Women | US-WA | Washington

1800s

1810s

1820s

1830s

1840s

1850s

1860s

Esther Clayson Pohl Lovejoy (16 nov 1869 – 31 aug 1967 | Seabeck WA – New York NY) aviator, physician, suffragist, Congressional candidate, public health pioneer, Everybody’s Equal Suffrage League founder, international medical relief work organizer, Medical Women’s International Association co-founder / first president

1870s

1880s

Marion Eugenie Bauer (15 aug 1882 – 09 aug 1955 | Walla Walla WA – South Hadley MA) author, teacher, composer, musician, music critic

1890s

Dorothy Stimson Bullitt (05 feb 1892 – 27 jun 1989 | Seattle WA – Seattle WA) philanthropist, founded King Broadcasting Company,  radio / television owner and broadcaster, first woman to buy / manage a US television station, created one of first local US television news / investigative journalism programs

Seena Owen (14 nov 1894 – 15 aug 1966 | Spokane WA – Hollywood CA) screenwriter, née Signe Auen, stage / silent screen actress

Genevieve Taggard (28 nov 1894 – 08 nov 1948 | Waitsburg WA – New York NY) poet, editor, biographer

Barbara La Marr (28 jul 1896 – 30 jan 1926 | Yakima WA – Altadena CA) screenwriter, cabaret artist, stage and film actress, pen name: Folly Lytell, born Reatha Dale Watson, aka The Girl Who Is Too Beautiful

Elizabeth Ayer (13 oct 1897 – 04 aug 1987 | Thurston WA – Lacey WA) pioneering female architect

Pearl Anderson Wanamaker (18 jan 1899 – 04 dec 1984 | Mabana WA  – Seattle WA) author, legislator, politician, short story writer, public instruction superintendent

1900s

Nancy Wilson Ross (22 nov 1901 – 18 jan 1986 | Olympia WA – Vero Beach FL) novelist, Eastern religions specialist

Margaret Murie (18 aug 1902 – 19 oct 2003 | Seattle WA – Moose WY) author, ecologist, naturalist, adventurer, pioneering conservationist

Pearl Mae Bartruff (30 may 1904 – 27 aug 1998 | Bellingham WA – Olympia WA) comics artist

Z. Vanessa Helder (30 may 1904 – 01 may 1968 | Lynden WA – Los Angeles CA) watercolorist, Precisionist painter

Lenore Glen Offord (24 oct 1905 – 24 apr 1991| Spokane WA – Ashland OR) mystery writer, critic, reviewer

Mary E. Barnard (06 dec 1909 – 25 aug 2001 | Vancouver WA – Vancouver WA) poet, biographer, Greek-English translator

1910s

Frances Rich (08 jan 1910 – 14 oct 2007 | Spokane WA – Payson AZ) actress, sculptor, Lieutenant Director US Navy Reserves, Public Relations Director at Smith College, born Irene Frances Luther Deffenbaugh

Ester Wier (17 oct 1910 – 06 jan 2000 | Seattle WA – US) author, children’s / young adult novelist

Lucy Friedlander Covington (24 nov 1910 – 20 sep 1982 | Nespelem WA – Nespelem WA) Native American, Colville tribal leader, political activist, historical preservationist

Gypsy Rose Lee (09 jan 1911 – 26 apr 1970 | Seattle WA – Los Angeles CA) dancer, memoirist, playwright, mystery writer

Sybil Virginia Burgess Plumlee (29 apr 1911 – 06 jan 2012 | Seattle WA – Lake Oswego OR) teacher, memoirist, caseworker, police officer

Thelma Johnson Streat (12 aug 1911 – 01 may 1959 | Yakima WA – Los Angeles CA) artist, dancer, educator, folklorist, textile designer, inter-cultural arts activist, founded The Negro in History visual arts / education program

Mary Therese McCarthy (21 jun 1912 – 25 oct 1989 | Seattle WA – Washington DC) critic, author,  political activist

Frances Elena Farmer (19 sep 1913 – 01 aug 1970 | Seattle WA – Indianapolis IN) stage / film actress, autobiographical author, victim of involuntary lobotomy, subject of books / movies

Helen Grace (10 jan 1914 – 21 dec 2002 | Chehalis WA – Newport Beach CA) businesswoman, co-founded / headed Helen Grace Candy Chocolates

Catherine Dean May (18 may 1914 – 28 may 2004 | Yakima WA – Rancho Mirage CA) women’s editor, news broadcaster, radio writer / commentator, first female WA State Representative

Marguerite [Dixy] Lee Ray (03 sep 1914 – 02 jan 1994 | Tacoma WA – Fox Island WA) author, marine biologist, first female Governor of Washington State

Eleanor Emmons Maccoby (15 may 1917 – 11 dec 2018 | Tacoma WA – Palo Alto CA) author, essayist, psychologist,  focus on child / gender / parent-child developmental psychology

Syvilla Fort (03 jul 1917 – 08 nov 1975 | Seattle WA – New York NY) dancer, dance teacher, African-American choreographer, danced / toured with Katherine Dunham Company, first black student st Cornish School of Allied Arts in Seattle (1932)

Anne Gould Hauberg (13 nov 1917 – 11 apr 2016 | Seattle WA – Seattle WA) civic activist, philanthropist, patron of arts

Elisabeth Waldo Denzel (18 jun 1918 – Tacoma WA) violinist, composer, songwriter, conductor, ethnomusicologist, exotica music genre pioneer

1920s

Eloise R. Giblett (17 jan 1921 – 16 sep 2009 | Tacoma WA – Seattle WA) hematologist, medical pioneer, genetic scientist, research professor, discovered first immunodeficiency disease

Leona Wood (21 may 1921 – 07 feb 2008 | Seattle WA – Los Angeles CA) writer, dancer, painter

Elinor Tibbets Van Ingen McDade (11 aug 1922 – 11 apr 2012 | Seattle WA – Sag Harbor ME) artist, gardener, gallery owner, yoga teacher, former member of US State Department

Shirley Kaufman Daleski (05 jun 1923 – 25 sep 2016 | Seattle WA – San Francisco) American-Israeli poet, translator

Doris Mae Totten Chase (29 apr 1923 – 13 dec 2008 | Seattle WA – Seattle WA) painter, sculptor, teacher, video artist

Connie Klingborg Boucher (15 jul 1923 – 20 dec 1995 | Seattle WA – San Francisco CA) author, conservationist, cartoon copyright licensing pioneer

Mary Randlett (05 may 1924 – 11 jan 2019 | Seattle WA – Seattle WA) photographer, focus on nature / public art / architecture / Northwest writers / Northwest School artists

Cecelia Svinth Carpenter (02 sep 1924 – 25 jun 2010 | Roy WA – Tacoma WA) author, educator, historian, publisher, Nasqually tribe member

Carolyn Kizer (10 dec 1925 – 09 oct 2014 | Spokane WA – Sonoma CA) poet, author, feminist

Cleo Baldon Melchior (01 jun 1927 – 12 oct 2014 | Leavenworth WA – Hollywood Hills CA) architect, landscape architect, non-fiction author

Katharine Topkins (22 jul 1927 – Seattle WA) novelist, short fiction writer

Jo Baer (07 aug 1929 – Seattle WA) author, minimalist artist, ‘radical figuration’ painter and innovator, née Josephine Gail Kleinberg

1930s

Mary Ellen [Meg] Greenfield (27 dec 1930 – 13 may 1999 | Seattle WA – Bainbridge Island WA) columnist, memoirist, editorial writer, Fulbright Scholar, awarded Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing

Megan Terry (22 jul 1932 – Seattle WA) playwright, screenwriter, theatre artist

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

Jan Haag (06 dec 1933 – Marysville WA) poet, filmmaker, needlepoint textile artist, founded American Film Institute (AFI) Directing Workshop for Women

Carolyn Lee Deuter Geise (08 sep 1935 – Olympia WA) architect, founded Geise Architects. focus on low-income housing and facilities for the community

Catharine R. Stimpson (04 jun 1936 – Bellingham WA) author, law professor, feminist scholar, Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society founding editor

Nancy Joyce Peters (03 oct 1936 – Seattle WA) writer, publisher, bookstore co-owner

Trisha Brown (25 nov 1936 – 18 mar 2017 | Aberdeen WA – San Antonio TX) artist, drawer, choreographer, post-modernist dancer

Dyan Cannon (04 jan 1937 – Tacoma WA) film editor, actress, director, producer, screenwriter, born Samille Diane Friesen

Margaret Jean [Margo] St. James (12 sep 1937 – Bellingham WA) sex-positive feminist, sex worker rights advocate, decriminalization activist

Lynn Woolsey (03 nov 1937 – Seattle WA) professor, anti-war / political activist, former US Representative, human resources manager, aka ‘first former welfare mother to serve in Congress’

Mary Rene Daheim (07 nov 1937 – Seattle WA) romance / mystery novelist

Judith Marjorie [Judy] Collins (01 may 1939 – Seattle WA) author, social activist, singer-songwriter, aka Judy Blue Eyes

Gloria M. Gutman (17 jul 1939 – Seattle WA) author, gerontologist, professor emerita, social / developmental psychologist, founding president Gerontology Association of British Columbia, elder abuse / health promotion / age-friendly housing specialist

Gillian Spencer (18 dec 1939 – Seattle WA) soap opera actress, head writer

1940s

Lavina Washines (01 apr 1940 – 02 jun 2011 | Yakama WA – Yakama WA) Kah-milt-pah elder, preservationist, treaty rights / sovereignty activist, first female leader of Yakama Nation

Felicia Hardison Londré (01 apr 1941 – Fort Lewis WA) author, essayist, professor of theater, Shakespearean authorship scholar, 19th-20th c. French / American / Russian theater history specialist

Catherine [Kitty] Kelley(04 apr 1942 – Spokane WA) journalist, unauthorized biographical author

Tess Gallagher (21 jul 1943 –Port Angeles WA) poet, author, essayist, playwright

Sharon Baird (16 aug 1943 – Seattle WA) singer, dancer, actress, voice actress, puppeteer, former / original Mouseketeer on Mickey Mouse Club tv program

Carole Nelson Douglas (15 nov 1944 – Everett WA) novelist, short fiction author

Harriet A. Hall (02 jul 1945 – Puyallup WA) aka SkepDoc, columnist, former family physician, alternative medicine skeptic

Ellie Mathews (22 oct 1945 – Port Angeles WA) memoirist, children’s author, young adult novelist, cartographer, graphic artist, prize-winning cook

Sandra [Sandy] Marth Hill (02 feb 1946 – Centralia WA) author, broadcast journalist, commercial real estate broker

Caroline Leaf (12 aug 1946 – Seattle WA) tutor, director, producer, animator, filmmaker, screenwriter

Christopher [Kit] Lynn Bakke (23 dec 1946 – Seattle WA) nurse, civil / political / women’s rights activist, former SDS / Weather Underground member

Linda Brown Buck (29 jan 1947 – Seattle WA) author, biologist, Nobel laureate, olfactory systems specialist / researcher

Jennifer Jean Warnes (03 mar 1947 – Seattle WA) singer, arranger, composer, songwriter, record producer, friend / collaborator with Leonard Cohen

Mary C. Boys (04 nov 1947 – Seattle WA) author, editor, religious studies scholar, focus on Jewish-Christian dialogue, former professor of religious education at Boston College, dean of academic affairs / professor of practical theology at Union Theological Seminary

Colleen Atwood (25 sep 1948 – Yakima WA) costume designer

Debbie Macomber (22 oct 1948 – Yakima WA) romance novelist, contemporary women’s fiction writer

Laura Linnea Jensen (16 nov 1948 – Tacoma WA) poet

Bonnie Jeanne Dunbar (03 mar 1949 – Sunnyside WA) author, former NASA astronaut, retired CEO / president of The Museum of Flight, professor of aerospace engineering

Norah O’Neill (23 aug 1949 – 22 sep 2017 | Seattle WA – Seattle WA) artist, memoirist, first licensed female Alaskan pilot, women’s aviator activist / mentor / pioneer

1950s

Jessica Amanda Salmonson (06 jan 1950 – Seattle WA) poet, editor, fantasy / horror fiction author

Anne Alexandra Lawrence (17 nov 1950 – Seattle WA) author, psychologist, sexologist, anesthesiologist, transsexual research specialist

Sheila Roberts (26 feb 1951 – Seattle WA) historical / contemporary romance novelist

Charlene Teters (25 apr 1952 – Spokane WA) aka Slum Tah, educator, lecturer, Native American painter / installation artist, senior editor Native Artist Magazine,  first artist-in-residence American Museum of Natural History

Donna Barr (13 aug 1952 – Everett WA) cartoonist, comic book author

Deanna Oliver (27 sep 1952 – Spokane WA) teacher, theatre director, film producer, voice actress, animation film writer

Jane Suzanne Fancher (24 oct 1952 – Renton WA) artist, fantasy / science fiction author

Cindy McTee (20 feb 1953 – Tacoma WA) composer, educator, music professor

Anita Lafrance Allen-Castellitto (24 mar 1953 – Port Townsend WA) author, professor, law / ethics / race relations / women’s rights / legal philosophy scholar

Barbara Minty McQueen (11 jun 1953 – Seattle WA) model, author, photographer

Diane E. Benson (10 may 1954 – Yakima WA) Alaskan writer, dramatist, politician, inspirational speaker, video production consultant, Tlingit-Norwegian-American

Patrice Ann [Pat] Murphy (09 mar 1955 – Washington US) science writer, science fiction / fantasy novelist

Mary Ann Horton (21 nov 1955 – Richland WA) computer professional, transgender educator / activist, founded Red Ace Technology Solutions

Mary Alice Mapes (09 may 1956 – Burlington WA) author, journalist, consultant, former tv news producer

Kathleen Webb (06 oct 1956 – Puyallup WA) comic book artist / writer

Star Parker (24 nov 1956 – Moses Lake WA) political writer, commentator

Lani Brockman (11 dec 1956 – Seattle WA) director, theatre actress, founder / artistic director of Studio East, co-founded Dementia Unlimited musical adaptation company

Debra Cecille Magpie Earling (03 aug 1957 – Spokane WA) novelist, short fiction writer, creative writing professor, Bitteroot Salish tribe member

Susan McMahon [Sue] Herera (15 nov 1957 – Spokane WA) tv host, reporter, financial journalist

Mary Youngblood (24 jun 1958 – Kirkland WA) Aleut-Seminole, Native American flute player / composer, first female Flutist of the Year, first Native American woman Grammy Award recipient

Karen Narasaki (04 apr 1958 – Seattle WA) civil rights leader, human rights advocate, Commissioner of US Commission on Civil Rights

Meredith Ann Pierce (05 jul 1958 – Seattle WA) librarian, speculative fiction writer

Melany Neilson (01 dec 1958 – Moses Lake WA) novelist, memoirist

Kathy Brock (24 jul 1959 – Pasco WA) broadcast journalist, television news anchor and reporter

Julia Sweeney (10 oct 1959 – Spokane WA) author, actress, comedian