Women's History LibGuide: Notable People

Marie Edwards (1880-1969)

Marie Edwards was one of Indiana's most famous suffragists. In February of 1920 she helped found the League of Women Voters. This nonpartisan group's goal was to educate women about their new rights as voters. Within a year of its founding, there were over 2 million members of the League. In August of 2021 a statue of Marie was erected in Peru, Indiana, commemorating all of the work she did for women's rights. More information about Marie Edwards

Gene Stratton Porter

Born in 1863 in Wabash County, Indiana. Married in 1886, Gene began to study nature when she and her husband built a cabin near the Limberlost Swamp. She recorded her observations and photographed what she saw in the swamp, and her work was published in several magazines She began writing novels, which sold very well. 

When the swamp near their home was drilled for oil and drained for farmland, she became distressed about that and was instrumental in starting efforts for conservation. She moved to California in 1919 and was one of the first women to form her own film company; eight of her books were made into movies.             

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     Jane Pauley 

Margaret Jane Pauley was born in Indianapolis and graduated from Indiana University in Bloomington with a bachelor's degree in political science.  Pauley has had continued success in broadcast media and is best known for her role as a morning correspondent on NBC's Today Show and on Dateline NBC. Currently she hosts a monthly feature on the Today Show called "Your Life Calling", a series produced by AARP. Jane has recently become a spokesperson for bipolar disorder; she also has founded several community health centers in the Indianapolis area. More information about Jane Pauley

Janet Flanner (1892-1978) 

Janet Flanner, who often went by the name Genet, was a writer and journalist. She is most famous for being the Paris correspondent for The New Yorker magazine for almost fifty years. Born and raised in Indianapolis, her first writing job was with the Indianapolis Star. Her writings for The New Yorker were articles observing the politics, art, theatre, and  culture of France. Her essays and writings were put into book collections that are still revered. More information about Janet Flanner

                    Madam C. J. Walker                                                                                                       

Madam C.J. Walker created specialized hair products for African American hair care and was one of the first American women to become a self-made millionaire. Born as Sarah Breedlove in 1867 to parents who were recently freed slaves, Walker started her hair care line because of an illness she contracted which caused her hair to fall out. Also a civil rights activist, Walker was part of a delegation that traveled to the White House in 1917 to petition President Woodrow Wilson to make lynching a federal crime. 

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Frances Slocum 

Born in Pennsylvania in 1773, Frances was taken from her home by Delaware Indians at the age of 5. Raised by an elderly Miami Indian couple in what is now Ohio and Indiana, they gave her the name Maconaquah, meaning Young Bear. She saved an Indian who was wounded in battle and after nursing him back to health, they moved to live with his people near Peru, Indiana, on the Mississinewa River. Her husband became the chief of the Miami tribe. 

When the Miami tribe had to leave their land, Maconaquah asked that she and her family be allowed to stay on one square acre of land, where her home was. John Quincy Adams argued her case in Congress, and Maconaquah and 21 of her family were allowed to stay. She died in 1847. Miami Chief Godfroy was her great-great-grandson. Her remaining birth family located her in 1838, but even though she visited with them several times, she chose to remain with her Indian family. 

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        Saint Theodore Guerin (1798-1856)

Saint Theodore, a French nun, came to Indiana as a missionary in 1840. Over the next 16 years she established several schools in Indiana and Illinois, most notably Saint Mary-of-the Woods College near Terre Haute, Indiana. She also opened two orphanages and a free pharmacy. She was known most as a champion of justice and a career for the suffering. She is buried in Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana.  More information about Saint Theodore

Albion Fellows Bacon (1865-1933)

Albion Fellows Bacon was an American reformer and writer. Born in Evansville, Indiana, Fellows spent her life devoted to housing reform. She organized several different associations that went on to improve low-income housing. Her work culminated in the creation of the Indiana Housing Association, which passed statewide legislation in 1913.

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