Martha Custis married George Washington in 1759. A private person, she bravely followed her husband to war and the Presidency. During the Revolution she helped maintain morale, spending a hard winter in Valley Forge where she organized supplies, rolled bandages, and led women in work around camp. During the presidency, her welcoming nature as first hostess helped others view the couple not as royalty but just like other Americans. She set the standard for future First Ladies as a public figure.

Abigail Adams was an ardent patriot and devoted wife of President John Adams. She supported his career in law and his passion for the American patriotic cause. She stayed home to care for their children as he served in the Continental Congress and as a diplomat. When Adams was elected president, they were the first residents of the White House in Washington. They took great pride in the political career of their son, John Quincy Adams, although Abigail died in 1818 before he became President.

The charismatic Dolley Madison accompanied her husband James Madison to Washington when he was Secretary of State under Jefferson. Her political knowledge and social skills assisted Jefferson greatly and he asked her to serve as his official hostess. She continued as hostess as Madison became President. When the British invaded and burned the White House in 1814, Dolley stayed until the last moment, saving many government documents, including Gilbert Stewart’s portrait of George Washington.

During WWI Eleanor Roosevelt assisted service personnel and joined the League of Women Voters. As First Lady, she entertained, gave lectures, held press conferences, traveled, and represented her husband in official and unofficial business. She helped develop New Deal programs, supported troops, and worked to improve race relations. After her husband’s death in office, Eleanor continued to work for her nation as a United Nations representative, chairing the Human Rights Commission.

Virginia Dare is honored as the first child born of English parents in the New World. Born in 1587 at the Roanoke Island settlement in present-day North Carolina, nothing else is known of her life, or of the rest of the settlement’s members. When sailors returned to the site, the “Lost Colony” had vanished. The US postage stamp honoring Virginia Dare idealizes the hardships colonists faced on the frontier. The strength and fortitude of these pioneering women are a tribute to the American spirit.

Betsy Ross (1752-1836) symbolizes women’s contribution to the American Revolution and the founding of the new nation. In 1870, her grandson said that Betsy claimed General George Washington visited her in June 1776. He asked her to make a flag based on a drawing. She agreed, recommending a five-point star versus the six-point stars on the sketch. Betsy was an ardent patriot and her story represents the many people who used their skills in support of their country.

Nellie Cashman (ca. 1850-1925) - “The Angel of Tombstone” - embodied the adventurous spirit of the West. Emigrating to the U.S. from Ireland in the 1860s, she earned an honest reputation managing a boarding house in NV. When a scurvy epidemic broke out in British Columbia, she organized men to carry supplies through the deep snow to the sick. Later Nellie moved to Tombstone, AZ, opening the first female-owned business. When Nellie died, newspapers across the country recognized her good works.

Mary Ludwig followed her husband, William Hayes, when he enlisted in the Revolutionary army. She earned her nickname Molly Pitcher by bringing pitchers of water to soldiers in battle. On June 28, 1778, during the Battle of Monmouth, the longest battle of the war, William was unable to continue firing his cannon and Mary stepped in, manning the gun through the battle. Questioned by some, Molly’s tail continues to live on as a tribute to the many Revolutionary women who helped form the new nation.

Sybil Ludington was 16 when a messenger entered the Ludington house in Patterson, NY, on April 26, 1777, reporting that British troops had landed in Long Island Sound, and intended to destroy the militia’s supply center in Danbury, CT. Colonel Ludington couldn’t leave his station, so Sybil volunteered to ride through the night to alert the troops in time to fight the British. George Washington and Alexander Hamilton noticed the heroics of the “Female Paul Revere.”

The story of Pocahontas (c. 1595-1617) remains one of the most popular legends in American history. The daughter of a Powhatan chieftain, she was friendly with English settlers in Jamestown, delivering food and working as an emissary between the groups. She is famously known for the legendary tale of saving John Smith’s life after his capture by members of her tribe, protecting him with her body and begging for his life to be spared. She later married tobacco planter John Rolfe.

Sacajawea is one of the most well-known women of the American West. She and her husband, a French Canadian trapper, joined the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1803-1806), exploring a route to the Pacific. As a young Shoshone woman with a child, Sacagawea helped ensure native populations that the group of explorers were peaceful. She leant her knowledge of the land and local foods and herbs. Her strength and heroism were renowned. In his journal, Clark attributed much of the mission’s success to her.

Isabella Bomfree was born enslaved in NY in about 1797. In 1826, her son was sold away to Alabama. She sued for his return and won. Freed in 1828, she changed her name to Sojourner Truth and began to preach. Joining an abolitionist and women’s rights group, she helped freed slaves find jobs, taught them homemaking skills, and petitioned Congress to give land to former slaves. Unable to read and write, she dictated her autobiography The Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave.

Harriet Tubman was born enslaved and escaped to freedom in 1849. She returned south to lead her family to freedom, beginning a career as a “conductor” of the Underground Railroad. “The Moses of her people,” she helped over 300 slaves escape to Canada through a network of safe houses. During the Civil War she assisted the Union Army as a spy, scout, and nurse. She was the first African American woman honored on a U.S. postage stamp, in 1987.

Ida B. Wells continued the legacy of Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman. In 1884 Ida refused to move to the segregated car on a train and was forced off the car. She sued and won, but the case was overturned. She launched a crusade against lynching, Jim Crow laws, unequal education and actively promoted suffrage for women. She helped form the National Association of Colored Women and campaigned for voting rights and was a founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and Carrie Catt were dedicated abolitionists who helped begin the Women’s Rights Movement. In 1848, Stanton and Mott organized the first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, NY. Catt continued their work as the president of the National American Women Suffrage Association. The activists who fought to guarantee these natural rights at times faced strong opposition, yet the movement continued to grow and achieve new goals.

Susan B. Anthony began her work with the Daughters of Temperance in 1849, having witnessed the abuse suffered by women and children from alcoholic men. She helped found the National Woman Suffrage Association. She addessed every Congress from 1869 to 1906, and petitioned for a constitutional amendment for equal rights. She led women to the polls, was arrested, and continued to speak out. She didn’t live to see the 19th Amendment pass in 1920, but helped make gender equality possible.

Lucy Stone, a pioneering women’s rights advocate, put herself through school, becoming the first woman in Massachusetts to hold a college degree. She kept her own name after marriage - a practice unheard of at the time. Lucy also maintained property in her own name and refused to pay taxes on it, claiming “taxation without representation.” Lucy helped create the National American Woman Suffrage Association. She also was a staunch abolitionist and worked for the American Anti-Slavery Society.

Alice Paul learned civil disobedience from British suffrage leaders and applied the ideas in the U.S. In 1913, she organized the largest parade America had ever seen. Over 8,000 women marched through Washington D.C., receiving abuse and little help from police. She founded the National Woman’s Party and picketed outside the White House for the next 7 years. After achieving her goal of passing the 19th Amendment, she continued to work to protect women from discrimination and promote equal rights.

Belva Ann Lockwood drafted a bill in 1872 for equal rights for female civil service employees. When it became law, she enrolled and become one of the first women to earn a law degree, in 1872. She drafted legislation for Congress for equal pay for equal work for female government employees and for women to be allowed to practice before the Supreme Court. She then became the first woman to do so. She was the first woman to run for president, under the National Equal Rights Party in 1884 and 1888.

When Hattie W. Caraway’s husband, Thaddeus Caraway, died while a senator in 1932, Hattie filled his seat. She was re-elected for two terms, becoming the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate. She encouraged New Deal legislation and prohibition and became the first woman to chair a Senate committee (the Committee on Enrolled Bills) in 1933. She introduced an early version of the Equal Rights Amendment in 1943. When leaving her post as senator, she recieved a standing ovation on the Senate floor.

Margaret Chase Smith married Maine Rep. Clyde H. Smith and filled his seat in the House after he passed away. During WWII she served on the House Naval Affairs Committee, helping achieve permanent status for women in the military. After eight years in Congress, she was elected to the Senate; the first woman to serve in both houses. She opposed Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s campaign to identify Communists. In 1964 she became the first woman nominated for presidency at a major party convention.

Facing the Great Depression, FDR built a team dedicated to returning prosperity to the country. Frances Perkins was the perfect candidate, becoming the first woman appointed to a presidential cabinet. She had successfully worked with labor groups, having spent 20 years improving working conditions in New York. As Secretary of Labor she was a vital force behind the Social Security Act of 1938, helping to create standards for minimum wage, working hours, worker safety, and unemployment benefits.

Patricia Harris was raised to believe that education was the means for success. She graduated first in her class in the Howard University law school and began a distinguished career as a lawyer, educator and public administrator. At Howard, she served as dean and professor as well as President Kennedy’s appointed chairperson of the National Women’s Committee. Harris’ became the first female African American U.S. ambassador and the first African American woman appointed to a presidential cabinet.

In 1927 Frances Willis joined the Foreign Service, beginning a historic career. As secretary in the U.S. legation in Stockholm in 1934, Frances assumed the responsibilities of the minister in his absence. She became the first U.S. woman to serve as a chief of missions abroad, quickly rising through the ranks to become an ambassador, serving around the world and in the United Nations. She remained active even in retirement. She was honored in the Distinguished American Diplomats stamp series.

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