Josie Carter led Wisconsin’s first known LGBTQ+ uprising, eight years before the Stonewall riots.

Since the late 1960s, UW System women’s and gender studies scholars have increased the representation and understanding of women, their histories, and their contributions.

The UW Women’s and Gender Studies Consortium works to ensure the continued development of women’s, gender, and LGBTQ studies across the state.

Marcia Anderson was the first Black woman to earn the rank of major general in the US Army.

Judy Greenspan is a lifelong activist, known for being one of the first out lesbian political candidates in the United States.

Velma Bell Hamilton was the first Black teacher hired in Dane County and the first president of the Madison Chapter of the NAACP.

Mary Eastwood was a founding member of the National Organization for Women (NOW) and a leader in feminist legal scholarship.

Kashoua Kristy Yang is the first Hmong person to be elected without appointment as a judge in the U.S. and the first Asian American judge elected without appointment in Wisconsin.

Alma Baron was a pioneer of early children’s live television, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, and an advocate for women in business.

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