This is a list of American women's firsts, noting the first time that an American woman or women achieved a given historical feat. Inclusion on the list is reserved for achievements by American women that have significant historical impact.
Lydia Taft was the first woman known to vote legally in Colonial America after her husband died and son left her; she was granted permission to vote through a Massachusetts town meeting.[8]
Harriot Kezia Hunt was one of the first American women to practice medicine professionally, and "clearly the first to achieve a marked success".[1][15]
Harriet Tubman was the first American woman to run an underground railroad to help slaves escape. Some scholars label her the "Queen of the Underground Railroad".[22]
1853
Antoinette Brown Blackwell was the first woman ordained as a minister in America; she was ordained by the Congregational Church.[23]
1854
Amelia Butler was the first known American woman to perform as a clown.[24]
1855
Anne Elizabeth McDowell was the first American woman to publish a newspaper completely run by women; it was circulated weekly and titled, "Women's Advocate".[25][26]
Emeline Roberts Jones was the first woman to practice dentistry in the United States.[27] She married the dentist Daniel Jones when she was a teenager, and became his assistant in 1855.[28]
Arabella Mansfield was the first American woman to become a professional lawyer; she was admitted to the Iowa bar.[32][4]
1870s
Victoria Woodhull c1870
1870
Louisa Swain was the first woman in the United States to vote in a general election, after the women of New Jersey lost the right to vote in 1807; she cast her ballot on September 6, 1870, in Laramie, Wyoming.[33][34]
Wilhelmina Weber Furlong was the first American woman Modernist studio painter from the early American Modernism scene in Manhattan, New York[51]
1893
Florence Kelley was the first woman to hold statewide office when Governor John Peter Altgeld appointed her Chief Factory Inspector for the state of Illinois.[52]
Sarah Garland Boyd Jones became the first African American and the first woman physician to pass the Virginia Medical Examining Board's examination.[53]
1896
May Irwin was the first actress in America to kiss on screen, which she did in the film The Kiss.[54]
Dorothy Tyler was the first known American woman jockey.[61]
1908
Lola Baldwin was the first known woman performing duties as police officer in the United States; she worked at Portland Police Bureau until 1922.
The first Mother's Day was observed; Anna Jarvis is noted as the driving force for recognition of this holiday.[62]
The first U.S. Navy nurses, known as the Sacred Twenty, were appointed; they were all women, and were the first women to formally serve in the U.S. Navy.[63]
November 21 – Rebecca Latimer Felton became the first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate; she appointed by the state governor to represent Georgia, although she served for only one day.[73][4]
Juliana R. Force was the first woman to present folk art in an official public showing exhibition in America.
Mamie George S. Williams became the first woman from Georgia and the first African-American woman in the nation to serve on the National Republican Committee; later in the same year, Williams became the first woman in U.S. history accorded the floor of the National Republican Convention.[90]
An All-Woman Supreme Court in Texas, the first woman-majority state Supreme Court in U.S. history, sits for a five-month special sitting on a single case, disbanding shortly afterward.
Ellen Church was the first female flight attendant in America; she suggested the idea of female nurses on board to Boeing Air Transport, claiming that if people felt safer they would fly more.[94]
Ruth Bryan Owen became the first woman ever to serve as a chief of mission at the minister rank, and as such the first woman to serve as minister to Denmark and Iceland; she served under President Franklin D. Roosevelt.[99]
Esther McGowin Blake was the first woman in the U.S. Air Force. She enlisted in the first minute of the first hour of the first day regular Air Force duty was authorized for women on July 8, 1948.[123]
Maryly Van Leer Peck became Vanderbilt University's first chemical engineer graduate. Peck also became the first woman to receive an M.S. and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Florida. Later she became the first female member of Tau Beta Pi, the oldest engineering honor society. Peck later became the first woman to be named president of any of Florida's community colleges.[128][129]
Paula Ackerman was the first woman in America to perform rabbinical functions.[130]
Arie Taylor became the first black person to become a U.S. Women's Air Force classroom instructor.[131]
Helen E. Myers of Lancaster, Pa., a 1941 graduate of Temple University, was commissioned as the U.S. Army Dental Corps' first woman dental officer.[132]
December 16: Anna Der-Vartanian became the U.S. Navy's first female master chief petty officer; this made her the first female master chief in the Navy, as well as the first female E-9 in the entire U.S. Armed Services. She received a personal letter from then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower congratulating her on her accomplishment.[134]
1953
Fae Adams was the first female to receive regular commission as a doctor in the United States Army.[135]
Toni Stone, also known by her married name Marcenia Lyle Alberga, was the first of three women to play Negro league baseball, and thus the first woman to play as a regular on an American big-league professional baseball team.[137][138]
Ruby Bradley, upon leaving Korea, was given a full-dress honor guard ceremony, the first woman ever to receive a national or international guard salute.[139]
Clotilde Dent Bowen became the U.S. Army's first black female physician to attain the rank of colonel.[131]
1956
Tenley Albright was the first woman in America to win the Olympic gold medal in figure skating.[146]
Vel Phillips became the first woman and the first African-American member of the Common Council in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and given the title "Madam Alderman" by local officials.[147][148]
1957
Decoy: Police Woman was the first television show to feature a female police officer, and in fact the first built around a female protagonist.[149]
1959
Arlene Pieper became the first woman to officially finish a marathon in the United States when she finished the Pikes Peak Marathon in Manitou Springs, Colorado, in 1959.[150][151]
1960s
Judy Garland at Greek Theater
1960
Master Gunnery Sergeant Geraldine M. Moran became the first female Marine promoted to E-9.[152]
1961
The first female U.S. Marine to be promoted to Sergeant Major (Bertha Peters Billeb).[152][153]
Carol Doda was the first woman in America to perform as a topless entertainer.
Isabel Benham was the first female partner in R.W. Pressprich & Co.'s 55-year history, which also made her the first female partner at any Wall Street bond house.[166][167]
Ann Bancroft was the first woman to reach the North Pole by foot and dogsled, "...she became the first known woman to cross the ice to the North Pole."[236]
Nancy Lieberman joined the United States Basketball League (USBL), thus becoming the first woman to play in a men's professional basketball league.[237]
Dr. Lenora Fulani was the first female (and first African-American) presidential candidate to secure ballot access in all 50 states;[241] she also secured the most votes ever gained by a female candidate in a presidential election until 2012.[242]
Tina Turner was the first woman and first African-American woman to set a Guinness World Record for the then-largest paying audience for a concert (180,000 fans).[244]
Minnesota's Supreme Court became the first woman-majority state supreme court that was appointed and sat for a regular session.
1992
Manon Rhéaume was the first woman to play in a National Hockey League game; although she was Canadian, "She played goalie for the Tampa Bay Lightning..."[249]
June 1 – Deborah Walsh became the first woman in the U.S. Coast Guard promoted to Chief Warrant officer in Aviation Engineering (AVI).[156]
July 1 – Regina Mills became the U.S. Navy's first female Aviation Deck LDO.[284]
July – Lucille "Pam" Thompson became the first African-American woman to serve as a U.S. Coast Guard Special Agent; she served in this capacity until July 2004
January 3 – Jeanne Shaheen became the first woman to hold the offices of U.S. Senator and state Governor, being elected as governor of New Hampshire from 1997 to 2003 and U.S. senator for New Hampshire since 2009.
Jennifer Gorovitz was the first woman to lead a large Jewish federation in America (specifically, the Jewish Community Federation, based in San Francisco).[319]
Katy Perry was the first female artist in history to have five consecutive number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 from one album, thus awarding her with the Billboard Spotlight Award.[326]
Rosie Napravnik rode the filly Unlimited Budget to a 6th place finish in the 2013 Belmont, becoming the first woman to ride all three Triple Crown races in the same year.[334]
Davie Jane Gilmour was the first woman to lead the Board of Directors for Little League.[335]
UFC 157, which took place in February, featured not only the first women's fight in UFC history but also the first UFC event headlined by two female fighters (Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche).[337]
Rabbi Deborah Waxman was elected as the President of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. As the President, she is believed to have been the first woman and first lesbian to lead a Jewish congregational union, and the first female rabbi and first lesbian to lead a Jewish seminary; RRC is both a congregational union and a seminary.[338][339][340]
On March 1, 2013, Privateers owner and president Nicole Kirnan served as the team's coach for the first time, making her the first woman to coach a professional hockey team in the United States.[342][343]
Jodi Eller was the first woman to complete the 1,515 mile Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail.[348]
The American Council of the Blind (ACB) voted unanimously to elect Kim Charlson as its president, making her the first female president of a major national blindness consumer advocacy organization in the United States.[349]
Lauren Silberman was the first woman to try out at an NFL Regional Scouting Combine, and thus the first woman to try out for the NFL (she tried out as a kicker), but she did not succeed.[350]
Vanessa O'Brien became the first woman to climb the highest peak on each continent (The Seven Summits) in the shortest period of time (295 days), resulting in a Guinness World Record.[351]
Official portrait of Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, 2015
Becky Hammon became the first full-time female coach in the NBA – and the first full-time female coach in any of the four major professional sports in America – as an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs.[366]
Anne B. France won the inaugural Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR.[367]
Katie Higgins was the first female pilot to join the Blue Angels, the U.S. Navy's flight demonstration squadron.[368]
Dr. Connie McCaa became the first American woman and the first Mississippi doctor inducted into the American Academy of Ophthalmology's Hall of Fame.[369]
Suzy Whaley became the first female officer in the PGA, as PGA secretary.[370]
Susan Morrison was named as the first female executive pastry chef at the White House.[371]
The U.S. Senate confirmed Michelle K. Lee as the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).[379] Lee is the first woman and the first person of color to lead the USPTO.[379]
Hillary Clinton, first woman nominated by a major political party for presidentTaylor Swift became the first woman to win Album of the Year twice.[382]
Hillary Clinton became the first woman to win the popular vote in a United States presidential election and one of the two first women to receive an electoral vote for president.[384]
Faith Spotted Eagle became the first Native American and one of the two first women to receive an electoral vote for president, which she received from a faithless elector.[387]
General Lori Robinson became the first female officer to command a major Unified Combatant Command in the history of the US Armed Forces.
Ellie Morrison became the first woman elected National Commissioner of the Boy Scouts of America; likewise, she became the first woman to hold a position in the BSA's "Key Three", consisting of the National Commissioner, the Chief Scout Executive, and the National Chair.[394]
Martha McSally of Arizona became the first female senator who was appointed to Congress after losing an election to a future Senate colleague, and also the first to serve alongside someone who defeated her in the election prior to inauguration.
Carolyn Kindle Betz was among the first female-majority owners (i.e. Major League Soccer investors) to be awarded an MLS franchise,[399] eventually named St. Louis City SC.
August 19 – Kamala Harris of California was formally nominated by the 2020 Democratic National Convention as the Democratic candidate for vice president of the United States, becoming the first woman of color, the first African American, the first Asian American, the first person of South Asian descent, the first person of Indian ancestry, and the first person of Jamaican ancestry to be nominated on a major party ticket.[402]
March 3–5 – Nikki Haley became the first woman to win a Republican presidential nominating contest when she won the District of Columbia primary, and the first to win a Republican state primary when she won Vermont.[416][417]
↑Shirley Chisholm's prior "win" in New Jersey in 1972 was in a no-delegate-awarding, presidential preference ballot that the major candidates were not listed in and that the only other candidate who was listed had already withdrawn from; the actual delegate selection vote went to George McGovern.[302][303]
↑Lisa Boyer was an assistant for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2001–02, but she neither sat on the bench nor traveled for away games, and she was paid by the Cleveland Rockers of the WNBA and not by the Cavaliers. Becky Hammon was hired by the San Antonio Spurs for the 2014–15 season, becoming the first woman to either be paid or work full-time as an NBA assistant.[361][362]
References
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↑Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture, and New York Public Library. The Woman's Athenaeum For the Intellectual, Industrial and Social Advancement of Women. New York: Woman's Athenaeum, 1912.
↑Metzger, Bruce Manning (2001). The Bible in Translation: Ancient and English Versions. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
↑Lacy, Linda Cates (2004). We Are Marines!: World War I to the Present. [North Carolina]: Tar Heel Chapter, NC-1, Women Marines Association.
↑Burt, Olive Woolley (1960). First Woman Editor: Sarah J. Hale. New York: Julian Messner.
123James, Edward T., Janet Wilson James, and Paul S. Boyer (1971). Notable American Women, 1607–1950; A Biographical Dictionary. Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
↑"Lowell Notes: Sarah Bagley"(PDF). Lowell National Historical Park. National Park Service. Archived from the original(PDF) on February 12, 2017. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
↑Stevens, Peter F (1993). The Mayflower Murderer and Other Forgotten Firsts in American History. New York: Morrow.
↑Lauter, Paul, and Bruce-Novoa (1990). The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Lexington, Mass: D.C. Heath.
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↑Oakes, Elizabeth H (2001). Encyclopedia of World Scientists. New York: Facts on File.
↑Loewen, James W (1999). Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong. New York: New Press.
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↑Havelin, Kate (2007). Victoria Woodhull: Fearless Feminist. Minneapolis, MN: Twenty-First Century Books.
↑Rutgers, Center for American Women and Politics, Firsts for Women in U.S. Politics
↑Willard, Frances E., and Mary Ashton Rice Livermore(1973). American Women: Fifteen Hundred Biographies with Over 1,400 Portraits; a Comprehensive Encyclopedia of the Lives and Achievements of American Women During the Nineteenth Century. Detroit: Gale Research Co.
↑The Biography of Wilhelmina Weber Furlong: The Treasured Collection of Golden Heart Farm by Clint B. Weber, ISBN978-0-9851601-0-4
↑Kathryn Kish Sklar, "Florence Kelley", Women Building Chicago, 1790-1990: A Biographical Dictionary, Rima Lunin Schultz and Adele Hast, eds., Indiana University Press, Bloomington, Indiana, 2001, p. 463
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↑Wharton, Edith (1928). The children. New York: D. Appleton and Co.
12Gourley, Catherine (2008). Flappers and the new American woman: perceptions of women from 1918 through the 1920s. Minneapolis, MN: Twenty-First Century Books.
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↑"News Notes". Air Force Magazine. 61. Air Force Association: 37. 1978. US Army has promoted its first woman to the rank of major general. Wearing two stars is Mary Clarke, former Commander of the discontinued Woman's Army Corps
↑Richards, Caroline Cowles, and Kerry A. Graves (2000). A nineteenth-century schoolgirl: the diary of Caroline Cowles Richards, 1852-1855. Mankato, Minn: Blue Earth Books.
↑Biskupic, Joan, and Sandra Day O'Connor (2005). Sandra Day O'Connor: how the first woman on the Supreme Court became its most influential justice. New York: ECCO.
↑American Dental Association elects first woman president. (Geraldine T. Morrow)
↑Charns, Alexander (2006). How hockey saved the world (and defeated George W. Bush, but not necessarily in that order): finding ice during the lost season. New York: iUniverse.pp. 81.
↑"Kellyanne Conway becomes first woman to successfully run a presidential campaign". The Week. New York City. Retrieved November 9, 2016. Hillary Clinton may not have been elected president, but other glass ceilings were shattered on Election Day nonetheless. One such historic moment came from Trump's own camp, where Kellyanne Conway became the first woman to successfully run a presidential campaign.
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