Virginia Women in History was an annual program sponsored by theLibrary of Virginia that honored Virginia women, living and dead, for their contributions to their community, region, state, and nation.^[1] The program began in 2000 under the aegis of the Virginia Foundation for Women andDelta Kappa Gamma Society International; from 2006 to 2020 it was administered by the Library of Virginia. In 2021, it was replaced by theStrong Men and Women in Virginia History program.

• Ella Graham Agnew (1871–1958),Blacksburg, educator and social worker
• Mary Julia Baldwin (1829–1897),Staunton, educator
• Margaret Brent (c. 1601–c. 1671),Stafford County, planter
• Willa Cather (1873–1947),Frederick County, writer
• Jennie Dean (1848–1913),Manassas, educator
• Sarah Lee Fain (1888–1962),Norfolk, legislator
• Ellen Glasgow (1873–1945),Richmond, author
• Dolley Madison (1768–1849),Orange County, First Lady
• Pocahontas (c. 1596–1617),Jamestown
• Clementina Rind (c. 1740–1774),Williamsburg, printer
• Lila Meade Valentine (1865–1921), Richmond, reformer and suffragist
• Maggie Lena Walker (1864–1934), Richmond, entrepreneur and civil rights leader

• Rosa Dixon Bowser (1855–1931), Richmond, educator and civic leader
• Elizabeth Pfohl Campbell (1902–2004),Arlington, public television pioneer
• Thomasina Jordan (1940–1999),Alexandria, American Indian advocate
• Elizabeth Hobbs Keckly (1818–1907),Dinwiddie County, seamstress and author
• Theresa Pollak (1899–2002), Richmond, artist and educator
• Sally Louisa Tompkins (1833–1916), Richmond, hospital administrator
• Elizabeth Van Lew (1818–1900), Richmond, spy
• Edith Bolling Galt Wilson (1872–1961),Wytheville, First Lady

• Rebecca Adamson (born 1950),Fredericksburg, Native American advocate and business developer
• Janie Porter Barrett (1865–1948),Hanover County, educator
• Patsy Cline (1932–1963),Winchester, singer
• Hannah Lee Corbin (1728–1782),Westmoreland County, planter
• Christine Mann Darden (born 1942),Hampton, engineer
• Lillian Ward McDaniel (1902–1981), Richmond, educator and civic leader^[2]
• Mary-Cooke Branch Munford (1865–1938), Richmond, social reformer and community activist
• Jessie Manfield Rattley (1929–2001),Newport News, mayor and social activist^[3]

• Nancy Langhorne Astor (1879–1964),Albemarle County, member ofParliament
• Pearl Bailey (1918–1990), Newport News, singer and actor
• Anna Whitehead Bodeker (1826–1904), Richmond, woman suffrage advocate
• Mary Ann Elliott (born 1943),Fairfax County, entrepreneur^[4]
• Annabelle Ravenscroft Gibson Jenkins (1827–1901), Richmond, philanthropist^[5]
• Frances Benjamin Johnston (1864–1952), Fredericksburg, photographer
• Anne Dobie Peebles (1922–2012),Sussex County, civic leader^[6]
• Anne B. Spencer (1882–1975),Lynchburg, poet

• Grace Arents (1848–1926), Richmond, philanthropist
• Cockacoeske (fl. 1656–1686),Middle Peninsula,Pamunkey chief
• Katie Couric (born 1957), Arlington County, television journalist
• Ann Makemie Holden (1702–1788),Accomack County, planter
• Mary Draper Ingles (1732–1815),New River Valley, frontierswoman
• Sarah Garland Boyd Jones (1866–1905), Richmond, physician
• Elizabeth "Annie" Snyder (1921–2002), Manassas, preservationist^[7]
• Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (1731–1802), Fairfax County, First Lady

• Clara Leach Adams-Ender (born 1939),Prince William County, chief of theUnited States Army Nurse Corps
• Caitlyn Day (born 1986),Craig County, community activist^[8]
• Bessie Blount Griffin (1914–2009),Princess Anne County, inventor and forensic scientist
• Nora Houston (1883–1942), Richmond, artist and social reformer
• Barbara Johns (1935–1991),Prince Edward County,Civil Rights activist
• Mary Johnston (1870–1936),Bath County, writer and suffragist
• Lee Marshall Smith (born 1944),Roanoke, writer^[9]
• Mary Belvin Wade (1951–2003), Richmond, civic leader^[10]

• Katherine Harwood Waller Barrett (1865–1948),Henrico County, physician and educator
• Sister Marie Majella Berg (1916–2004), Arlington County, president ofMarymount University^[11]
• John-Geline MacDonald Bowman (1890–1946), Richmond, business executive^[12]
• Grace Brewster Murray Hopper (1906–1992), Arlington County, computer scientist and rear admiral
• Mary Tyler Freeman Cheek McClenahan (1917–2005), Richmond, civic leader^[13]
• Benita Fitzgerald Mosley (born 1961),Haymarket, media executive and Olympic gold medalist^[14]
• G. Anne Nelson Richardson (born 1956),King and Queen County,Rappahannock chief
• Mary Virginia Hawes Terhune (1830–1922),Amelia County, writer

• Mary Willing Byrd (1740–1814),Charles City County, planter
• Maybelle Addington Carter (1909–1978),Scott County, singer
• Laura Lu Scherer Copenhaver (1868–1940),Smyth County, founder of Rosemont Industries and Lutheran lay leader
• Mary Alice Franklin Hatwood Futrell (born 1940),Lynchburg, educator^[15]
• Mary Jeffery Galt (1844–1922),Norfolk, preservationist^[16]
• Sheila Crump Johnson (born 1949),Loudoun County, founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET) and sports franchise owner
• Opossunoquonuske (fl. 1607–1610),Chesterfield County,Appamattuck leader
• Camilla Williams (1919–2012),Danville, opera singer

• Frances Culpeper Berkeley (1634–c. 1695),James City County, leader of the Green Spring faction
• Lucy Goode Brooks (1818–1900),Richmond, founder of theFriends' Asylum for Colored Orphans
• Providencia Velazquez Gonzalez (1917–2013),Dale City, community activist^[17]
• Elizabeth Bermingham Lacy (born 1945),Richmond, judge of the Supreme Court of Virginia
• Sharyn McCrumb (born 1948),Roanoke County, writer
• Patricia Buckley Moss (1933–2024),Waynesboro, artist and philanthropist
• Isabel Wood Rogers (1924–2007),Richmond, moderator, General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA)^[18]
• Edith Turner (Wané Roonseraw) (c. 1754–1838),Southampton County, chief of theNottoway (Cheroenhaka)

• Pauline Adams (1874–1957),Norfolk,suffragist
• Caroline Bradby Cook (c. 1839–1913),King William County,Pamunkey leader and Unionist^[19]
• Claudia Emerson (1957–2014),Fredericksburg, poet
• Drew Gilpin Faust (born 1947),Clarke County, historian and president ofHarvard University
• Joann Hess Grayson (born 1948),Harrisonburg, educator and advocate for abused children^[20]
• Mary Randolph (1762–1828),Chesterfield County andRichmond, writer
• Virginia Estelle Randolph (1874–1958),Henrico County, educator
• Mary Sue Terry (born 1947),Patrick County, attorney general

• Mollie Holmes Adams (1881–1973), King William County,Upper Mattaponi leader
• Ethel Bailey Furman (1893–1976), Richmond, architect
• Edythe C. Harrison (born 1934), Norfolk, civic leader
• Janis Martin (1940–2007), Danville, singer and composer
• Kate Mason Rowland (1840–1916), Richmond, writer
• Jean Miller Skipwith (1748–1826), Mecklenburg County, book collector
• Queena Stovall (1888–1980), Lynchburg and Amherst County, artist
• Marian A. Van Landingham (born 1937), Alexandria, civic leader

• Lucy Addison (1861–1937), Roanoke, educator
• Eleanor Bontecou (1891–1976), Arlington County, attorney
• Emily White Fleming (1855–1941), Fredericksburg, preservationist^[21]
• Pearl Fu (born 1941), Roanoke, civic leader^[22]
• Lillian Lincoln Lambert (born 1940), Mechanicsville, businesswoman and author
• Bessie Niemeyer Marshall (1884–1960), Petersburg, botanical illustrator
• Felicia Warburg Rogan (born 1927), Albemarle County, vintner^[23]
• Elizabeth Henry Campbell Russell (1749–1825), Saltville, Methodist lay leader

Monica Beltran, a soldier in the Virginia Army National Guard who was awarded theBronze Star Medal withValor, one of the 2012 honorees.

• Susie May Ames (1888–1969), Accomack County, historian
• Monica Beltran (born 1985), Woodbridge, army Bronze Star Medal recipient^{[24][25][26][27][28]}
• Christiana Burdett Campbell (c. 1723–1792), Williamsburg, innkeeper
• Betty Sams Christian (1922–2006), Richmond, business executive and philanthropist^[29]
• Elizabeth Peet McIntosh (1915–2015), Woodbridge, intelligence agent
• Orleana Hawks Puckett (c. 1844–1939), Patrick and Carroll Counties, midwife
• Judith Shatin (born 1949), Charlottesville, composer
• Alice Jackson Stuart (1913–2001), Richmond, principal in a 1935 civil rights turning point

• Mary C. Alexander (1893–1955), Lynchburg, aviator
• Louise A. Reeves Archer (1893–1948), Vienna, educator
• Elizabeth Ambler Brent Carrington (1765–1842), Richmond, civic leader
• Ann Compton (born 1947), Roanoke, news correspondent
• JoAnn Falleta (born 1954), Norfolk, musician
• Cleo Powell (born 1957), Brunswick County, judge
• Inez Pruitt (born 1962),Tangier Island, physician assistant
• Eva Mae Fleming Scott (1926–2019), Amelia County, legislator, recipient of the VABPW Foundation Business Leadership Award

• Mary Berkeley Minor Blackford (1802–1896), Fredericksburg, antislavery activist
• Naomi Silverman Cohn (1888–1982), Richmond, civic activist
• Elizabeth Ashburn Duke (born 1952), Virginia Beach, banker, recipient of the VABPW Foundation Business Leadership Award
• Rachel Findlay (c. 1750–d. after August 17, 1820), Wythe County, principal in a freedom suit^[30]
• Christine Herter Kendall (1890–1981), Bath County, artist and patron of the arts
• Mildred Delores Jeter Loving (1939–2008), Caroline County, principal in a1967 civil rights turning point
• Deborah A. "Debbie" Ryan (born 1952), Albemarle County, basketball coach and cancer treatment advocate
• Stoner Winslett (born 1958), Richmond, artistic director and choreographer

• Nancy Melvina Caldwell (1868–1956), Carroll County, legislator
• Nikki Giovanni (1943–2024), Blacksburg, poet
• Ruth Coles Harris (born 1928), Richmond, business professor^[31]
• Dorothy Shoemaker McDiarmid (1906–1994), Fairfax County, legislator
• Rebekah Dulaney Peterkin (1849–1891), Richmond, philanthropist
• Vivian W. Pinn (born 1941), Lynchburg, pathologist and women's health advocate
• Elizabeth Bray Allen, also known as Elizabeth Bray Allen Smith Stith (c. 1692–1774), Isle of Wight County, planter and philanthropist
• Karenne Wood (1960–2019), Fluvanna County, Virginia Indian scholar and advocate

• Flora D. Crittenden (1924–2021), Newport News, educator and legislator
• Mary Elizabeth Nottingham Day (1907–1956), Staunton, artist
• Sarah A. Gray (c. 1847–1893), Alexandria, educator
• Edwilda Gustava Allen Isaac (1937–2022), Farmville, civil rights pioneer^[32]
• Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson (1918–2020), Hampton, mathematician
• Ana Ines Barragan King (born 1957), Richmond, founder and Artistic Director of the Latin Ballet of Virginia
• Betty Masters (1929–2015), Salem, photojournalist^[33]
• Meyera Oberndorf (1941–2015), Virginia Beach, mayor

• Corazon Sandoval Foley (born 1950), Fairfax County, community activist^[34]
• Nora Houston (1883–1942), Richmond, artist and social reformer
• Cynthia Eppes Hudson (born 1959), Nottoway County, Chief Deputy Attorney General of Virginia
• Mary Virginia Jones (born 1940), Prince William County, mechanical engineer^[35]
• Louise Harrison McCraw (1893–1975), Buckingham, author and executive secretary of the Braille Circulating Library
• Doris Crouse-Mays (born 1958), Wythe County, labor leader
• Undine Smith Moore (1904–1989), Ettrick, educator and composer
• Martha Rollins (born 1943), Richmond, community activist and philanthropist; recipient of the VABPW Foundation Business Leadership Award^[36]

• Gaye Todd Adegbalola (born 1944), blues singer and guitarist, teacher, lecturer, activist, and photographer
• Rita Dove (born 1952), poet and essayist
• Isabella Gibbons (c. 1836–1890), teacher and minister
• Marii Kyogoku Hasegawa (1918–2012), peace activist
• Kay Coles James (born 1949), president ofThe Heritage Foundation
• Barbara Kingsolver (born 1955), novelist
• Mary Aydelotte Rice Marshall (1921–1992),Virginia House of Delegates
• Temperance Flowerdew Yeardley (1590–1628), settler of theJamestown Colony

• Sharifa Alkhateeb (1946–2004)Muslim writer and teacher
• Queen Ann (Pamunkey chief) (fl. 1706–1712)
• Claudia Lane Dodson (1941–2007), women's sports advocate^[37]
• India Hamilton (c. 1879–1950), educator^[38]
• Georgeanna Seegar Jones (1912–2005), American physician who with her husband,Howard W. Jones, pioneeredin vitro fertilization in the United States
• Ona Maria Judge (c. 1773–1848), Fugitive slave of US President George Washington, who successfully escaped Mount Vernon. The Washington family never pursued her, but never freed her.
• Lucy Randolph Mason (1882–1959), civil rights activist, labor activist and suffragette
• Kate Peters Sturgill (1907–1975), musician and folk song collector

• Pauline Adams (1874–1957), suffragist
• Fannie Bayly King (1864–1951), social reformer and suffragist^[39]
• Elizabeth Dabney Langhorne Lewis (1851–1946), suffragist
• Sophie G. Meredith (1851–1928), suffragist^[40]
• Josephine Mathes Norcom (1873–1927), community activist and suffragist^[41]
• Mary Elizabeth Pidgeon (1890–1979), suffragist and labor economist
• Ora Brown Stokes (1882–1957), educator, probation officer, temperance worker, and clubwoman
• Lila Meade Valentine (1865–1921), reformer and suffragist
• Maggie Lena Mitchell Walker (1864–1934), entrepreneur and civil rights leader

• Virginia Women in History

• Women in Virginia
• Women's halls of fame
• Awards established in 2000
• 2000 establishments in Virginia
• History of women in Virginia
• Virginia history-related lists
• Lists of people from Virginia

• Use mdy dates from April 2025