Honored: 2009 (1929 - )
An attorney, civil rights activist and humanitarian, Allie B. Latimer was instrumental in organizing Federally Employed Women (FEW) in 1968, and served as the organization's founding president until 1969. In 1977, as a federal attorney, Latimer was the first African American and first woman to serve as General Counsel of a major federal agency as well as the first African American and first woman to attain the GS-18 salary level at the General Services Administration. She was also recognized as part of the 'second wave of feminist pioneers' by the Veteran Feminists of America (VFA).
Honored: 1996 (1906 - 2001)
Author of numerous elegant essays, journals and other books. Lindbergh also excelled as co-pilot and navigator with her husband Charles on their historic flights to promote the development of international aviation.
Honored: 1983 (1830 - 1917)
First woman to practice law and argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court (1879). Lockwood became a lawyer when she was 40 and used her knowledge to help secure women's suffrage, property law reforms, pay equity and world peace. She helped open the legal profession to women.
Honored: 2003 (1895 - 1965)
Lange was a pioneer in documentary photography, remembered for her wide-ranging photographs of Americans during the depression and the Japanese-American internment during World War II, and for her later work in Asia. She put a human face on political issues of the day, such as poverty and social injustice. Lange was the first woman awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in photography in 1940.
Honored: 2009 (1849 - 1887)
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." These famous words from
The New Colossus, were written by Emma Lazarus, one of the first successful Jewish American authors. Originally created in 1883, the sonnet was later engraved in bronze and placed at the base of the Statue of Liberty. Throughout her lifetime, Lazarus authored and published numerous poems, essays, letters, short stories and translations. She was an important forerunner of the Zionist movement, having argued for the creation of a Jewish homeland thirteen years before the term Zionist was even coined.
Honored: 1979 (1860 - 1927)
As a tireless champion of young girls, Juliette Gordon Low founded the Girl Scouts of the USA (1912). Today, there are more than 3 million girl and adult members of the Girl Scouts of the USA.
Honored: 2011 (1938 - )
For over a decade, Lilly Ledbetter has fought to achieve pay equity. Upon retiring from her position as a manager with the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, Ledbetter discovered that she had been paid considerably less than her male colleagues. She filed a formal complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission and later initiated a lawsuit against Goodyear alleging pay discrimination. Although a jury initially awarded her compensation, the Supreme Court ruled that Ledbetter could not receive any money because she had filed her complaint more than 180 days after receiving her first discriminatory paycheck. Since then, Ledbetter has continuously lobbied for equal pay for men and women; her efforts proved successful when President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law in 2009.
Honored: 1993 (1797 - 1849)
Founder of Mount Holyoke, the first college for women, in 1837. It became the model for institutions of higher education for women nationwide. Lyon based her school on sound finances and high quality education in all disciplines, encouraging and educating women to reach beyond teaching and homemaking.
Honored: 2005 (1959 - )
Lin, an architectural designer who gained fame at the age of 21 as creator of the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial, is a Chinese-American who draws on a variety of culturally diverse sources for her inspiration. Some of her well-known works include the Civil Rights Memorial at the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, AL and The Wave Field at the University of Michigan.
Honored: 2003 (1922 - 2011)
As Co-founder and Chairman of the Trickle Up Program, Inc., philanthropist Mildred Leet assisted people worldwide in rising out of poverty. Trickle Up provides seed capital to impoverished individuals, allowing them the opportunity to work their way to self-sufficiency. Leet also helped found United Cerebral Palsy and was a co-founder and Vice President of the U.S. Committee for the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).
