United States Women’s Firsts

U.S. women continue to “break the mold,” and our country’s history needs to reflect their accomplishments. Here are just a few of the many women brave enough to be first.

"Take a chance. Amaze yourself!" - C. K. Thomas

1762 – Ann Franklin – First Woman Newspaper Editor

1776 – Margaret Corbin – First Woman Revolutionary War Soldier and Pensioner

1812 – Lucy Brewer – First Woman Marine

1846 – Susan Bagley – First Woman Telegraph Operator

1866 – Mary Walker – First Woman Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient

1869 – Arabella Mansfield – First Woman Lawyer

1869 – Ada H. Kepley – First Woman Law School Graduate

1870 – Esther Hobart Morris – First Woman Justice of the Peace

1871 – Frances Willard – First Woman College President

1872 – Victoria Claflin Woodhull – First Woman Presidential Nominee

1876 – Louise Blanchard Bethune – First Woman Architect

1887 – Susanna Medora Salter – First Woman Mayor

1887 – Phoebe Couzins – First Woman United States Marshall

1905 – May Sutton – First U.S. Woman Wimbledon Winner

1907 – Dorothy Tyler – First Woman Jockey

1911 – Harriet Quimby – First Woman Licensed Airplane Pilot

1916 – Jeannette Rankin – First Woman U.S. Representative

1921 – Edith Wharton – First Woman Pulitzer Prize Winner

1925 – Nellie Tayloe Ross – First Woman Elected Governor

1926 – Gertrude Ederle – First Woman to Swim Across English Channel

1928 – Amelia Earhart –  First Woman to Pilot a Plane Across the Atlantic Ocean

1931 – Jane Addams – First Woman Nobel Peace Prize Winner

1932 – Hattie Wyatt Caraway – First Woman U.S. Senator

1933 – Frances Perkins – First Woman Cabinet Member, Secretary of Labor

1944 – Ann Baumgartner – First Woman Jet Aircraft Pilot

1953 – Jerrie Cobb – First Woman Tested for Astronaut Training

1972 – Juanita Kreps – First Woman Director of the New York Stock Exchange

1980 – Paula Hawkins – First Woman Elected to U.S. Senate, Not-inherited

1981 – Sandra Day O’Connor  – First Woman United States Supreme Court Justice

1983 – Dr. Sally K. Ride – First Woman to Enter Outer-Space

1984 – Geraldine Ferraro – First Woman Major Party Vice Presidential Nominee

1997 – Madeleine Albright – First Woman United States Secretary of State

2007 – Nancy Pelosi – First Woman Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives

2016 – Hillary Rodham Clinton – First Woman Major Party Presidential Nominee

Sources: U S News, Notable Firsts, Wikipedia