn Blake Bell | (b. 1923) | 1993 | Judge |
| Lucille Clifton | (1936–2010) | 1993 | Poet Laureate of Maryland |
| Elizabeth King Ellicott | (1858–1914) | 1993 | Women's suffrage |
| Jean Spencer | (1933–1992) | 1993 | Deputy Chancellor of the University of Maryland system |
| Martha Ellicott Tyson | (1795–1873) | 1993 | Quaker elder, abolitionist, author |
| Annie Armstrong | (1850–1938) | 1992 | Missionary |
| Anna Ella Carroll | (1815–1894) | 1992 | Politician |
| Rose Kushner | (1929–1990) | 1992 | Journalist, author of Why Me? What Every Woman Should Know About Breast Cancer to Save Her Life |
| Margaret Collins Schweinhaut | (1904–1997) | 1992 | Maryland State Senate |
| Carmen Delgado Votaw | (1934–2017) | 1992 | Civil rights |
| Rita Colwell | (b. 1934) | 1991 | Environmental microbiologist |
| Mary Elizabeth Lange | (1789–1882) | 1991 | Foundress of the Oblate Sisters of Providence |
| Claire McCardell | (1905–1958) | 1991 | Fashion designer |
| Bessie Moses | (1893–1965) | 1991 | Gynecologist and obstetrician who advocated birth control practices for women |
| Alta Schrock | (1911–2001) | 1991 | First Mennonite woman in the United States to receive her doctoral degree |
| Lucille Maurer | (1922–1996) | 1990 | Former Maryland Treasurer |
| Enolia Pettigen McMillan | (1904–2006) | 1990 | First female national president NAACP |
| Pauli Murray | (1910–1985) | 1990 | Activist, civil rights, women's rights |
| Adele Hagner Stamp | (1893–1974) | 1990 | Dean of Women Emeritus from the University's Board of Regents |
| Mary Lemist Titcomb | (1857–1932) | 1990 | Library services |
| Bertha Sheppard Adkins | (1906–1983) | 1989 | Under Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare under Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| Eugenie Clark | (1922–2015) | 1989 | Ichthyologist |
| Lavinia Margaret Engle | (1892–1979) | 1989 | Maryland House of Delegates, Montgomery County Board of Commissioners, organizer, National American Women's Suffrage Association, director and co-founder Maryland League of Women Voters, various positions within the Social Security Administration and the Welfare Administration. |
| Lena King Lee | (1906–2006) | 1989 | Maryland House of Delegates |
| Estelle R. Ramey | (1917–2006) | 1989 | Professor George Washington University Medical School |
| Barbara A. Mikulski | (b. 1936) | 1988 | United States Senate |
| Sadie Kneller Miller | (1867–1920) | 1988 | Photojournalist |
| Mary Risteau | (1890–1978) | 1988 | Maryland House of Delegates |
| Martha Carey Thomas | (1857–1935) | 1988 | Educator and feminist |
| Verda Freeman Welcome | (1907–1990) | 1988 | Maryland State Senate |
| Clara Barton | (1821–1912) | 1987 | Founder American Red Cross |
| Frances Ellen Watkins Harper | (1824–1911) | 1987 | Author, poet, abolitionist |
| Juanita Jackson Mitchell | (1913–1992) | 1987 | First African American woman to practice law in Maryland |
| Mary Shaw Shorb | (1907–1990) | 1987 | Research scientist |
| Helen Brooke Taussig | (1898–1986) | 1987 | Founded the field of pediatric cardiology |
| Lillie Caroll Jackson | (1889–1975) | 1986 | Civil rights advocate, organized Baltimore branch of NAACP |
| Elizabeth Ann Seton | (1774–1821) | 1986 | Roman Catholic Saint |
| Henrietta Szold | (1860–1945) | 1986 | Educator, first president of Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America |
| Jeanette Rosner Wolman | (1902–1999) | 1986 | Lawyer and woman's rights advocate |
| Hiltgunt Zassenhaus | (1916–2004) | 1986 | German philologist who worked as an interpreter in Hamburg, Germany during World War II, and later as a physician in the United States |
| Margaret Brent | (c.1601–c.1671) | 1985 | Estate owner, lawyer |
| Rachel Carson | (1907–1964) | 1985 | Author Silent Spring |
| Rita C. Davidson | (1928–1984) | 1985 | First woman on Maryland Court of Appeals |
| Gladys Noon Spellman | (1918–1988) | 1985 | United States House of Representatives |
| Harriet Ross Tubman | (1820–1913) | 1985 | Abolitionist; escaped slave and conductor on the Underground Railroad, suffragist |