Category: Education

Image description: A headshot of Peg Lautenschlager.

Peg Lautenschlager

Peg Lautenschlager was the first female district attorney for Winnebago County, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, and the first female Attorney General of Wisconsin.
Image description: A photo of Milele Chikasa Anana standing at a podium.

Milele Chikasa Anana

Milele Chikasa Anana was the first Black school board member in Wisconsin and the longtime editor and publisher of the magazine UMOJA.
Image description: A black-and-white photo of Maud Neprud Otjen standing in front of bare trees.

Maud Neprud Otjen

Maud Neprud Otjen was the first woman in Wisconsin to be a county superintendent of schools and encouraged women to be involved in civic life.
Image description: A black-and-white headshot of Nellie Wilson.

Nellie Y. McKay

Nellie Y. McKay was one of the first scholars to bring attention to the writing of African American women authors.
Image description: A headshot of Danae D. Davis.

Danae D. Davis

Trained as a lawyer and committed to equity, Danae Davis is passionate about “success for every child, in every school, from cradle to career.”
Image description: A portrait-style photo of Millie Zantow in front of a wall of plastic bottles.

Milly Zantow

Milly Zantow pioneered the plastics recycling movement and invented the numbered-triangle system used for identifying different kinds of plastic.
Image description: A black-and-white headshot of Helen C. White.

Helen C. White

Helen C. White was the first woman to hold a full professorship in the College of Letters and Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Image description: A black-and-white headshot of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Laura Ingalls Wilder

The first book in author Laura Ingalls Wilder’s popular LITTLE HOUSE series is about Wilder’s childhood in Wisconsin.
Image description: A headshot of Ramona Villarreal.

Ramona Villarreal

Ramona Villarreal is a Mexican American activist who has devoted her life to fighting for equality and justice for people with Mexican/Latinx heritage in Wisconsin.
Image description: A portrait-style photo of Chia Youyee Vang.

Chia Youyee Vang

Chia Youyee Vang is a leading advocate for Hmong cultural preservation and education.