Tennessee Women's Hall of Fame
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Tennessee Women's Hall of Fame is a non-profit, volunteer organization that recognizes women who have contributed to history of the U.S. state of Tennessee.
History
The organization was founded and incorporated as a non-profit organization in 2010 to recognize accomplished women who have impacted the development of the state of Tennessee and improved the status of other women.[1] It is the brainchild of the Women's Economic Council Foundation, Inc. and the Tennessee Economic Council on Women.[2]
Criteria
The criteria for induction into the Tennessee Women's Hall of Fame is that women were born in and achieved recognition within the state; are or have a resident in Tennessee for an extended period of time or adopted Tennessee as their home state. Additional criteria includes women who,:[3]
- Have made significant, unique and permanent contributions to the economic, political and cultural betterment of Tennessee;
- Have elevated the status of women;
- Have promoted other women and women’s issues;
- Have been advocates for those issues which are important to women and families
Inductees
The hall inducts new members annually or bi-annually and includes both contemporary and historical women or organizations which benefit women.[4]
| Name | Image | Birth–Death | Year | Area of achievement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joy Bishop | (1934–2023) | 2015 | First career Air Force woman appointed to the Senior Executive Service[5] and served as the Women's Program Coordinator.[6] | |
| Lizzie Crozier French |  | (1851–1926) | 2015 | Founder of the Knoxville Female Institute and the Tennessee Suffrage Association[7] |
| Elizabeth Rona | (1890–1981) | 2015 | First woman to teach chemistry in any university in Hungary, in the United States, she served on the Manhattan Project[8] | |
| Janice M. Holder | (1949–) | 2015 | First woman Chief Justice of Tennessee[9] | |
| Rosetta Miller-Perry | (1934–)[10] | 2015 | Founder of the Greater Nashville Black Chamber of Commerce, and co-founder, publisher and journalist of Perry & Perry Publishing Company[11] | |
| Margaret Rhea Seddon |  | (1947–) | 2015 | One of the inaugural group of women astronauts of NASA[12] |
| Zulfat Suara | .jpg) | 2015[13] | Chair and founder of the American Muslim Council of Tennessee[14] | |
| Carol Gardner Transou | (1936–2021)[15] | 2015 | 1987 Tennessee Teacher of the Year and first Tennessee Teacher-Scholar of the National Endowment for the Humanities[16] | |
| Margaret L. Behm | (c. 1951–)[17] | 2013 | Co-founded Shipley & Behm, the first all-woman law firm in Nashville[18] | |
| Wilsie S. Bishop | (1949–)[19] | 2013 | First woman Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of East Tennessee State University[20] | |
| M. Inez Crutchfield | (1925–2024)[21] | 2013 | First African American to hold an appointed and elected statewide position in the Tennessee State Federation of Democratic Women[22] | |
| Shirley C. Raines | (1945–)[23] | 2013 | President of the University of Memphis[24] | |
| Becca Stevens | (1963–) | 2013 | Founder of Magdalene House[25] | |
| Jocelyn Wurzburg | (1940–)[26] | 2013 | Orchestrated an interfaith and inter-racial group response to the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.[27] | |
| Pat Summitt |  | (1952–2016) | 2011 | Most all-time wins for a coach in NCAA basketball history of either a men's or women's team in any division[28] |
| Martha Craig Daughtrey |  | (1942–) | 2010 | First Tennessee woman to be appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit[29] |
| Jane G. Eskind | (1933–2016) | 2010 | First woman to win a statewide election in Tennessee[30][31] | |
