Women | US-OR | Oregon

1850s

Mary Strong Kinney (09 apr 1859 – 17 jun 1938 | Salem OR – Seaside OR) suffragist, politician, Oregon State Senator, sawmill owner / manager


1860s

Sally Bush (29 oct 1860 – 03 nov 1946 | Salem OR – Salem OR) photographer, philanthropist, aka Lady of Bush House, anti-hunger activist during Great Depression

Myra Albert Wiggins (15 dec 1869 – 13 jan 1956 | Salem OR – Seattle WA) author, painter, pictorial photographer, Photo-Secession member


1870s


1880s

Imogen Cunningham (12 apr 1883 – 24 jun 1976 | Portland OR – San Francisco CA) author, mentor, photographer

Alice Elinor Lambert (08 jan 1886 – 19 feb 1981 | Corvallis OR – Marysville WA) columnist, romance novelist

Clara Elizabeth Chan Lee (21 oct 1886 – 05 oct 1993 | Portland OR – Alameda CA) first Chinese-American woman to register to vote in US, founded Chinese Women’s Jeloab [Self-Reliance] Association

Margery Elizabeth Hoffman Smith (30 aug 1888 – 08 mar 1981 | Portland OR – San Mateo CA) artist, painter, lecturer, craftsperson, interior designer, aka Grand Dame of Arts and Crafts, WPA designer / director for Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood


1890s

Genevieve Springston Lynch(20 sep 1891 – 03 aug 1961 | Forest Grove OR – Palo Alto CA) artist, art teacher, aka Gene Lynch

Consuelo Kanaga (15 may 1894 – 28 feb 1978 | Astoria OR – Yorktown Heights NY) writer, photographer

Mary Jane Carr (23 apr 1895 – 04 jan 1988 | Portland OR – Portland OR) children’s poet, author, novelist, journalist, biographer, playwright

Florence Gilbert (13 nov 1897 – 13 oct 1986 | Oregon US – Los Angeles CA) artist, actress

Margaret Goodin Fristch (03 nov 1899 – 27 jun 1993 | Salem OR – Juneau AK) architect, Oregon’s first female licensed architect, first female graduate Oregon School of Architecture


1900s

Justine Wise Polier (12 apr 1903 – 31 jul 1987 | Portland OR – New York NY) judge, first female NY Justice, anti-segregation / educational activist

Lillian Myrtle [Polly] Povey Thompson (27 dec 1904 – 26 jun 1994 | Portland OR – Portland OR) architect, one of first registered female architects, one of first female members of American Institute of Architects

Phyllis McGinley (21 mar 1905 – 22 feb 1978 | Ontario OR – New York NY) poet, author, essayist, children’s book writer

Maurine Neuberger (09 jan 1907 – 22 feb 2000 | Cloverdale OR – Portland OR) author, politician, photographer, first / only female Oregon State Senator

Julia Evelyn Godman Ruuttila (26 apr 1907 – 05 apr 1991 | Eugene OR – Anchorage AK) poet, novelist, social / peace activist, investigative journalist

Julia Caroline Butler Hansen (04 jun 1907 – 03 may 1988 | Portland OR – Cathlamet WA) State representative, children’s book author

Gale Wilhelm (26 apr 1908 – 11 jul 1991 | Eugene OR – Berkeley CA) lesbian novelist, short story writer

Beatrice Aitchison (18 jul 1908 – 22 sep 1997 | Portland OR – Washington DC) statistician, mathematician, transportation economist, first female top-level appointee at US Postal Service

Claire Falkenstein (22 jul 1908 – 23 oct 1997 | Coos Bay OR – Venice CA) painter, teacher, sculptor, printmaker, jewelry designer


1910s

Helen Margaret Duncan (03 may 1910 – 14 aug 1971 | Medford OR – Virginia City MT) author, geologist, paleontologist, pioneering geology scholar, focus on fossil records and stratigraphy

Ardyth Kennelly (15 apr 1912 – 19 jan 2005 | Glenada OR – Vancouver, British Columbia) romance novelist, mixed media artist

Hazel Ying Lee (24 aug 1912 – 25 nov 1944 | Portland OR – Great Falls MT) private pilot in China, first Chinese- American female US military pilot, WWII member of US WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots), death due to flight control tower error

Zoe Dell Lantis Nutter (14 jun 1915 –22 apr 2020 | Medford OR – Beavercreek Township OH) dancer, model, huntress, marketer, promoter, educator, commercial pilot, philanthropist

Beverly Atlee Bunn Cleary (12 apr 1916 – McMinnville OR) librarian, serial children’s / young-adult novelist

Eileen Darby Lester (12 may 1916 – 30 mar 2004 | Portland OR – Long Beach NY) celebrity photographer

Harriet Frank Jr. (02 mar 1917 – 28 jan 2020 | Portland OR – Los Angeles CA) film writer, producer

Marcia Simon Weisman (22 aug 1918 – 19 oct 1991 | Portland OR – West Hollywood CA) author, arts collector, philanthropist

Sally Lowengart Lilienthal (19 mar 1919 – 24 oct 2006 | Portland OR – San Francisco CA ) artist, sculptor, arts advocate, art collector, humanitarian, WWII radio writer, nuclear disarmament activist, founded Ploughshares Fund, member Amnesty International

Madeline DeFrees (18 nov 1919 – 11 nov 2015 | Ontario OR – Portland OR) poet, professor, nonfiction author, former religious sister

Sally Ann Lowengart Lilienthal (19 dec 1919 – 24 oct 2006 | Portland OR – San Francisco CA) artist, art collector, arts advocate, nuclear disarmament activist, founded Ploughshares Funds, vice-chair Amnesty International


1920s

Macy Elkins Morse (25 jan 1921 – 18 jul 2019 | Molalla OR – Portsmouth NH) anti-nuclear / non-violent peace activist

Jeanne Marjorie Holm (23 jun 1921 – 15 feb 2010 | Portland OR – Annapolis MD) author, historian, silversmith, women’s military activist, first female one-star general US Air Force, first female two-star general any US service branch

Patricia Beatty (26 aug 1922 – 09 jul 1991 | Portland OR – Riverside CA) author, children’s librarian, high school teacher, friend of Native Americans

Doris [Doe] Wernstedt Burn (24 apr 1923 – 09 mar 2011 | Portland OR – Bellingham WA) children’s author / illustrator

Dika Newlin (22 nov 1923 – 22 jul 2006 | Portland OR – Richmond VA) pianist, professor, composer, musicologist, Schoenberg scholar, punk rock singer, one of last living students of Arnold Schoenberg

Pat Ostroot Russell (31 dec 1923 – Portland OR) politician, WWII mail carrier / furniture maker, fourth woman on LA City Council, first female Los Angeles City Council President


1930s

Joan Adams Mondale (08 aug 1930 – 03 feb 2014 | Eugene OR – Minneapolis MN) American artist, author, arts activist, US Second Lady, aka Joan of Art

Gail M. Kelly (09 feb 1933 – 17 aug 2005 | Deer Park WA – Portland OR) author, professor, anthropologist

Beverly Dahlen (07 nov 1934 – Portland OR) poet, co-founded feminist poetics newsletter  (HOW)ever

Barbara Kay Huey Roberts (21 dec 1936 – Corvallis OR) author, state politician, first female Governor of Oregon, Harvard University program director

Virginia Euwer Wolff (25 aug 1937 – Portland OR) children’s author


1940s

Bonnie Bronson (09 mar 1940 – 04 aug 1990 | Portland OR – Mt Adams WA) painter, sculptor, prominent Portland artist 1970s-1980s

Marian Hailey-Moss (01 feb 1941 – Portland OR) author, actress, humanitarian

Joan Morris (10 feb 1943 – Portland OR) operatic mezzo-soprano

Carolyn Davidson (16 feb 1943 – Portland OR) designer, aka The Logo Lady, designed Nike swoosh logo, social / community activist

Nicki Rudolph Schully (19 jun 1943 – Eugene OR) author, shaman, priestess, philanthropist, spiritual tour guide, co-founded Fellowship of Isis, founded non-profit Sahalie Publishing Company

Frances Moore Lappé (10 feb 1944 – Pendleton OR) author, speaker, social activist, world hunger educator

Ruth E. Ryon (16 jul 1944 – 28 mar 2014 | Portland OR – Redondo Beach CA) celebrity real estate columnist, celebrity real estate journalism genre creator

Molly Gloss (20 nov 1944 – Portland OR) sci-fi / historical novelist

Honey Lee Cottrell (16 jan 1946 – 21 sep 2015 | Astoria OR – Santa Cruz CA) lesbian activist, filmmaker, photographer, San Francisco Lesbian and Gay History Project co-founder

Avel Louise Gordly (13 feb 1947 – Portland OR) activist, educator, community organizer, former politician, first African-American woman elected to Oregon State Senate

Sally Anne Struthers (28 jul 1947 – Portland OR) activist, actress, Christian ChildFund spokeswoman, beauty book co-author

Sandra Peabody (11 jan 1948 – Portland OR) actress, screenwriter, producer and acting coach, aka Lydia Cassel, Sandra Cassell

Patricia Anne McKillip (29 feb 1948 – Oregon US) fantasy / science fiction novelist


1950s

Julie Schwartz Gottman (07 apr 1951 – Portland OR) author, therapist, psychologist, researcher, public speaker

Paula Elaine Downing King (08 dec 1951 – 17 dec 2017 | Portland OR – Walla Walla WA) science fiction author, pen names: Paula E. Downing, Paula King, Paula Downing King, P. K. McAllister

Jane Kurtz (17 apr 1952 – Portland OR) picture book author, middle-grade novelist, nonfiction author, MFA professor, literacy / reading advocate

Barbara Harper (25 jun 1952 – Oregon US) author, speaker, child-birth educator, maternity reform activist, warm-water labor / birth immersion expert proponent

Barbara Lee Buholz Niven (26 feb 1953 – Portland OR) author, actress, producer

Carrie Mae Weems (20 apr 1953 – Portland OR) African-American artist, photographer, mixed media artist working with text, fabric, audio, digital images, and installation video

Marcy Cottrell Houle (01 aug 1953 – Oregon US) author, wildlife biologist

Susan Ershler (28 mar 1956 – Portland OR) author, mountaineer, public speaker

Lucy Jane Bledsoe (01 feb 1957 – Portland OR) novelist, science writer, children and adult LGBT fiction / non-fiction

Tootie Smith (03 mar 1957 – Oregon City OR) author, state politician, hazelnut farmer

April Henry (14 apr 1959 – Portland OR) thriller / mystery / young-adult novelist

Jennifer Diane Reitz (30 dec 1959 – Baker City OR) writer, trans woman, webcomic author, computer programmer, Transsexuality information website founder / facilitator