First Ladies Salute First Women
First Ladies Salute First Women is an event founded by the National First Ladies' Library to salute and honor living women who are the first to attain a nationally prominent position, post, or achievement in their chosen field of endeavor, or who are pioneers or have made significant contributions in their field.
In honoring women of significant achievement through the First Ladies Salute First Women awards, the National First Ladies' Library will celebrate the rich heritage of all American women and restore their heritage to mainstream American culture.
The Honorable Corinne “ Lindy” Boggs , the first female ambassador to the Vatican
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Elizabeth Dole , the first female Secretary of Transportation
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Bernadine Healy, M.D., the first female director of the National Institutes of Health |
Wilhelmina Holladay , founder and Chairman of the Board of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the first and only center of its kind |
Althea Gibson - first African American women to win both Wimbledon and U.S Open championships and the first African American to hold an LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association) card |
Frankie Hewitt - producing artistic director of Ford's Theatre; turned the museum into a living memorial to a beloved president |
Coretta Scott King , founder of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change |
Kathryn Sullivan - first American woman to walk in space |
Antonia Novello - first female and first Hispanic to serve as U.S. Surgeon General |
Helen Thomas - first female president of the White House Correspondents Association, the first female officer of the National Press Club and the first female member - later president - of the Gridiron Club |
Shirley Chisholm - first African American woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representative |
Gwendolyn Brooks - first African American Pulitzer Prize winner for poetry |
Elizabeth Campbell - the founder and Vice President for Community Affairs of WETA Public Television |
Sandra Day O'Connor - the first female Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court |
Madeleine Albright - the first female U.S. Secretary of State |
Hillary Rodham Clinton – special award presented to the sitting First Lady |
