1810s
Hannah Jones Armstrong Wilcox (02 aug 1810 – 19 aug 1890 | Illinois US – Winterset IA) folk figure, Lincoln neighbor, Lincoln defended her son Duff in Almanac Trial
1820s
1830s
Ellen Hardin Walworth (20 oct 1832 – 23 jun 1915 | Jacksonville IL – Washington DC) poet, author, editor, attorney, historian, biographer, social activist, domestic violence survivor / advocate, historic preservationist, Daughters of the American Revolution co-founder
Abigail Scott Duniway (22 oct 1834 – 11 oct 1915 | Groveland IL – Portland OR) writer, suffragist, women’s rights activist, newspaper editor / publisher
1840s
Sarah Ann Hackett Stevenson (02 feb 1841 – 14 aug 1909 | Buffalo Grove IL – Chicago IL) author, educator, physician, humanitarian, first female American Medical Association member, co-founded Illinois Training School for Nurses
Emma Gilson Wallace (02 sep 1841 – 07 jun 1911 | La Moille IL – Chicago IL) philanthropist, reform / charitable activist, president of both National and Illinois Women’s Relief Corps
Anna Eliza Webb Dee Young Denning (13 sep 1844 – 07 dec 1917 | Nauvoo IL – Sparks NV) women’s rights advocate, anti-polygamy activist, autobiographical author, one of Brigham Young’s 55 wives
Harriet Hubbard Ayer (27 jun 1849 – 23 nov 1903 | Chicago IL – New York NY) socialite, journalist, essayist, kidnap victim, proto-feminist, founded first successful US female-owned cosmetics company, editor of New York World newspaper women’s pages, highest paid US female journalist at the time of her death
1850s
Eleanor Elizabeth Gordon (10 oct 1852 – 06 jan 1942 | Hamilton IL – Keokuk IA) author, educator, suffragist, Unitarian minister, women’s rights activist
Wilhelmina Eisenmayer Warkentin (01 nov 1852 – 05 jul 1932 | Horse Prairie IL – Newton KS) folk figure, mistress of Warkentin Home, Mennonite pioneer farmer
Sarah Alice Addams Haldeman (05 jun 1853 – 19 mar 1915 | Cedarville IL – Chicago IL) banker, educator, social activist, craftswoman, philanthropist, Woman’s Club leader, physician’s assistant
Etta Semple (21 sep 1855 – 11 apr 1914 | Quincy IL – Ottawa KS) atheist, radical, novelist, socialist, feminist, freethinker, publisher, philanthropist, newspaper editor, medical intuitive, sanitarium founder / manager, humanitarian
Madeleine Lemoyne Ellicott (14 nov 1856 – 1945 | Chicago IL – Baltimore MD) suffragist, political activist, founder / president League of Women Voters of Maryland, co-organized Pan-American Conference of Women [1922]
Jessie A. Ackerman (04 jul 1857 – 31 mar 1951 | Frankfort IL – Pomona CA) writer, feminist, traveler, journalist, social reformer, American WCTU leader, second round-the-world missionary for World’s Woman’s Christian Temperance Union
Eva Katharine Clapp Gibson (10 aug 1857 – 1916 | Bradford IL – unknown) poet, novelist, short fiction writer, Chicago Iroquois Theatre Fire survivor
Hannah Greenebaum Solomon (14 jan 1858 – 07 dec 1942 | Chicago IL – Chicago IL) Jewish-American social activist / leader /reformer, autobiographical author, founder / first president of National Council of Jewish Women
Elizabeth [Bessie] Bradwell Helmer (20 oct 1858 – 10 jan 1927 | Chicago IL – Chicago IL) attorney, publisher, Great Chicago Fire survivor, women’s rights activist / advocate
Adelaide Johnson (26 sep 1859 – 10 nov 1955 | Plymouth IL – Washington DC) artist, sculptor, suffragist
1860s
Jane Addams (06 sep 1860 – 21 may 1935 | Cedarville IL – Chicago IL) author, sociologist, public philosopher, pioneer settlement social worker, women’s suffrage / world peace leader
Mary Ellen Richmond (05 aug 1861 – 12 sep 1928 | Belleville IL – New York NY) poet, author, Unitarian, pioneer social work researcher, social work methods textbook author, Charitable Organization Society (COS) advocate / activist, director of Charity Organizational Department of NYC Russell Sage Foundation, founded Juvenile Court, Housing Association, Pennsylvania Child Labor Committee, and Public Charities Associated
Margaret Amanada Haley (15 nov 1861 – 05 jan 1939 | Joliet IL – Chicago IL) teacher, unionist, teachers’ organizer, anti-corporate tax evasion, aka Lady Labor Slugger, first female / teacher to speak to National Education Association, first business representative of Chicago Teachers’ Federation
Loïe Fuller (15 jan 1862 – 01 jan 1928 | Fullersburg IL – Paris, France) dancer, memoirist, choreographer, free dance practitioner, stage lighting artist / inventor / patent holder
Elizabeth Penn Sprague Coolidge (30 oct 1864 – 04 nov 1953 | Chicago IL – Cambridge MA) pianist, music patron, chamber music advocate / promoter
Clara Lipman Mann (06 dec 1864 – 22 sep 1952 | Chicago IL – New York NY) playwright, stage actress
Katharine Lucinda Sharp (21 may 1865 – 01 jun 1914 | Elgin IL – Lake Placid NY) librarian, educator, college founder
Neltje Blanchan De Graff Doubleday (23 oct 1865 – 21 feb 1918 | Chicago IL – Canton, China) nature writer, scientific historian, bird / wildflower specialist, American Red Cross active volunteer
Gertrude Barnum (29 sep 1866 – 17 jun 1948 | Chicago IL – Los Angeles CA) author, diarist, labor historian, social reformer, union organizer
Ethel Sturges Dummer (23 oct 1866 – 25 feb 1954 | Chicago IL – Winnetka IL) author, philanthropist, autobiographer, social welfare reformer
Elizabeth Holmes Fisher (13 sep 1867 – 13 nov 1955 | Illinois US – Santa Barbara CA) art collector, founded USC Fisher Museum of Art, first female member of USC Board of Trustees
Maud Powell (22 aug 1867 – 08 jan 1920 | Peru IL – Uniontown PA) master violinist, women’s rights activist
Mary Hunter Austin (09 sep 1868 – 13 aug 1934 | Carlinville IL – Santa Fe NM) artist, author, lecturer, nature writer
Frances Hammell Gearhart (04 jan 1869 – 04 apr 1959 | Sagetown IL – Pasadena CA) teacher, landscape artist, watercolorist, lino / woodcut printmaker, pioneer American fine art color printmaker
Mary Agnes Meara Chase (20 apr 1869 – 24 sep 1963 | Iroquois County IL – Bethesda MD) author, botanist, feminist, typesetter, illustrator, proofreader, grasses specialist, women’s activist
1870s
Ora Littlefield Maxwell (24 oct 1871 – 15 feb 1932 | Port Byron IL – Spokane WA) librarian, Spokane Walking Club founder, climber / mountaineer adventurer
Grace Hall Hemingway (15 jun 1872 – 28 jun 1951 | Chicago IL – Oak Park IL) painter, composer, opera singer, voice teacher, mother of author Ernest Hemingway
Georgene Faulkner (06 oct 1873 – 19 jul 1958 | Chicago IL – Evanston IL) children’s book writer, storyteller, aka The Story Lady
Myrtle Reed (27 sep 1874 – 17 aug 1911 | Chicago IL – Chicago IL) poet, author, journalist, philanthropist
Kühne Beveridge (31 oct 1874 – unknown | Springfield IL – unknown) pioneering / innovative sculptor, studied sculpture in Paris with Rodin
Helen Bradford Thompson Woolley (06 nov 1874 – 24 dec 1947 | Chicago IL – Havertown PA) author, psychologist, gender-difference researcher, pioneer in child developmental studies
Nellie Augusta Knopf (19 sep 1875 – 30 apr 1962 | Chicago IL – Lansing MI) artist, landscape / still life painter
Vera Charlotte Scott Cushman (19 sep 1876 – 01 feb 1946 | Ottawa IL – Savannah GA) social worker, YWCA pioneer, prolific fundraiser, WWI soldier support activist
Eulabee Dix Becker (05 oct 1878 – 14 jun 1961 | Greenfield IL – Waterbury CT) artist, salon hostess, artist’s / photographer’s model, miniature portrait painter favoring watercolors on ivory, short-term resident at Ananda Ashrama [CA], WWII riveter / member of International Association of Machinists
Lottie Holman O’Neill (07 nov 1878 – 17 feb 1967 | Barry IL – Downers Grove IL) Illinois State Representative, equal voting rights activist / advocate
Georgia Phillips Morgan Bullock (18 nov 1878 – 29 aug 1957 | Chicago IL – Monterey CA) lawyer, pioneering female judge, legal professional women’s advocate, co-founded Women Lawyers Club of Los Angeles
Edna Noble White (03 jun 1879 – 04 may 1954 | Fairmount IL – Detroit MI) home economics educator, child development researcher, Merrill Palmer Institute first director
Inglis Fletcher (20 oct 1879 – 30 may 1969 | Alton IL – Wilmington NC) novelist, playwright
1880s
Lady Hazel Martyn Lavery (14 mar 1880 – 01 jan 1935 | Chicago IL – London UK) American-British artist, art teacher, artist’s model
Louella Rose Oettinger Parsons (06 aug 1881 – 09 dec 1972 | Freeport IL – Santa Monica CA) screenwriter, gossip columnist
Winnifred Sprague Mason Huck (14 sep 1882 – 24 aug 1936 | Chicago IL – Waukegan IL) politician, congresswoman, investigative journalist, prison reform activist / advocate
Cleo Madison (26 mar 1883 – 11 mar 1964 | Bloomington IL – Burbank CA) actress, director, producer, screenwriter, motion picture pioneer
Jesse Hazel Arms Botke (27 may 1883 – 02 oct 1972 | Chicago IL – Santa Paula CA) artist, painter, noted for bird images and gold leaf highlights
Sister Mary Joseph (28 sep 1883 – 05 jun 1967 | Peoria IL – Webster Groves MO) nun, academic, librarian, née Sherer, founder / director Gallery of Living Catholic Authors
Eunice Strong Hammond Tietjens (29 jul 1884 – 06 sep 1944 | Chicago IL – Chicago IL) poet, editor, novelist, lecturer, journalist, children’s author
Bess McAllister Flynn (16 aug 1884 – 28 feb 1976 | Chicago IL – Brightwaters NY) author, radio scriptwriter
Eleanor Josephine [Cissy] Medill Patterson (07 nov 1884 – 24 jul 1948 | Chicago IL – Marlboro MD) journalist, newspaper owner / editor, first female publisher of US major daily newspaper
Cornelia Lynde Meigs (06 dec 1884 – 10 sep 1973 | Rock Island IL – Havre de Grace MD) author, playwright, writing teacher, children’s fiction / biography writer, children’ s literature critic historian
Ruth Bryan Owen Rohde (02 oct 1885 – 26 jul 1954 | Jacksonville IL – Copenhagen, Denmark) author, diplomat, first female US Diplomat
Mary Agnes Yerkes (09 aug 1886 – 08 nov 1989 | Oak Park IL – San Mateo CA) American Impressionist painter
Wilhemina [Minnie] Vautrin (27 sep 1886 – 14 may 1941 | Secor IL – Indianapolis IN) teacher, missionary, Nanking Massacre heroine
Marjorie Merriweather Post (15 mar 1887 – 12 sep 1973 | Springfield IL – Washington DC) socialite, art collector, philanthropist, founder of General Foods
Francena Harriet Long Arnold (09 sep 1888 – 24 oct 1972 | near Literberry IL – Oak Park IL) Christian novelist
Lucy Wilson (19 oct 1888 – 22 sep 1980 | Bloomington IL – Wellesley MA) academic, professor of physics and psychology, focus on vision / optics / x-ray spectroscopy
Laura Gardin Fraser (14 sep 1889 – 13 aug 1966 | Morton Park IL – Norwalk CT) sculptor, coin designer
1890s
Fern Andra (24 nov 1893 – 08 feb 1974 | Watseka IL – Aiken SC) actress, producer, film director, script writer, born Vernal Edna Andrews
Hilda Butler Farr (06 jan 1894 – 26 aug 1969 | Chicago IL – Chicago IL) poet, pianist, composer
India Edwards (16 jun 1895 – 14 jan 1990 | Chicago IL – Sebastopol CA) politician, suffragist, memoirist, former Vice Chairwoman of US Democratic National Committee
Marguerite Rawalt (16 oct 1895 – 16 dec 1989 | Prairie City IL – Corpus Christi TX) author, attorney, feminist, women’s rights activist
Doris Batcheller Humphrey (17 oct 1895 – 29 dec 1958 | Oak Park IL – New York NY) dancer, author, choreographer, autobiographical author
Jeannette Howard Foster (03 nov 1895 – 26 jul 1981 | Oak Park IL – Pocahontas AR) poet, scholar, librarian, professor, focus on both overt / covert lesbian literature
Dorothy Keeley Aldis (13 mar 1896 – 04 jul 1966 | Chicago IL – Lake Forest IL) children’s poet, novelist, aka Poet Laureate of Young Children
Ruth Jane Mack Brunswick (17 feb 1897 – 24 jan 1946 | Chicago IL – New York NY) author, psychologist, psychoanalyst, Freudian collaborator, pioneered psychoanalytic treatment of psychoses
Marcelline Hemingway Sanford (15 jan 1898 – 09 dec 1963 | Oak Park IL – Grosse Point WI) author, lecturer, sister of Ernest Hemingway
Dorothy Louise Gage (11 jun 1898 – 11 nov 1898 | Bloomington IL – Bloomington IL) literary figure, namesake of Dorothy of Oz
Janet Loxley Lewis (17 aug 1899 – 01 dec 1998 | Chicago IL – Los Altos CA) poet, novelist
Vera Louise Caspary (13 nov 1899 – 13 jun 1987 | Chicago IL – New York NY) novelist, playwright, screenwriter, short fiction author
1900s
Coe Glade (12 aug 1900 – 23 sep 1985 | Chicago IL – New York NY) operatic mezzo-soprano
Regina Anderson (21 may 1901 – 05 feb 1993 | Chicago IL – Ossining NY) librarian, playwright, non-fiction author
Agnes Newton Keith (04 jul 1901 – 30 mar 1982 | Oak Park IL – Oak Bay, British Columbia) memoirist, POW survivor, autobiographical author
Marty Mann (15 oct 1904 – 22 jul 1980 | Chicago IL – Bridgeport CT) author, alcoholism educator, female sobriety activist
Frances E. Henne (11 oct 1906 – 21 dec 1985 | Springfield IL – Greenfield MA) author, MLIS educator, public librarian
Alicia Patterson (15 oct 1906 – 02 jul 1963 | Chicago IL – New York NY) Newsday magazine editor / founder
Viola Spolin (07 nov 1906 – 22 nov 1994 | Chicago IL – Los Angeles CA) author, educator, acting coach, theatre academic, children’s acting therapy advocate
Alice Ambrose Lazerowitz (25 nov 1906 – 25 jan 2001 | Lexington IL – Northampton MA) author, logician, lecturer, memoirist, philosopher, professor of philosophy, close disciple of Ludwig Wittgenstein
Elizabeth Wright Enright Gillham (17 sep 1907 – 06 jun 1968 | Oak Park IL – Wainscott NY) literary critic, children’s book author / illustrator, adult short story writer, creative writing teacher
1910s
Dorothea Tanning (25 aug 1910 – 31 jan 2012 | Galesburg IL – Manhattan NY) writer, painter, Dadaists, sculptor, surrealist, printmaker, costume designer
Hope Altman Abelson (21 sep 1910 – 01 sep 2006 | Chicago IL – Chicago IL) artist, producer, performing arts philanthropist
Josephine Louise Miles (11 jun 1911 – 12 may 1985 | Chicago IL – Berkeley CA) poet, literary critic
Ruth Shick Montgomery (11 jun 1912 – 10 jun 2001 | Sumner IL – Naples FL) author, psychic, journalist
Elisa Bialk Krautter (04 oct 1912 – 28 feb 1990 | Chicago IL – Hilton Head Island SC) poet, novelist, essayist, screenwriter, short story writer
Vivian Fine (28 sep 1913 – 20 mar 2000 | Chicago IL – Bennington VT) classical music composer
Virginia Komiss Graham (04 jul 1915 – 22 dec 1998 | Chicago IL – New York NY) author, memoirist, tv talk show host
Katherine Koontz Sanford (19 jul 1915 – 12 sep 2005 | Chicago IL – Camden DE) biologist, essayist, 50-year cancer researcher, aka Katherine Sanford Mifflin
Vivian Della Chiesa (09 oct 1915 – 06 jan 2009 | Chicago IL – Huntington NY) lyric soprano
Ina Ray Hutton (13 mar 1916 – 19 feb 1984 | Chicago IL – Ventura CA) tv host, musician, bandleader, all-female band founder, née Odessa Cowan
Dorothy Margaret Salisbury Davis (25 apr 1916 – 03 aug 2014 | Chicago IL – Palisades NY) novelist, short story writer, crime fiction / psychological suspense author
Frances Lasker Brody (27 may 1916 – 12 nov 2009 | Chicago IL – Los Angeles CA) arts advocate / collector /philanthropist, Los Angeles County Museum of Art founding benefactor, Huntington Library, Art Collections and Gardens guiding patron
Ethel Magafan (10 aug 1916 – 24 apr 1993 | Chicago IL – Woodstock NY) painter, muralist
Eleanor Coen Kahn (21 oct 1916 – 09 jul 2010 | Normal IL – Chicago IL) American painter, author, art teacher
Valerie Allen Marland (16 jun 1917 – 22 oct 1977 | Lacon IL – Barrington IL) First Lady of West Virginia (1953-1957), high school English teacher
Marsha Virginia Hunt (17 oct 1917 – Chicago IL) actress, fashion author, memoirist
Elizabeth Ann Bloomer Ford (28 sep 1918 – 08 jul 2011 | Chicago IL – Rancho Mirage CA) memoirist, political figure, social / recovery activist, non-fiction author, women’s rights advocate
Jean Browning Madeira (14 nov 1918 – 10 jul 1972 | Centrallia IL – Providence RI) operatic mezzo-soprano
Leona Woods Marshall Libby (09 aug 1919 – 10 nov 1986 | La Grange IL – Santa Monica CA) physicist, professor, sole female member of Manhattan Project, pioneer US nuclear reactor / atomic bomb co-creator / builder
Ellen Stewart (10 aug 1919 – 13 jan 2011 | Chicago IL or Alexandria LA – New York NY) fashion designer, theater director / producer
Katherine Louise [Katie] Lee (23 oct 1919 – 01 nov 2017 | Aledo IL – Jerome AZ) writer, actress, folk singer, photographer, environmental activist
Ellen Stewart (07 nov 1919 – 13 jan 2011 | Chicago IL or Alexandria LA – New York NY) African-American, theatre director, fashion dress designer, founded La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club
1920s
Nancy Mars Freedman (04 jul 1920 – 10 aug 2010 | Evanston IL – Greenbrae CA) actress, feminist, novelist, playwright
Janet Rosenberg Jagan (20 oct 1920 – 28 mar 2009 | Chicago IL – Belém, Brazil) poet, children’s author-publisher, social / political / women’s rights activist, first female Prime Minister and first female President of Guyana
Betty Naomi Goldstein Friedan (04 feb 1921 – 04 feb 2006 | Peoria IL – Washington DC) activist, writer, feminist
Kathrine Story [Kay] French (05 jun 1922 – 14 jun 2006 | Champaign IL – Portland OR) author, professor, anthropologist, focus on ceremonialism and naming practices of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation
Casey Ribicoff (05 dec 1922 – 22 aug 2011 | Chicago IL – New York NY) socialite, philanthropist, born Lois Ruth Mell, political family member by marriage
Elizabeth Hawley (09 nov 1923 – 26 jan 2018 | Chicago IL – Kathmandu, Nepal) author, journalist, Himalayan expedition chronicler, aka The Sherlock Holmes of the Mountaineering World
Patricia Roberts Harris (31 may 1924 – 23 mar 1985 | Mattoon IL – Washington DC) attorney, US Ambassador, first African-American female Presidential Cabinet Member
Mariana Yampolsky (06 sep 1925 – 03 may 2002 | Chicago IL – Mexico City, Mexico) artist, photographer
Phyllis Morris (19 oct 1925 – 05 sep 1988 | Chicago IL – Los Angeles CA) furniture designer, interior decorator, aka Designer to the Stars, founded Phyllis Morris Originals
Carol Fox (15 jun 1926 – 21 jul 1981 | Chicago IL – Chicago IL) opera impresario, co-founder Lyric Opera of Chicago
Alison Lurie (03 sep 1926 – Chicago IL) novelist, academic, nonfiction writer, Pulitzer Prize laureate
Barbara Louise Mertz (29 sep 1927 – 08 aug 2013 | Canton IL – Frederick MD) author, Egyptologist, mystery novelist, pen names: Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels
Loreley [Lee] June Phillip Bell (10 jun 1928 – 25 feb 2020 | Chicago IL – Beverley Hills CA) author, former talk show host, soap opera creator, first woman to receive Governor’s Award from Chicago chapter of National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
Barbara Taylor Bowman (30 oct 1928 – Chicago IL) author, professor, early childhood education expert / advocate
Bonnie Jean Churchill (28 dec 1928 – 17 jul 2017 | Chicago IL – Los Angeles CA) editor, author, columnist, radio personality, former child actress
Vivian Gussin Paley (25 jan 1929 – 26 jul 2019 | Chicago IL – Crozet VA) author, children’s book writer, preschool / kindergarten teacher, early childhood education researcher
Dolores Delahanty (23 oct 1929 – Rockford IL) educator, social worker, women’s rights activist, local government administrator, founding member National Women’s Political Caucus
1930s
Abbey Lincoln (06 aug 1930 – 14 aug 2010 | Chicago IL – New York NY) civil rights activist, jazz vocalist / composer, born Anna Marie Wooldridge
Natalie Allyn Wakeley Sleeth (29 oct 1930 – 21 mar 1992 | Evanston IL – Denver CO) pianist, composer, hymnist
Priscilla McClure Johnson Paetsch (18 nov 1931 – 19 jul 2017 | Evanston IL – Colorado Springs CO) artist, sculptor, violinist, composer, Arabian horse trainer, mother of seven musicians, Paetsch Family Chamber Music Ensemble co-founder
Ann Weldy (15 sep 1932 – Joliet IL) LGBT historian, professor, associate dean, lesbian pulp fiction novelist, pen name: Ann Bannon
M. J. [Mary Jane] Engh (26 jan 1933 – McLeansboro IL) science fiction author, pen name Jane Beauclerk, independent Roman scholar, named author emerita by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
Sydel Finfer Silverman Wolf (20 may 1933 – 25 mar 2019 | Chicago IL – New York NY) author, researcher, professor, anthropologist, advocate for archival preservation of anthropological research
Jamie Chisam Gilson (04 jul 1933 – Beardstown IL) children’s book author, tv / radio scriptwriter
Judith [Judy] O’Bannon Willsey (30 apr 1935 – Downers Grove IL) past First Lady of Indiana, chair of O’Bannon Publishing, leader in community development / historic preservation, host / writer / co-producer for public television series Communities Building Community
Jean Frances Herskovits (20 may 1935 – 05 feb 2019 | Evanston IL – New York NY) author, essayist, research professor of history, specialist in African/Nigerian history and politics
Elsie Ivancich Dunin (19 jul 1935 – Chicago IL) author, professor, choreographer, dance ethnologist
Patricia Lemon McGuire (16 sep 1936 – 19 dec 2013 | Bloomington IL – South Bend IN) mentor, housing activist, trapeze artist, professional fisherwoman, state softball league coach / founder, pioneer female maintenance director
Mary Francine Dorham [Merri] Dee (30 oct 1936 – Chicago IL) civic leader, memoirist, philanthropist, broadcast journalist
Mary Allen Wilkes (25 sep 1937 – Chicago IL) author, essayist, former computer programmer / logic designer, focus on work with LNC now known as world’s first personal computer
Arline M. Fantin (26 sep 1937 – Calumet IL) former state politician, florist / floral arranger
Doris Cole (09 mar 1938 – Chicago IL) author, architect, wrote first book about American women architects
Diane Judith Nash (15 may 1938 – Chicago IL) civil rights activist, Freedom Rider, leader / co-founder / strategist for SNCC [Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee]
Dolores Hicks Hart (20 oct 1938 – Chicago IL) former actress, Catholic religious sister, autobiographical author
Roberta Wolin Raymond (16 nov 1938 – 07 may 2019 | Oak Park IL – Chicago IL) actor, artist, writer, sociologist, civil rights worker
Marion Dane Bauer (20 nov 1938 – Oglesby IL) children’s fiction / nonfiction author
Mary Marr Platt (29 jan 1939 – 27 jul 2011 | Fort Sheridan IL – New York NY) film producer, screenwriter, production designer
Nicole Hollander (25 apr 1939 – Chicago IL) writer, cartoonist, illustrator
Judith Anne [Judy] Manes Nelson (10 sep 1939 – 28 may 2012 | Evanston IL – Albany CA) soprano soloist
Marilyn L. Taylor (02 oct 1939 – Chicago IL) poet, former professor of poetry / poetics, workshop leader, former Wisconsin Poet Laureate
Grace Barnett Wing Slick (30 oct 1939 – Highland Park IL) visual artist, memoirist, singer-songwriter, aka Gracie, The Acid Queen, The Chrome Nun
1940s
Margo Lederer Howard (15 mar 1940 – Chicago IL) writer, memoirist, former advice columnist
Gladys Nilsson (06 may 1940 – Chicago IL) painter, one of original Chicago Imagists
Judy Rae Grahn (28 jul 1940 – Chicago IL) poet, author, feminist / lesbian focus
Raquel Welch (05 sep 1940 – Chicago IL) actress, memoirist, businesswoman, yoga / fitness / beauty author, née Jo Raquel Tejada
Wendy Doniger O’Flaherty (20 nov 1940 – Chicago IL) author, professor, Indologist, translator, Hindu / Sanskrit historian
Donella [Dana] Meadows (13 mar 1941 – 20 feb 2001 | Elgin IL – Hanover NH) writer, teacher, environmentalist
Carol Sophie Bruch (11 jun 1941 – Winnebago IL) author, legal scholar / professor, family marital property law expert
Karen Cushman (04 oct 1941 – Chicago IL) young-adult historical novelist
Carol Gluck (12 nov 1941 – Chicago IL) author, academic, Japanologist
Helaine Fendelman (25 jan 1942 – Riverside IL) author, tv co-host / instructor, antiques generalist, folk art specialist, fine arts / collectibles appraiser
Diana Oughton (26 jan 1942 – 06 mar 1970 | Dwight IL – New York NY) student activist, American Friends Service field worker, Children’s Community School teacher, Students for a Democratic Society and Weatherman member, died while constructing a nail bomb that exploded
Jeannine Karabas [Jean] Doumanian (28 jul 1942 – Chicago IL) film / stage / television producer
Cynthia Felice (12 oct 1942 – Chicago IL) science fiction novelist, short fiction writer
Sharon Tyler Herbst (26 nov 1942 – 26 jan 2007 | Chicago IL – Bodega Bay CA) chef, cookbook / culinary author, food / travel journalist
Senga Nengudi (18 sep 1943 – Chicago IL) poet, painter, curator, writer, born Sue Irons, visual artist, found object artist, installation and performance artist, aka Harriet Chin, Propecia Lee, Lily B. Moor
Aurelia Erskine Brazeal (24 nov 1943 – Chicago IL) US diplomat, public servant
Sue Miller (29 nov 1943 – Chicago IL) novelist, nonfiction author, creative writing professor
Pam Zekman (22 oct 1944 – Chicago IL) former competitive figure skater, Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter
Frances Elisabeth Olsen (04 feb 1945 – Chicago IL) author, lecturer, feminist, law professor, Feminist Legal Theorist, public interest lawyer, legal academic women’s group Fem-Crits founder
Merle [Mimsy] Farmer (28 feb 1945 – Chicago IL) artist, actress, sculptor
Judy Fiskin (01 apr 1945 – Chicago IL) author, photographer, video artist, professor at California Institute of the Arts
Joan Wanda Bresnan (22 aug 1945 – Chicago IL) author, linguistics professor, Lexical-Functional Grammar innovator / architect
Laurie Spiegel (20 sep 1945 – Chicago IL) musician, essayist, algorithmic / electronic-music composer
Holle Thee MarClaRoDe Maxwell (17 oct 1945 – Chicago IL) singer-songwriter, pop / R&B / jazz / opera / soul / blues / country singer, aka Queen of Entertaining Entertainers
Patricia Ireland (19 oct 1945 – Oak Park IL) feminist, women’s rights activist, autobiographical author, former president National Organization for Women (NOW), national presidential campaign manager
Nancy Davis Griffeth (26 oct 1945 – Oak Park IL) professor, researcher, computer scientist
Leilani [Lani] Hall (06 nov 1945 – Chicago IL) poet, singer, author, lyricist, memoirist, producer, short fiction writer
Deborah Eisenberg (20 nov 1945 – Winnetka IL) actor, teacher, short story writer
Phyllis Eisenstein (26 feb 1946 – Chicago IL) fantasy/science fiction novelist, short story writer
Mary-Claire King (27 feb 1946 – Illinois US) author, professor of genome sciences and medical genetics, research focus on interaction of genetics / environmental impacts on human conditions
Nancy Shade (31 may 1946 – Rockford IL) operatic spinto soprano
Maura Stanton (09 sep 1946 – Evanston IL) poet, novelist, anthologist, poetry critic, short fiction writer
Kathleen Thompson (12 sep 1946 – Chicago IL) author, activist, feminist, co-founded OneHistory, women’s advocate, print documentarian, multi-cultural historian, theatre co-founder / artistic director, first feminist bookstore owner in Chicago
Carol Kontos (05 dec 1946 – Sterling IL) professor of English, Maine State politician
Ann Compton (19 jan 1947 – Chicago IL) journalist, tv news reporter / correspondent
Karyn Calabrese (20 apr 1947 – Chicago IL) author, raw foodist, restaurateur
Laura Phillips [Laurie] Anderson (05 jun 1947 – Glen Ellyn IL) author, sculptor, musician, composer, experimental performance artist
Carol Elizabeth Moseley Braun (16 aug 1947 – Chicago IL) lawyer, politician, ambassador, sole female IL Senator, first female African-American Senator
Rhonda Jo Weisburg Hughes (28 sep 1947 – Chicago IL) mathematician, professor emerita of mathematics, focus on functional analysis
Linda Kay [Lynn] Lowry (15 oct 1947 – East St. Louis IL) actress, producer, screenwriter
Margo Lillian Jefferson (17 oct 1947 – Chicago IL) author, former theatre critic, journalism / writing professor
Hillary Rodham Clinton (26 oct 1947 – Chicago IL) author, feminist, politician, former US First Lady, first major US party female Presidential candidate
Diane Ackerman (07 oct 1948 – Waukegan IL) poet, author, naturalist
Carol Marin (10 oct 1948 – Palatine IL) tv / print journalist
Laura S. Roslof (12 nov 1948 – 02 apr 2018 | DeKalb IL – Elkhorn WI) artist, focus on fantasy / stained glass, created [with husband] for Dungeons & Dragons
Bonnie Greer (16 nov 1948 – Chicago IL) critic, novelist, playwright, broadcaster, American-British, television panelist, board member of several arts organizations
Megan McTavish (30 apr 1949 – Elgin IL) soap opera screenwriter
Teresa Ann [Terry] Sullivan (09 jul 1949 – Kewanee IL) author, sociologist, university president / administrator
Caroline Kava (25 sep 1949 – Chicago IL) actress, playwright
Meg Brussert (21 oct 1949 – Chicago IL) singer, actress, university professor
Susan [Sue] Hendrickson (02 dec 1949 – Chicago IL) author, memoirist, paleontologist, marine archeologist
1950s
Karen Nussbaum (25 apr 1950 – Chicago IL) labor leader, executive director of Working America, co-founded 9to5 organization, co-created female office workers union
Amy Marie Madigan (11 sep 1950 – Chicago IL) singer, actress, producer
Thubten Chodren (18 sep 1950 – Chicago IL) born Cheryl Greene, Tibetan Buddhist nun, author, editor, teacher, founder / abbess of Sravasti Abbey
Sue Carol Payton (29 sep 1950 – Champaign IL) author, businesswoman, former US Assistant Secretary of Air Force Acquisition
Darlene Koldenhoven (09 oct 1950 – Chicago IL) actor, author, pianist, soprano, songwriter, arranger, composer, keyboardist, record producer, educational speaker, music therapist, music industry consultant
Patricia [Pat] Marie Cummings (09 nov 1950 – Chicago IL) children’s book author / illustrator
Naomi Lindstrom (21 nov 1950 – Chicago IL) author, literary critic
Tina Yvonne Andrews (23 apr 1951 – Chicago IL) author, actress, playwright, producer, screenwriter
Susan Lynn [Suze] Orman (05 jun 1951 – Chicago IL) author, tv host, financial advisor, motivational speaker
Karen Jane Allen (05 oct 1951 – Carrollton IL) actress, director, yoga teacher, knitter / knitwear designer, fiber artist / entrepreneur
Belle Smith Wheelan (10 oct 1951 – Chicago IL) educator, politician, former Virginia Secretary of Education, president / CEO of Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
Carolyn Coman (28 oct 1951 – Evanston IL) editor, author, bookbinder, young adult novelist, children’s book writer
Ginny McSwain (02 nov 1951 – Arlington Heights IL) voice actress, voice casting director, animation production professional
Cara Black (14 nov 1951 – Chicago IL) serial mystery novelist, preschool teacher / director
Dianne P. O’Leary (20 nov 1951 – Chicago IL) author, professor emerita, computer scientist, mathematician
Carol Tyler (20 nov 1951 – Chicago IL) painter, educator, comedian, cartoonist autobiographical story writer
Penny Severns (21 jan 1952 – 21 feb 1998 | Decatur IL – Decatur IL) State politician, secret lesbian, namesake for Penny Severns Breast and Cervical Cancer Research Fund
Christie Ann Hefner (08 nov 1952 – Chicago IL) philanthropist, progressive political activist, former CEO / Chair Playboy Enterprises
Caroline Myss (02 dec 1952 – Chicago IL) author, mystic, medical intuitive, spiritual teacher
Alile Sharon Larkin (06 may 1953 – Chicago IL) L. A. Rebellion member, film writer / producer / director, co-founded Black Filmmakers Collective
Ana Castillo (15 jun 1953 – Chicago IL) poet, editor, novelist, essayist, translator, playwright, short story writer, independent scholar
Paula Begoun (14 nov 1953 – Chicago IL) talk radio host, businesswoman, aka The Cosmetics Cop, self-published author, founded product review site Beautypedia.com
Mari Maseng Will (15 mar 1954 – Chicago IL) US Republican political advisor, Citizens for the Republic director
Deborah Blum (19 oct 1954 – Urbana IL) author, journalist, professor, Pulitzer Prize laureate
Ann Carlson (21 oct 1954 – Park Ridge IL) dancer, choreographer, performance artist, explores contemporary social issues
Rickie Lee Jones (08 nov 1954 – Chicago IL) actress, vocalist, narrator, producer, songwriter, pop / soul / rock / jazz / R&B musician
Martha Minow (06 dec 1954 – Highland Park IL) author, professor law, Dean of Harvard Law School
Kathleen Patricia Brennan (02 mar 1955 – Johnsburg IL) artist, painter, musician, songwriter, record producer
Jennifer Stephenson (06 oct 1955 – Waukegan IL) feminist speculative fiction author
Christine Brewer (26 oct 1955 – Grand Tower IL) operatic soprano
Maria Owings Shriver (06 nov 1955 – Chicago IL) author, activist, journalist, political family member, founder / publisher of The Shriver Report, former First Lady of California
Patricia Barber (08 nov 1955 – Chicago IL) author, pianist, songwriter, bandleader, jazz / blues singer
Rosina Lippi-Green (14 jan 1956 – Chicago IL) linguist, pen name Sara Donati, historical / romance novelist
Susan Solomon (19 jan 1956 – Chicago IL) author, atmospheric chemist, ozone research specialist, affiliated with US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Laura Kipnis (19 jul 1956 – Chicago IL) media artist, cultural critic, academic essayist, feminist intellectual, media studies professor
Debra Martin Chase (11 oct 1956 – Great Lakes IL) lawyer, film television producer
Patricia Tallman (04 sep 1957 – Pontiac IL) actress, stunt performer, studio executive, autobiographical author
Sharon Bridgforth (15 may 1958 – Chicago IL) author, novelist, African-American herstorian, performance artist
Gail Mancuso Cordray (14 jul 1958 – Melrose Park IL) television director
Rachel Talaly (16 aug 1958 – Chicago IL) film professor, film / television director and producer
Devon Jersild (25 aug 1958 – Oak Park IL) author, essayist, psychologist, short fiction writer
Dawn-Michelle Baude (15 jan 1959 – Belleville IL) poet, essayist, educator, journalist, translator, fiction / nonfiction author
Lisa Holton (15 mar 1959 – Chicago IL) writer, editor, journalist, researcher
Penny Sue Pritzker (02 may 1959 – Chicago IL) civic leader, entrepreneur, philanthropist, business executive, US Secretary of Commerce, Canadian MP, businesswoman, charitable foundation founder / leader
Aphrodite Jones (27 nov 1959 – Chicago IL) author, reporter, executive producer