Milly Zantow pioneered the plastics recycling movement and invented the numbered-triangle system used for identifying different kinds of plastic.

Laura Ross Wolcott was the first woman physician in Wisconsin and was active in the women’s suffrage movement.

Nellie Wilson spent her life fighting for employment opportunities for women and was the first African American woman to hold a leadership position in her local steelworkers union.

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

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

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.

Ingrid Washinawatok, which translates to “Flying Eagle Woman,” was a celebrated human rights advocate for Indigenous peoples who was killed in South America.

Ruth Harman Walraven was a trailblazing female pilot in the mid-20th century.

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

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.