Lorena "Hick" Hickok was a journalist during the U.S. Great Depression and a close friend of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

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.

Zoe Dunning was one of the only openly LGB members of the U.S. military for 13 years and spoke out against the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law.

On June 10, 1919, Wisconsin became the first to ratify the 19th Amendment guaranteeing women's suffrage, or the right to vote.

Glenn Wise became the first woman to hold a statewide public office in Wisconsin when she was appointed secretary of state in 1955.

Trial lawyer Dorothy Walker was the first female district attorney in Wisconsin.

Donna Shalala was the first woman to head a Big Ten university and the longest-serving secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Nobel Peace Prize winner and Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was the first female head of state of any African country.

Jewish activist Hannah Rosenthal served as a U.S. special envoy to work against anti-Semitism.

Vel Phillips achieved many firsts, including first woman and first African American to be elected to the statewide office of secretary of state.