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American Women in History
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Elizabeth Blackwell
Receives her M.D. degree from the Medical Institution of Geneva, N.Y., becoming the first woman in the U.S. with a medical degree. -
Rebecca Lee Crumpler
Becomes the first black woman to receive an M.D. degree. She graduated from the New England Female Medical College. -
Victoria Claflin Woodhull
Becomes the first woman presidential candidate in the United States when she is nominated by the National Radical Reformers. -
Ellen Swallow Richards
First woman to be admitted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earns her B.S. degree. She becomes the first female professional chemist in the U.S. -
Belva Ann Lockwood
Becomes the first woman admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court. -
Susanna Medora Salter
Becomes the first woman elected mayor of an American town, in Argonia, Kansas. -
Gertrude Ederle
First American woman to swim across the English Channel. -
Amelia Earhart
Becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, traveling from Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, to Ireland in approximately 15 hours. -
Hattie Wyatt Caraway
First woman elected to the U.S. Senate. (Arkansas) -
Lettie Pate Whitehead
First American woman to serve as a director of a major corporation, The Coca-Cola Company. -
Althea Gibson
First African-American tennis player to win a singles title at Wimbledon. -
Shirley Chisholm
First African-American woman in Congress. (New York) Her motto is, "Unbought and unbossed." She served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 14 years. -
Sandra Day O'Connor
Appointed by President Reagan to the Supreme Court, making her its first woman justice. -
Dr. Sally K. Ride
First American woman to be sent into space. -
Sharon Pratt Dixon
Sworn in as mayor of Washington, DC, becoming the first black woman to serve as mayor of a major city. -
Mae Jeminson
First black female astronaut. -
Toni Morrison
First African-American woman to win the Nobel Prize for literature. -
Hillary Clinton
Elected to the U.S. Senate, becoming the first First Lady ever elected to national office.
