Alice Paul, at the age of 28, became an activist, feminist, and suffragist who organized the 1913 women’s rights march through Washington D.C. She founded the Congressional union for Women’s Suffrage, which was a militant branch of the National American Suffrage Association.

Alice Augusta Ball was 23 in the year 1915 when she developed an injectable oil extract that was the most effective treatment for leprosy until the 1940’s. That same year, she became the first female African American to receive a Master’s degree from the University of Hawaii as well as the female chemistry professor at the University of Hawaii. Ball’s untimely death in 1969 made it impossible for her findings to be published. Another chemist published her findings without giving her credit until Dr. Harry T. Hollmann rectified this injustice.

Susan La Flesch Picotte, born into the Omaha Indian tribe, became the first Native American to receive a medical degree. In 1913, at the age of 48, she saw her dream of a reservation hospital become a reality in Walthill Nebraska. The hospital has been renames Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte Memorial Hospital and declared a National Historic Landmark.

Ruth Olive Beall became the Superintendent of Arkansas Children’s Hospital in 1934 at the age of 38. The hospital was 30 days away from closing when she was hired and was instrumental in raising $30,000 to keep it open and is credited with saving it. Beall was responsible for the expansion and improvement of the hospital in the following 6 years.

Jane Addams was co-founder of Chicago’s Hull House, an inner city institution, where working class people and recent immigrants could seek social and educational opportunities. Adams is recognized as the founder of the social work profession in the United States. At the age of 71, she became the first woman to earn a Nobel Prize in 1931 as President of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.

Hattie Ophelia Wyatt Caraway became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate representing Arkansas in 1932 at the age of 54. She was also the first woman to preside over the Senate, the first woman to chair a Senate Committee (1933), and the first woman to preside over a Senate hearing.

Pernella Anderson was one of Arkansas's two African American interviewers for the Federal Writer’s Project. She interviewed former slaves, and African Americans between the ages of 19 and 90 from 1936 to 1939. As a junior writer for the Federal Writer’s Project she focused on folklore, readings, stories, sayings, riddles, and superstitions. Anderson worked with 19 other interviewers who collected 800 accounts of former slaves and observers of the institution of slavery. 

Septima Poinsette Clark was an educator and Civil Rights activist. Clark developed the literacy and citizenship workshops that played a vital role in the drive for voting rights and Civil Rights for African Americans. She was a member of the NAACP and Southern Christian leadership Conference. In 1959, at the age of 61, Clark began teaching citizenship classes, which were a requirement for African Americans in order to register to vote in South Carolina’s Johns Island. Martin Luther King Jr. referred to Clark as “The Mother of the Movement.” 

Bette Clair McMurry Graham was a commercial artist and typist; in 1956 at the age of 32, Graham invented “liquid paper” in her garage and named it “Mistake Out.” Bosses admonished Graham for using her “paint out,” but other secretaries secretly sought out her correction fluid.

Althea Gibson was an American tennis player and professional golfer who crossed the color line to become as international tennis sensation. In 1950, at the age of 23, Gibson became the first African American player to receive an invitation to the U.S. National Championship at Forrest Hills. In 1951 Gibson won her first international title and later that year became the first African American competitor at Wimbledon. In 1956 she became the first African American to win a Grand Slam title. In 1957 she won Wimbledon and the U.S. national, and won both titles again in 1958 and was voted female athlete of the year.

Eloise Greenfield is and award winning children’s book, biography author, and poet and is famous for her descriptive, rhythmic style and positive portrayal of the African American experience. At the age of 42 she joined the District of Columbia Black Writers Workshop and began to write books for children. Since then she has published more than 40 children’s books and seeks to “ choose and order words that children will celebrate.” In 1976 Greenfield received the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.

Raye Montague was born in Little Rock, Arkansas and wanted to study engineering but no Arkansas college was awarding such degrees to African American Woman, so she pursued a degree in business. She eventually became an internationally registered professional engineer with the United States Navy. In her early 40’s Montague designed the first rough draft ship by computer. She was the first female program manager of ships in the United States Navy.

Laura Nyro was a songwriter, singer, and pianist, who broke the confines of pop music by using the urban landscape as the canvas for lyrics in a confessional style. Nyro was not a happy child and created her “own world of music” at the age of five. She taught herself to play piano, and composed her first song at the age of eight. By the end of 1971, Nyro had written numerous hit songs for various artists and had become uncomfortable with attempts to market her as a celebrity and announced her retirement from the music business at the age of 24. By 1976 she had recorded another album and started touring again. Throughout her career, she turned down lucrative film offers and TV appearances. Nyro influenced many other amazing musicians like: Joni Mitchell, Elvis Costello, Kate Bush, Steely Dan, Patti Smith have all praised Nyro.

Carol Moseley Braun was the first woman of color elected to the U.S. Senate, in 1993 at the age of 46. In 1993 women could not wear pants on the Senate floor, that all changed when Moseley Braun and Barbara Mikulski wore pants onto the floor in defiance of the rule, later that year the rule was amended. Moseley Braun was the first woman to defeat an incumbent U.S. Senator in an election. She advocated for women’s rights, civil rights, and gun control.

Michelle Kwan is an Olympic figure skater known for her grace and musicality. Kwan competed at the senior level for over a decade and is the most decorated figure skater in the U.S. history. Known for her consistency and expressive artistry on ice, she is widely considered one of the greatest figure skaters of all time. Kwan won the World Championship in 1996 at the age of 16 and again in 1998. At the age of 18, Kwan won the silver medal in the 1998 Winter Olympics. She has won more than 40 championships, including 9 U.S. titles.

Rebecca Walker is an African American writer, feminist, and activist. At the age of 23 Walker coined the term “Third wave Feminism” in her 1992 article for Ms. Magazine. Third wave feminism embraced individualism and diversity, and incorporated the voices of young, non-hetero, and women of color. The third wave emerged out of the subculture of Riot Grrl punk and Anita Hill’s testimony of sexual harassment. In 1994, Time names Walker as one of the 50 future leaders of America. Walker continues to speak out worldwide about multicultural identity, enlightened masculinity, and inter-generational and third wave feminism around the world.