Born in Philadelphia in 1814 to parents of mixed race, Pleasant was known for her quick wit and street smarts.

The next time you use a map or location service on your phone, laptop, or other electronicdevice, give a nod to Dr. Gladys West, an African American mathematician. Defying poverty, sexism, and Jim Crow segregation, her work was critical to the invention theGlobal Positioning System commonly known as GPS.

When Marjorie Merriweather Post inherited $27 million in 1914, (about $620 million in
2020 dollars), she became the wealthiest woman in the world. During her lifetime (1887-
1973), Post was renowned for her beauty, lavish lifestyle, and vast collections of art and
jewelry. But Post was also one of the most astute, pragmatic, and visionary business
leaders and philanthropists in the first half of the 20th century.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, in January 1849, Julia Sturtevant married at the age of 19 and had two children. When her husband, an iron magnate, died ten years later and left her in debt, the resourceful Tuttle…

Game designer, inventor, feminist, and economic activist, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Magie created the game later known as Monopoly. Whether writing short stories and poems, working as a newspaper reporter, or performing as a comedian and stage actressMagie used social engagement and entertainment as a tool to bring about political and economic change.

Born Angelina Pauline Murray in Maryland in 1910 to bi-racial parents, Murray became the first Black person to earn a Doctorate degree from Yale Law School, was a co-founder of the…

After graduating from Pasadena High School in 1897, Lopez earned a degree in education at what later became UCLA. She began her career teaching English as a second language to high school students…

Minerva Hamilton Hoyt (1866-€“1945) became the champion of desert ecosystems when she moved to Pasadena from New York in the late 1890s. When her husband and son died in close succession, she found comfort sleeping under the desert sky, listening to the winds blow through the Joshua trees. She later remarked that this landscape was one of “strange and inexpressible beauty, of mystery and singular aloofness, which is yet so filled with peace.”

Although she was eventually known as the First Lady of Physics, Chien-Shiung Wu fought to overcome gender and racial prejudice her entire life. She was born in China in 1912, in an era when it was unusual for girls to attend school. With her parents’ support, Wu received the equivalent of a high school education. In 1936, she immigrated to the U.S. and earned a coveted spot in the graduate physics program…

In the late 19th century, when the U.S. government was attempting to erase Native Americans and their cultures, Zitkala-sa rose up to become the voice and energy of the opposition. A fierce activist for Native American civil rights, Zitkala-sa (aka Gertrude Simmons Bonnin) wove music, writing, and political activism into her fight for full equality of Indigenous people and the celebration of Native cultures.