South Carolina – Special Women in SC History

Last Name: A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | R | S | T | V | W | Y

A

• Kimberly Clarice Aiken - Miss America 1994 - founder, president of HERO (Homeless Education and Resource Organization)
  
  
• Marjorie Amos-Frazier - b. 1926, Manning - first woman elected to the Charleston County Council - first female SC Public Service Commissioner
  
  

• Augusta Baker - b. 1911, d. 1998 - librarian, storyteller
  
  
• Anna DeCosta Banks - b. 1869, d. 1930 - nursing pioneer
  
  
• Margaret Catherine (Kate) Moore Barry - Battle of Cowpens heroine
  
  
• Charlotta Spears Bass - c. 1874-1969 - newspaper publisher, Civil Rights leader, first African-American woman to run for Vice President of the United States
  
  
• Mary McLeod Bethune c. 1875-1955 - founded Bethune-Cookman College, National Council for Negro Women
  –  Brief biography
  –  Bethune-Cookman College Collection - overview of collection, Bethune, and her "head-heart-hand" educational philosphy – that is, an equal focus on job training, Christianity, and mastery of at least elementary school subjects
  
  
• Ethel Martin Bolden - d. 2002 - librarian
  
  
• Mary Musgrove Matthews Bosomworth - Coosaponakesee, Queen of the Creeks
  
  
• Gwen Bristow - b. 1903, d. 1980 - bestselling author
  
  
• Lila Mae Brock - community leader
  
  
• Maxine Brown - b. 1939 - soul singer
  
  
• Betsy Byars - b. 1928 - author - scroll down
  –  Betsy Byars' website
  

• Maude Callen - b. 1898, d. 1990 - nurse/midwife
  
  
• Harriet Starr Cannon - b. 1823, d. 1896 - religious leader
  –  More about Harriet Starr Cannon
  
  
• Sallie F. Chapin - d. 1896 - author of Fitz-Hugh St. Clair, the South Carolina Rebel Boy
  
  
• Mary Boykin Miller Chesnut - b. 1823, d.1866 - wrote a diary of southern life
  –  More about Mary Boykin Miller Chesnut
  –  Plane Hill Plantation - Mary's childhood home
  
  
• Alice Childress - b. 1920, d. 1994 - writer
  –  More about Alice Childress
  
  
• Ada Clare - c. 1836, d. 1874 - writer, actor
  
  
• Septima Poinsette Clark c. 1898-1987 - Civil Rights leader
  –  More about Septima Poinsette Clark
  
  
• Queen of the Cofitachiqui - c. 1540
  –  de Soto's encounter with Queen of the Cofitachiqui
  –  More about the Cofitachiqui
  
  
• Elizabeth Boatwright Coker - b. 1908, d. 1993 - author, poet, lecturer - scroll down for biography
  
  
• Affra Harleston Coming - c. 1649-1698 - large landowner including Comingtee Plantation - Was an early settler whom fled Ireland for America in 1670 aboard the ship Carolina. Later built a house in Charleston.
  
  
• Carol Connor - b.1950, d. 2004 - first woman in South Carolina elected to the circuit court
  
  
• Margaree Seawright Crosby - b. 1941 - educator
  
  
• Ann Pamela Cunningham - b. 1816, d. 1875 - Mount Vernon Ladies Association
  –  Portrait - at the South Carolina State House
  –  Rosemont Plantation - birthplace of Ann Pamela Cunningham

• Beryl Dakers - filmmaker, journalist
  
  
• Beth Daniel - b. 1956 - professional golfer
  
  
• Viola Davis - b. 1965 in St. Matthews - Tony award winning actress
  
  
• Nancy Jane Day - b. 1905, d. 1995 - first library supervisor of South Carolina's state schools
  
  
• Ophelia DeVore-Mitchell - b. 1922 - early African-American fashion model, founder of modeling agency
  
  
• Peggy Dillard-Toone - model
  
  
• Margaret Abner Dixon, Ed.D. - educator, volunteer
  
  
• "Tillie" Maude Odell Doremus - b. 1870, d. 1937 - actress
  
  
• Julia Caroline Ripley Dorr - b. 1825, d. 1913 - writer
  –  Bibliography of Julia Caroline Ripley Dorr
  
  
• Hattie Logan Duckett - b. 1896, d.1956 - social worker, founder of the Phillis Wheatley Center
  

• Charity Edna Adams Earley - b. 1918, d. 2002 - Lieutenant Colonel, US Army
  –  More about Charity Edna Adams Earley
  
• Marian Wright Edelman - b. 1939 - founded Children's Defense Fund
  
  
• Frances Ravenel Smythe Edmunds - founding director of Historic Charleston Foundation
  
  
• Dr. Irene Dillard Elliott - b. 1893, d. 1978 - first woman to earn Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina and named University of South Carolina's first dean of women
  –  Founded University of South Carolina's Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution
  
  
• Susannah Smith Elliott - c. 1750 - flag maker
  –  Hut Plantation - Home of Susannah Smith Elliott
  
  
• Mary Gordon Ellis - b. 1890, d. 1934 - superintendent of Jasper County schools and first woman elected to the South Carolina state senate
  –  Senate Resolution commissioning portrait for Senate Chamber
  –  Portrait
  
  
• Lillian Ellison - The Fabulous Moolah - b. 1923, d. 2007 - champion wrestler
  
  
• Dr. Matilda Arabelle Evans - b. 1870, d. 1935 - first African-American woman licensed as a physician in South Carolina
  –  More about Dr. Matilda Arabelle Evans
  

• Shannon Faulkner - b. 1975 - first female member of the Corps of Cadets at The Citadel
  
  
• Lillian Brock Flemming - b. 1949 - mayor pro tempore, Greenville, SC
  
  
• Ruby Middleton Forsythe - b. 1905, d. 1992 - educator
  
  
• Kate Fowler - Revolutionary War courier
  
  
• Rosa Franklin - Georgetown - Washington state's first black female senator
  
  
• Mary Edna Fraser - silk artist
  
  
• Grace Beacham Freeman - b. 1916, d. 2002 - South Carolina Poet Laureate, 1985-1986
  
  
• Susan Pringle Frost - b. 1873, d. 1960 - suffragist, historic preservation advocate
  

• Linda Dingle Gadson - social worker, executive director of Rural Mission
  
  
• Dr. Naomi Garrett - educator
  
  
• Emily Geiger - c. 1760 - Revolutionary War courier
  –  Source documents on Emily Geiger
  
  
• Frances Guignard Gibbes - b. 1870, d. 1948 - first woman to attend South Carolina College (now the University of South Carolina)
  –  More about Frances Guignard Gibbes
  
  
• Sarah Reeve Gibbes - b. 1746, d. 1825 - guardian of several children during Revolutionary War
  –  Peaceful Retreat Plantation - Home of Sarah Reeve Gibbes
  –  Diary excerpts of Sarah Reeve Gibbes
  
  
• Leeza Gibbons - b. 1957 - entertainer
  
  
• Althea Gibson - b. 1927, d. 2003 - tennis player
  –  Detailed article about Althea Gibson
  –  More about Althea Gibson
  –  Tennis record of Althea Gibson
  –  Special recognition of Althea Gibson
  
  
• Caroline Howard Gilman - b. 1794, d. 1888 - writer
  –  Recollections of a Southern Matron written by Caroline Howard Gilman
  
  
• Maggie Wallace Glover - first black woman to serve in South Carolina's state senate
  
  
• Vivian Glover - b. 1947 - TV news producer, writer
  
  
• Lucile "Ludy" Ellerbe Godbold - b. 1900, d. 1981 - first olympiad from South Carolina
  –  More about Lucile Ellerbe Godbold - scroll down
  
  
• Janie Glymph Goree - b. 1921 - educator, SC's first African-American female mayor
  
  
• Dr. Wil Lou Gray - b. 1883, d. 1984 - educator and founder of the Wil Lou Gray Opportunity School
  
  
• Frances "Fanny" Beal Griffin - c. 1747-1799 - Revolutionary War wagon driver
  
  
• Alberta Tucker Grimes - organized first SC Head Start program
  
  
• Sarah Grimke & Angelina Grimke Weld - b. 1792, d. 1873, b. 1805, d. 1879 - activists
  –  More about the Grimke Sisters
  –  More about the Grimke Sisters with portraits

• Lugenia Key Hammond - b. 1897, d. 1991 - community leader
  
  
• Joyce Hansen - b. 1942 - author
  
  
• Caroline Etheredge Hembel - b. 1919, d. 2001 - first woman graduate of the Civilian Pilot Training Program at the University of South Carolina
  –  Magazine article - Adobe Reader
  
  
• Lieutenant Colonel Juanita Redmond Hipps - b. 1913, d. 1979 - army nurse
  
  
• Claire Miller Hopkins - artist
  
  
  
• Janice Huff - meteorologist
  
  
• Jane Edna Hunter - b. 1882, d. 1971 - activist
  
  
• Charlayne Hunter-Gault - journalist
  
  
• Anna Vaughan Huntington - b. 1876, d. 1973 - sculptress
  –  Atalaya - Anna's home (now part of Huntington Beach State Park)
  –  Brookgreen Gardens - founded by Anna Vaughan Huntington and her husband Archer
  
  
• Alice Wyche Hurley - social worker
  
  
• Helen von Kolnitz Hyer - b. 1892, d. 1983 - South Carolina Poet Laureate, 1974-1983
  

• Mary Jackson - b. 1945 - sweetgrass basketmaker
  –  Video of Mary Jackson discussing her craft
  
  
• Dr. Sara Dunlap Jackson - b. 1919, d. 1991 - federal archivist
  –  Memorial Tribute: Remembering Sara Dunlap Jackson
  
  
• Mamie "Peanut" Johnson - b. 1935 - only woman to pitch for Negro Major League
  
  
• Henrietta de Beaulieu Dering Johnston - c. 1670-1729 - portraitist - possibly America's first professional female artist
  
  
• Etta Jones - b. 1928, d. 2001 - jazz singer
  

• Herma Hill Kay - b. 1934 - legal scholar
  
  
• Clara Louise Kellogg - b. 1842, d. 1916 - opera singer
  
  
• Eartha Kitt - b. 1927, d. 2008 - singer, actress
  –  More about Eartha Kitt

• Catherine Stratton Ladd - b. 1808, d. 1899 - writer, educator
  
  
• Floride Clemson Lee - b. 1842, d. 1871 - kept a wartime diary
  –  Fort Hill Plantation - Home of Floride Clemson Lee
  

• Andie MacDowell - b. 1958 - actress
  
  
• Judith Giton Manigault - b. 1665, d. 1711 - one of the few women among the 160 persons who settled near present day Charleston under a grant from King Charles II of England
  
  
• Celia Mann - b. 1799, d. 1867 - freed slave and mid-wife
  –  More on the Mann-Simons site
  
  
• Linda Martell - b. 1946 - country-western singer
  
  
• Grace and Rachel Martin - Revolutionary War patriots
  
  
• Maria Martin - b. 1796, d.1863 - painter whose work was featured in John James Audobon's natural history books
  –  Lecture notes including audio about Maria Martin
  
  
• Cassandra Maxwell - d. 1974 - first African-American woman admitted to SC Bar, law professor
  
  
• Louisa S. McCord - b. 1810, d. 1879 - first president of Soldier's Relief Association
  –  Southern Womanhood and Slavery - biography of Louisa S. McCord
  –  Woodburn Plantation - Home of Louisa S. McCord
  
  
• Catherine McKee McCottry, M.D. - b. 1921 - medical doctor
  
  
• Carrie Allen McCray - b. 1913 - author, one of the founders of SC Writers Workshop
  
  
• Nina Mae McKinney - b. 1909, d. 1967 - actress
  –  More about Nina Mae McKinney
  –  Special recognition
  
  
• Janie L. Mines - military, business, and youth leader
  
  
• Frieda Mitchell - director, United Communities for Child Development
  
  
• Penina Moise - b. 1797, d. 1880 - writer, hymnist
  –  More about Penina Moise
  
  
• Darla Moore - business woman, philanthropist
  –  More about Darla Moore
  
  
• Rebecca Brewton Motte - b. 1738, d. 1815 - patriot and owner of Fairfield Plantation
  –  More about Rebecca Brewton Motte
  –  More about Mrs. Motte during the American Revolution
  

• Annie Greene Nelson - b. 1902, d. 1993 - first black woman in SC to write and publish a novel
  –  More about Annie Greene Nelson
  

• Nancy O'Dell - entertainment journalist
  
  
• Mary C. Simms Oliphant - b. 1891, d. 1988 - historian, author of SC History textbook used in 3rd grade classrooms for over 60 years
  

• Peggy Parish - b. 1927, d. 1988 - children's author
  –  More about Peggy Parish including list of Amelia Bedelia titles
  
  
• Mary-Louise Parker - b. 1964 - Tony Award-winning actress
  
  
• Miss James M. Perry - b. 1894, d. 1964 - first woman admitted to South Carolina Bar Association
  
• Julia Peterkin - b. 1880, d. 1961 - won Pulitzer Prize for literature
  
  
• Lucy Petway Holcombe Pickens - b. 1832, d. 1899 - strong Confederate supporter
  –  Edgewood Plantation home of Lucy Pickens - house moved to Aiken County and stands today as the Pickens-Salley House
  –  More about Lucy Petway Holcombe Pickens
  –  Lucy Petway Holcombe Pickens was the only woman to appear on Confederate currency
  
  
• Eliza Lucas Pinckney - b. 1722, d. 1793 - first to cultivate indigo on a large scale in SC
  
  
• Josephine Lyons Scott Pinckney - b. 1895, d. 1957 - author
  –  Eldorado - Home of Josephine Lyons Scott Pinckney
  
  
• The Pollitzer Sisters - social crusaders - they grew up in downtown Charleston at 5 Pitt Street
  –  Anita L. Pollitzer - b. 1894, d. 1975 - key in getting women the right to vote - recollections by close friend Georgia O'Keefe - click on links for pictures
  –  Collection of Anita L. Pollitzer papers
  
  –  Carrie T. Pollitzer - b. 1881, d. 1974 - worked for the co-education of the College of Charleston
  –  Mabel L. Pollitzer - b. 1885 , d. 1979 - helped get the first public library in Charleston - index of papers
  
  
• Elizabeth Allston Pringle - b. 1845, d. 1921 - author of A Women Rice Planter and rice grower
  –  Chicora Wood Plantation - Plantation of Elizabeth Allston Pringle
  –  White House Plantation - Plantation of Elizabeth Allston Pringle
  

• Sarah Reese - opera singer
  
  
• Jacqueline Rhinehart - b. 1958 - VP of marketing, black music, Universal Records
  
  
• Anne Worsham Richardson - b. 1922 - artist
  
  
• Dorcas Nelson Richardson - b. 1741, d. 1834 - Revolutionary War wife
  –  Big Home Plantation - Home of Dorcas Nelson Richardson
  
  
• Velma L. Richardson - b. 1951 - Brigadier General, US Army (Ret.)
  
  
• Bernice Robinson - educator
  
  

• Marguerite Eulalie Chaffe Salley - b. 1883, d. 1975 - leader for women's rights and a pioneer in Aiken real estate
  –  Eulalie Salley purchased Edgewood Plantation and moved the house to Aiken County where it still stands as the Pickens-Salley House
  
  
• Dori Sanders - peach farmer, writer
  –  More on Dori Sanders
  
  
• Martha Schofield - b. 1839, d. 1916 - educator and founder of Schofield Normal and Industrial School
  
  
• Fouche'na Everlyne "Che" Sheppard - storyteller
  
  
• Hilla Sheriff - b. 1903, d. 1988 - public health crusader
  
  
• Modjeska Monteith Simkins - c. 1899, d. 1992 - Civil Rights leader
  
  
• Bennie Lee Sinclair - b. 1939, d. 2000 - South Carolina Poet Laureate, 1986-2000
  
  
• Marlena Smalls - founder of Hallelujah Singers and Gullah Festival, actress
  
  
• Marva Smalls - network executive
  
  
• Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor - writer, broadcaster
  –  NPR Biography
  
• Alice Ravenel Huger Smith - b. 1876, d. 1958 - renaissance artist
  –  More about Alice Ravenel Huger Smith
  
  
• Myrtle Hall Smith - religious singer
  
  
• Laodicea "Dicey" Langston Springfield - b. 1759, d. 1837 - Revolutionary War heroine
  
  
• Lena Jones Wade Springs - d. 1942 - first woman nominated for vice president of the United States
  
  
• Angie Stone - R&B singer
  –  Angie Stone's Website
  
• Lily Strickland - b. 1884, d. 1958 - artist, composer, writer
  
  

• Jane Black Thomas - b. 1720, d. 1811 - Revolutionary War feminist
  
  
• Ann Donovan Timothy - d. 1793 - publisher of the Gazette of the State of South Carolina
  
• Elizabeth Ann Timothy - c. 1700-1757 - first female newspaper editor and publisher
  
  
• Jean Hoefer Toal - b. 1943 - first woman to serve as South Carolina's chief justice
  
  
• Laura Towne - founder of the Penn School, now known as the Penn Center
  
  
• Henrie Monteith Treadwell - educator, scientist, first African-American woman admitted to USC
  –  More on Treadwell
  
• Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Irene Trowell-Harris - first female African-American general of National Guard
  
  
• Shirley Tyus - b. 1950 - pilot
  

• Angelica Singleton Van Buren - b. 1817, d. 1877 - daughter-in-law of President Martin Van Buren and served as his White House hostess
  –  Home House Plantation - plantation where Angelica Singleton Van Buren was raised
  
  
• Elizabeth Hawley Gasque Van Exem - b. 1886, d. 1989 - first US Congresswoman from South Carolina
  –  More about Elizabeth Hawley Gasque Van Exem
  –  Cedar Tree Plantation - plantation of Elizabeth Hawley Gasque Van Exem
  
  
• Elizabeth O'Neill Verner - b. 1883, d. 1979 - artist
  –  More about Elizabeth O'Neill Verner
  

• Dr. Clemmie E. Webber - professor
  
  
• Helena Wells - b. 1757, d. 1824 - first South Carolina novelist - works include Constantia Neville
  
  
• Marjory Wentworth - b. 1958 - poet, teacher, South Carolina Poet Laureate 2003-present
  –  More about Marjory Wentworth
  
  
• Frances Rollin Whipper - b. 1847, d. 1901 - author
  –  Used the pen name Frank A. Rollin and authored Life and Public Services of Martin R. Delany.
  
  
• Dr. Ionia R. Whipper - c. 1874-1953 - doctor and social activist, founder of the Ionia R. Whipper Home
  
  
• Honorable Lucille Simmons Whipper - activist
  
  
• Elizabeth White - b. 1893, d. 1976 - well known for her works of art including All God's Chillun' Got Wings!
  –  The Elizabeth White House - now Sumter Gallery of Art
  
  
• Vanna White - b. 1957 - entertainer
  –  More about Vanna White
  
  
• Hannah English Williams - c. 1692-1722 - naturalist, helped catalog SC's natural resources
  
  
• Juanita Willmon-Goggins - first African-American woman elected to the SC general assembly
  
  
• Kate V. Wofford b. 1894, d. 1954 - professor, expert in rural education, first female elected to public office in SC
  
  
• Sylvia Woods - b. 1926 - restauranteur - owner of Sylvia's Restaurant in New York
  
  
• Elizabeth Evelyn Wright - b. 1872, d. 1906 - founded Voorhees Normal and Industrial School

• Dr. Anne Austin Young - b. 1892, d. 1989 - physician, helped deliver an estimated 11,000 babies
  
  
• Virginia Durant Young - c. b. 1842, d. 1906 - author; active in women's suffrage and temperance movements
  –  Portraits of Virginia Durant Young