TheConnecticut Women's Hall of Fame (CWHF) recognizes women natives or residents of theU.S. state ofConnecticut for their significant achievements or statewide contributions.

The CWHF had its beginnings in 1993 when a group of volunteers partnered withHartford College for Women to establish an organization to honor distinguished contributions by female role models associated with Connecticut. The first list of inductees contained forty-one women notable to Connecticut's history and culture, many of whom broke down barriers by becoming the first women to establish themselves in fields that had been previously denied to their gender.^[1]Alice Paul, who had a role in the passage of theNineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and later wrote the first version of the proposedEqual Rights Amendment, was on the 1994 list of women. Also on that first list were actressKatharine Hepburn and her motherKatharine Martha Houghton Hepburn, who was a pioneer in women's rights and planned parenthood issues. Three of the Beecher clan are on that first list, Hartford Female Seminary founderCatharine Beecher, suffragistIsabella Beecher Hooker, and abolitionist authorHarriet Beecher Stowe. GovernorElla T. Grasso was honored in 1994, as wasEstelle Griswold, whose landmarkGriswold v. Connecticut before theUnited States Supreme Court resulted in Connecticut's anti-birth control statute being declared unconstitutional.

In the ensuing two decades, the list has more than doubled. ArtistLaura Wheeler Waring, who found fame by creating portraits of prominent African Americans during theHarlem Renaissance, was added in 1997. Abstract artistHelen Frankenthaler became part of the list in 2005. African American opera divas are on the list,Marian Anderson in 1994 andRosa Ponselle in 1998. Ambassador, politician and playwrightClare Boothe Luce's 1994 appearance on the list was later joined by 19th century free black woman journalist Maria W. Stewart in 2001 and by war correspondent and human rights activistJane Hamilton-Merritt in 1999. In 2008, the list gainedNobel Prize in Medicine winner,geneticistBarbara McClintock. ThePulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction winnerAnnie Dillard was added to the list in 1997.

The CWHF provides educational resources through two traveling exhibits, the Inductee Portrait Exhibit,^[2] and its We Fight For Roses, Too,^[3] a set of twenty-two standing panels displaying the stories of the inductees. The CWHF also provides speakers upon request.^[4]

Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame

Name	Image	Birth–Death	Year	Area of achievement	Ref(s)
Sara Bronin			2024	Architect	[5]
Melissa Bernstein			2024	Co-founder ofMelissa & Doug	[5]
Barbara Summers		(1944–2014)	2024	Writer, fashion model	[5]
Lisa Cortés		(b. 1960)	2023	Director, producer	[6]
Laura Cruickshank		(b. 1953)	2023	Master Planner and Chief Architect and Associate Vice President, University of Connecticut	[6]
Carla Squatrito		(b. 1941)	2023	Founding president of Carla's Pasta	[6]
Regina Winters-Toussaint		(1969–2016)	2023	Architect, founder of Zared Enterprises, LLC	[6]
Cora Lee Bentley Radcliffe		(1922–2010)	2022	Founded the Tigerettes, the first black female basketball and softball team	[7]
Jennifer Rizzotti		(b. 1974)	2022	President of theConnecticut Sun American professional basketball team. Rizzotti was inducted into theWomen's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.	[7]
Lhakpa Sherpa		(b. 1973)	2022	Woman's World Record for 10 summits of Mt. Everest	[7]
Suzy Whaley		(b. 1966)	2022	First woman President of the PGA in 2018	[7]
Enola G. Aird			2021	Founder and president of Community Healing Network	[8]
Patricia Baker			2021	Founding leader of the Connecticut Health Foundation	[9]
Josephine Bennett		(1880–1961)	2020	Suffragist	[10]
Donna Berman			2021	Charter Oak Cultural Center, revamping and refocusing its purpose	[11]
Khalilah L. Brown-Dean			2021	Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs and Professor of Political Science at Quinnipiac University	[12]
Frances Ellen Burr		(1831–1923)	2020	Suffragist	[13]
Glynda C. Carr			2021	Political strategist and entrepreneur for empowering Black women.	[14]
Callie Gale Heilmann			2021	Founder, President, and Co-Director of Bridgeport Generation Now	[15]
Jerimarie Liesegang		(1950–2020)	2021	Advocate for transgender rights	[16]
Kica Matos		(b. 1966)	2021	VP of Initiatives at the Vera Institute of Justice	[17]
Marilyn Ondrasik			2021	Advocate for social and economic justice	[18]
Pamela Selders			2021	Activist, owner of Pam's Personals holistic products and services	[19]
Teresa C. Younger		(b. 1969)	2021	Activist, past director of the Connecticut General Assembly's Permanent Commission on the Status of Women and as executive director of the ACLU of Connecticut.	[20]
Catherine Flanagan		(1889–1927)	2020	Suffragist	[21][22]
Sarah Lee Brown Fleming		(1876–1963)	2020	African American suffragist, civil rights activist	[23]
Clara Hill (suffragist)		(1838–1939)	2020	Suffragist	[24][25]
Elsie Hill		(1883–1970)	2020	Suffragist	[26]
Helena Hill		(1875–1958)	2020	Suffragist	[27]
Emily Pierson		(1881–1971)	2020	Physician, suffragist	[28][29]
Marian Chertow		(b. 1955)	2019	Professor of industrial environmental management at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies	[30]
Nell Newman		(b. 1959)	2019	Founder of Newman's Own Organics pet food	[31]
Martha Langevin		(1901–1978)	2019	With her sister Elizabeth Plouffe, the two last remainingPequots to live on the Pequot Reservation	[32]
Elizabeth George Plouffe		(1895–1973)	2019	With her sister Martha Langevin, the two last remainingPequots to live on the Pequot Reservation	[32]
Lucia Chase		(1897–1986)	2018	Co-founder ofAmerican Ballet Theatre	[33][34]
Anika Noni Rose		(b. 1972)	2018	Singer, actress	[35][34]
Tina Weymouth		(b. 1950)	2018	Musician, author, founding member ofTalking Heads	[36][34]
Kristen Griest		(b. 1989)	2017	Along withShaye Haver, one of the first two women to graduate fromU.S. Army Ranger School.	[37]
Ruth A. Lucas		(1920–2013)	2017	First black female Air Force colonel	[38]
Regina Rush-Kittle		(b. 1961)	2017	Deputy Commissioner for the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.	[39]
Rebecca Lobo		(b. 1973)	2016	American television basketball analyst and former women's basketball player in theWomen's National Basketball Association	[40]
Jane Pauley		(b. 1950)	2016	American television anchor and journalist	[40]
Joyce Yerwood		(1909–1987)	2016	First African American woman physician in Fairfield County	[40]
Margaret Bourke-White		(1904–1971)	2015	American photographer and documentary photographer	[41]
Carolyn Miles		(b. 1961)	2015	CEO and president ofSave the Children	[42]
Indra Nooyi		(b. 1955)	2015	CEO ofPepsiCo	[43]
Beatrix Farrand		(1872–1959)	2014	Landscape architect	[44]
Jennifer Lawton		(b. 1963)	2014	3D printing pioneer	[45]
Marian Salzman		(b. 1959)	2014	Public relations person	[46]
Rosa DeLauro		(b. 1943)	2013	U.S. Representative for Connecticut's 3rd District	[47]
Barbara Franklin		(b. 1940)	2013	President and CEO of Barbara Franklin Enterprises, 29th U.S. Secretary of Commerce	[48]
Linda Lorimer		(b. 1952)	2013	Vice President of Yale University	[49]
Augusta Lewis Troup		(1848–1920)	2013	Union organizer, journalist and promoter of the suffrage movement	[50]
Anne Garrels		(1951–2022)	2012	Foreign correspondent forNational Public Radio	[51]
Annie Leibovitz		(b. 1949)	2012	Portrait photographer	[52]
Faith Middleton		(b. 1948)	2012	Connecticut public radio talk show host	[53]
Isabelle M. Kelley		(1917–1997)	2011	DirectorFood Stamp Program and principal author of the program	[54]
Denise Lynn Nappier		(b. 1951)	2011	First woman elected state treasurer in Connecticut history, first African American woman elected state treasurer in the nation, and first African American woman elected to statewide office in Connecticut	[55]
Patricia M. Wald		(1928–2019)	2011	Jurist, Chair of the Open Society Institute's Criminal Justice Initiative, Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs for the U.S. Department of Justice, first woman to sit on the U.S. Federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, subsequently serving as its Chief Judge	[56]
Anne M. Mulcahy		(b. 1952)	2010	Former CEO ofXerox Corporation	[57]
Martha Parsons		(1869–1965)	2010	Executive secretary of Landers, Frary and Clark Co.	[58]
Maggie Wilderotter		(b. 1955)	2010	Chairman and CEO of Frontier Communications	[59]
Martha Minerva Franklin		(1870–1968)	2009	Role model for black nurses	[60]
Carolyn M. Mazure		(b. 1949)	2009	Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology, and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs atYale School of Medicine; created Women's Health Research at Yale	[61]
Helen L. Smits		(b. 1937)	2009	Advocate for quality healthcare	[62]
Jewel Plummer Cobb		(1924–2017)	2008	Educator, cancer researcher	[63]
Patricia Goldman-Rakic		(1937–2003)	2008	Yale University School of Medicine, pioneer in working memory research	[64]
Barbara McClintock		(1902–1992)	2008	Geneticist and first woman who won theNobel Prize in Medicine unshared	[65]
Joan Steitz		(b. 1941)	2008	Yale University professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemestry	[66]
Dorothy Hamill		(b. 1956)	2007	Olympic gold medalist skater	[67]
Joan Joyce		(1940–2022)	2007	Multi-sports athlete	[68]
Glenna Collett Vare		(1903–1989)	2007	Champion golfer	[69]
Helen Keller		(1880–1968)	2006	Educator, author	[70]
Mary Townsend Seymour		(1873–1957)	2006	First African American woman to run for state office	[71]
Anne Stanback		(b. 1958)	2006	Founder of Love Makes a Family, advocate LGBT community	[72]
Martha Coolidge		(b. 1946)	2005	First female president (2002)Directors Guild of America	[73]
Helen M. Frankenthaler		(1928–2011)	2005	Abstract expressionist artist	[74]
Rosalind Russell		(1906–1976)	2005	Actress	[75]
Dotha Bushnell Hillyer		(1843–1932)	2003	BuiltBushnell Center for the Performing Arts as a memorial to her father	[76]
Clarice "Dollie" McLean		(b. 1936)	2003	Founder of The Artists Collective, a training center for the performing arts	[77]
Florence Griswold		(1850–1937)	2002	Patron ofAmerican Impressionism art,Florence Griswold Museum, theOld Lyme Art Colony was headquartered in her home	[78]
Eileen Kraus		(1938–2017)	2002	Business executive	[79]
Miriam Therese Winter		(b. 1938)	2002	Roman Catholic nun, music composer, author	[80]
Laura Nyro		(1947–1997)	2001	Singer, songwriter	[81]
Catherine Roraback		(1920–2007)	2001	Civil liberties attorney	[82]
Maria Miller Stewart		(1803–1879)	2001	Free black woman journalist, abolitionist, women's rights advocate	[83]
Emily Dunning Barringer		(1876–1961)	2000	First female ambulance surgeon and first woman medical resident at New York City's Gouverneur Hospital	[84]
Adrianne Baughns-Wallace		(b. 1944)	2000	News anchor	[85]
Mary Goodrich Jenson		(1907–2004)	2000	Aviation pioneer, newspaper reporter	[86]
Jane Hamilton-Merritt		(b. 1947)	1999	Photo journalist, war correspondent, human rights advocate, nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize	[87]
Sophie Tucker		(1884–1966)	1999	Vaudeville singer and actress	[88]
Antonina Uccello		(1922–2023)	1999	Elected mayor of Hartford in 1967, first female mayor in both the city and the state	[89]
Florence Wald		(1916–2008)	1999	Pioneered hospice care,National Women's Hall of Fame, Dean ofYale School of Nursing, American Academy of Nursing's Living Legend Award	[90]
Dorrit Hoffleit		(1907–2007)	1998	Astronomer who discovered more than 1,000 variable stars, author,Bright Star Catalogue,The General Catalogue of Trigonometric Stellar Parallaxes	[91]
Constance Baker Motley		(1921–2005)	1998	African American civil rights activist, lawyer, judge, New York State Senator	[92]
Rosa Ponselle		(1897–1981)	1998	Opera singer, honored on a U.S. postage stamp	[93]
Lillian Vernon		(1927–2015)	1998	Founded theLillian Vernon Company	[94]
Mabel Osgood Wright		(1859–1935)	1998	Founder and first president of Connecticut Audubon Society; established first bird sanctuary in U.S. in Fairfield, CT	[95]
Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt		(1826–1905)	1997	Widow ofSamuel Colt, donated her entire art and firearms collection toWadsworth Atheneum Museum, and provided funding to erect a Colt Memorial wing of the museum	[96]
Annie Dillard		(b. 1945)	1997	Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction,Pilgrim at Tinker Creek	[97]
Margo Rose		(1903–1997)	1997	American Puppet Theater	[98]
Laura Wheeler Waring		(1887–1948)	1997	Educator and artist who created portraits of prominent African Americans during theHarlem Renaissance	[99]
Edythe J. Gaines		(1922–2006)	1996	Superintendent of schools (first female and first African American)Hartford, director Hartford National Corp.	[100]
Madeleine L'Engle		(1918–2007)	1996	Newbery Award for children's literature	[101]
Susanne Langer		(1895–1985)	1996	Educator, philosopher	[102]
Helen M. Feeney		(1919–2004)	1995	Roman Catholic Chancellor of the Archdiocese	[103]
Caroline Maria Hewins		(1846–1926)	1995	Children's library services	[104]
Donna Lopiano		(b. 1946)	1995	Athlete, gender equality in sports advocate	[105]
Maria C. Sanchez		(1926–1989)	1995	First Hispanic woman elected to theConnecticut General Assembly	[106]
Mary Jobe Akeley		(1886–1966)	1994	Explorer	[107]
Anni Albers		(1899–1994)	1994	Textile artist	[108]
Marian Anderson		(1897–1993)	1994	Opera singer who broke ground for African Americans	[109]
Beatrice Fox Auerbach		(1887–1968)	1994	Philanthropist, president and director ofG. Fox & Co., from 1938 to 1959 she made her store available toConnecticut College for Women as a training program for retail education.	[110]
Emma Fielding Baker		(1828–1916)	1994	Mohegan medicine woman, tribal historian and documentarian	[111]
Evelyn Longman Batchelder		(1874–1954)	1994	Sculptor	[112]
Catharine Beecher		(1800–1878)	1994	Proponent of education for women, founded Hartford Female Seminary	[113]
Jody Cohen		(b. 1954)	1994	Rabbi	[114]
Prudence Crandall		(1803–1890)	1994	Abolitionist who accepted black students into her female academy inCanterbury, Connecticut	[115]
Katharine Seymour Day		(1870–1964)	1994	Preservationist who rescued historic homes	[116]
Fidelia Hoscott Fielding		(1827–1908)	1994	Last native speaker of theMoheganPequot language	[117]
Charlotte Perkins Gilman		(1860–1935)	1994	Sociologist and author	[118]
Dorothy Goodwin		(1914–2007)	1994	Five-term Democratic state representative	[119]
Ella Tambussi Grasso		(1919–1981)	1994	Governor of Connecticut	[120]
Estelle Griswold		(1900–1981)	1994	Griswold v. Connecticut,United States Supreme Court ruled that Connecticut's anti-birth control statute was unconstitutional	[121]
Mary Hall		(1843–1927)	1994	After passing the Connecticut Superior Court exam, won an 1882 ruling from Chief Justice John Park of the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors that women were entitle to equal protection under Connecticut statutes and entitled to practice law in the state.	[122]
Alice Hamilton		(1869–1970)	1994	First woman appointed to the faculty ofHarvard University	[123]
Katharine Hepburn		(1907–2003)	1994	Actress	[124]
Katharine Martha Houghton Hepburn		(1878–1951)	1994	Women's rights and Planned Parenthood	[125]
Isabella Beecher Hooker		(1822–1907)	1994	Founder of the Connecticut Women's Suffrage Association	[126]
Emeline Roberts Jones		(1836–1916)	1994	Dentist, considered by some to be the first woman dentist in America	[127]
Barbara Kennelly		(b. 1936)	1994	United States House of Representatives	[128]
Clare Boothe Luce		(1903–1987)	1994	United States Ambassador to Brazil,United States Ambassador to Italy,United States House of Representatives,Presidential Medal of Freedom, playwright, novelist	[129]
Rachel Taylor Milton		(1901–1995)	1994	Co-founder of the Urban League of Greater Hartford	[130]
Alice Paul		(1885–1977)	1994	Suffragist, founderNational Woman's Party	[131]
Ellen Ash Peters		(1930–2024)	1994	First woman Chief Justice of theConnecticut Supreme Court	[132]
Ann Petry		(1908–1997)	1994	Author	[133]
Sarah Porter		(1813–1900)	1994	FounderMiss Porter's School, private college prep school for girls	[134]
Theodate Pope Riddle		(1867–1946)	1994	Architect	[135]
Edna Negron Rosario		(b. 1944)	1994	Educator	[136]
Margaret Fogarty Rudkin		(1898–1967)	1994	Founder ofPepperidge Farm	[137]
Susan Saint James		(b. 1946)	1994	Actress, philanthropist	[138]
Lydia Huntley Sigourney		(1791–1865)	1994	Poet	[139]
Virginia Thrall Smith		(1836–1903)	1994	Women's and children's rights advocate	[140]
The Smiths of Glastonbury			1994	Sisters Hannah, Hancy, Cynrinthia, Laurilla, Julia and Abby. Family of early suffragists. Their homeKimberly Mansion is listed on the NRHP for Glastonbury.	[141]
Hilda Crosby Standish		(1902–2005)	1994	Connecticut's first birth control clinic	[142]
Harriet Beecher Stowe		(1811–1896)	1994	Abolitionist, author	[143]
Gladys Tantaquidgeon		(1899–2005)	1994	Mohegan anthropologist, author, council member, and elder	[144]
Betty Tianti		(1929–1994)	1994	First female president of a state AFL-CIO	[145]
Hannah Bunce Watson		(1750–1807)	1994	Newspaper publisher whose printed output supported theAmerican Revolutionary War	[146]
Chase Going Woodhouse		(1890–1984)	1994	First femaleConnecticut Secretary of State, United States House of Representatives	[147]

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• Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame

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