Entrepreneur Mary Kay, founder of Mary Kay Inc., built a profitable business from scratch that created new opportunities for women to achieve financial success.
1918-2001
1906-1987
Mary Baker was best known as the imposter who posed as Princess Caraboo, a foreign princess from an exotic land.
1791-1864
Mary McLeod Bethune was an educator and activist, serving as president of the National Association of Colored Women and founding the National Council of Negro Women.
1875-1955
1817-1901
"Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" Mary J. Blige has influenced a generation of artists with hits like "Real Love" and "Be Without You." She has also had a successful acting career, including playing Betty Shabazz in the TV movie Betty & Coretta.
1971-
Mary Brunner, a member of Charles Manson's "Family," was in jail at the time of the infamous Tate/LaBianca murders, thereby precluding her participation.
1943-
Mary Ann Shadd Cary was an active abolitionist and the first female African-American newspaper editor in North America.
1823-1893
1611-1660
1821-1910
Mary Higgins Clark is a bestselling author of mystery and suspense books, best known for the novel Where Are the Children?
1927-
Mary (Richardson) Kennedy, an architect focusing on philanthropy and the environment, was the estranged wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
1960-2012
Mary Leakey was a paleoanthropologist who, along with husband Louis, made several prominent scientific discoveries. Skull fossils found by the Leakeys advanced our understanding of human evolution.
1913-1996
1962-
The first professional African-American and Native-American sculptor, Edmonia Lewis earned critical praise for work that explored religious and classical themes.
1844-1911
1820-1905
Mary Lyon was an educator and founder of the first women's college, which is now known as Mount Holyoke College.
1797-1849
1-100
Mary Mahoney became the first black woman to complete nurse's training in 1879.
1845-1926
Mary Martin was a Tony Award-winning actress and singer famous for her roles in stage productions of Peter Pan, South Pacific and The Sound of Music.
1913-1990
Mary White Ovington was a civil rights activist and one of the white reformers who helped found the NAACP.
1865-1951
Mary Pickford was a legendary silent film actress and was known as "America’s sweetheart." She was a founder of United Artists and helped establish the Academy.
1892-1979
Mary Queen of Scots is one of the most fascinating and controversial monarchs of the 16th century who claimed the crowns of four nations in her lifetime.
1542-1587
1944-
Mary Seacole was a Jamaican nurse who cared for British soldiers at the battlefront during the Crimean War.
1805-1881
English writer Mary Shelley is best known for her horror novel Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus (1818). She was married to poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.
1797-1851
1953-
1820-1865
Mary Church Terrell was a charter member of the NAACP and an early advocate for civil rights and the suffrage movement.
1863-1954
Mary Todd Lincoln was the wife of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States.
1818-1882
1936-2009
Mary Tudor was queen of England from 1553 to 1558. She became known as "Bloody Mary" for her persecution of Protestants.
1516-1558
Mary Tyler Moore is an Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress and television star know for her roles on The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
1936-
Mary Walker was a physician and women's rights activist who received the Congressional Medal of Honor for her service during the Civil War.
1832-1919
Singer Mary Wilson, along with friends Diana Ross and Florence Ballard, formed The Supremes in 1961 and soon became a Motown legend.
1944-
Mary Wollstonecraft was an English writer who advocated for women's equality. Her book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman pressed for educational reforms.
1759-1797