Hildegarde Sell was one of the first international music stars and is known as one of the best cabaret singers of all time.

Esther Bubley was a prominent photographer during the golden age of photojournalism, the 1940s to the 1960s.

Maginel Wright Barney was an artist and cartoonist known for her colorful scenery and wide variety of art styles.

Mai Zong Vue is a Hmong refugee of the Vietnam War and a leading advocate for the Hmong community in Wisconsin.

Nancy Zieman was a successful businesswoman and the host of the longest-running sewing show on television.

Nazik al-Mala’ika, a ground-breaking Iraqi poet and women’s rights advocate, was one of the first Arab poets to work in free verse instead of the classical rhyme form.

Lucinda Gordon was a civil rights activist who founded an alternative school for teen mothers and advocated for Black art in Milwaukee.

Edna Ferber was a short story writer, playwright, and Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist who portrayed strong women characters.

The first book in author Laura Ingalls Wilder’s popular LITTLE HOUSE series is about Wilder’s childhood in Wisconsin.

Helen Van Vechten co-owned the Philosopher Press in Wausau and became an expert in hand-printing books.