Ladies first: 40 daring American women who were second to none

Wilma Mankiller

Elizabeth Blackwell

Wilma Rudolph

Victoria Murden

Margaret Bourke-White

Susan Butcher

Jane Addams

C. J. Walker

Nellie Bly

Emma Hart Willard

Lynn Hill

Phillis Wheatley

Stacy Allison

Marian Anderson

Kathrine Switzer

Frances Perkins

Harriet Quimby

Pearl S. Buck

Olga Samaroff Stokowski

Carrie Chapman Catt

Shirley Muldowney

Sally Priesand

Julia Morgan

Gertrude Ederle

Jane Roberts

Georgia O'Keeffe

Kathleen McGrath

Fanny Bullock Workman

Eve Queler

Rita Dove

Helen Keller

Antonia Novello

Brenda Berkman

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Dian Fossey

Sacagawea

Edna St. Vincent Millay

Martha Graham

Katharine Graham

Maria Tallchief.

Wilma Mankiller 1945- First woman to become Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation

Elizabeth Blackwell 1821-1910 First American Woman to graduate from medical school

Wilma Rudolph 1940-1994 First American woman to win three gold medals at a single Olympics

Victoria Murden 1963- First woman to row across the Atlantic Ocean

Margaret Bourke-White 1904-1971 First woman photographer to document active war combat missions

Susan Butcher 1954- First person to win three consecutive Iditarods

Jane Adams 1860-1935 First American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize

Madam C.J. Walker 1867-1919 First female African American self-made millionaire

Nellie Bly 1864-1922 First woman to travel around the world in under 80 days

Emma Hart Willard 1787-1870 Established first higher education institution for woman

Lynn Hill 1961- First free rockclimbing ascent of the Nose-Yosemite

Phillis Wheatley c1753-1784 First African American woman writer to be published

Stacy Allison 1958- First American woman to summit Mount Everest

Marian Anderson 1897-1993 First African American woman to sing with the Metropolitan Opera

Kathrine Switzer 1947- First woman to officially enter and run the Boston Marathon

Frances Perkins 1880-1965 First woman to hold a cabinet position in the U.S. government

Harriet Quimbby 1875-1912 First American woman to obtain a license to fly

Pearl S. Buck 1892-1973 First American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature

Olga Samaroff Stokowski 1880-1948 First American woman to debut at Carnegie Hall

Carrie Chapman Catt 1859-1947 First woman to call for a League of Woman Voters

Shirley Muldowney 1940- First woman to be inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame

Sally Priesand 1946- First American woman to be ordained a rabbi

Julia Morgan 1872-1957 First American woman admitted to the Ecoles des Breaux-Arts Architecture School

Gertrude Ederle 1906-2003 First woman to swim across the English Channel

Jane Roberts 1929-1984 First writer of multivolumed metaphysical work to be included in the Yale archives

Georgia O'Keeffe 1887-1986 First woman given a retrospective exhibition by New York's Museum of Modern Art

Kathleen McGrath 1952-2000 First woman to command a U.S. Navy warship

Fanny Bullock Workman 1859-1925 First woman to summit Pinnacle Peak in Kashmir

Eve Queler 1936- First American woman to become Poet Laureate of the U.S.

Helen Keller 1880-1968 First blind and deaf woman to graduate from college

Antonia Novello 1944- First woman and Hispanic Surgeon General of the U.S.

Brenda Berkman 1951- First woman to challenge the ban on women in the Fire Dept. of the City of New York

Laura Ingalls Wilder 1867-1957 First writer to win the American Library Association's Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for substantial contribution to children's literature

Dian Fossey 1932-1985 First woman zoologist to study mountain gorillas in their habitat

Sacagawea c. 1790-? First Native American woman accorded the right to vote in an official U.S. government venture

Edna St. Vincent Millay 1892-1950 First woman awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry

Martha Graham 1917-2001 First women to head a Fortune 500 company

Maria Tallchief 1925- First Native American prima ballerina

Quote sources

Selected bibliography

Chronology

Index.