30. Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf, a prominent English writer of the early 20th century, wrote "A Room of One's Own," an essay asserting and defending women's creative potential.Alice Walker, African American novelist and author of
The Color Purple, as well as activist, depicted
sexism, racism, and poverty that was met with the strengths of family, community, self-worth, and spirituality.
Ayn Rand, mother of objectivism, was, in the words of Scott McLemee, "the single most important novelist and philosopher of the 20th century. Or so she admitted with all due modesty, whenever the subject came up."
Clara Barton, a pioneering nurse who served as an administrator in the Civil War, and who helped identify missing soldiers at the end of the war, is credited as the founder of the American Red Cross.
Jane Fonda, an actress who was the daughter of actor Henry Fonda, has been at the center of controversy over her Vietnam-era anti-war activities. She was also central to the fitness craze of the 1970s, and has continued to speak against war.
Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was his "eyes and ears" when he could not travel freely due to his disability. Her positions on issues like civil rights were often ahead of her husband and the rest of the country. She was key in establishing the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights.
Susan B. Anthony was the best-known of the "first wave" supporters of women's rights. Her long support of woman suffrage helped the movement succeed, though she did not live to see it successful.
Queen Victoria of Great Britain ruled at a time when her nation was a great empire, and her name was given to an entire age.
22. Queen Elizabeth
Which Queen Elizabeth? There's Queen Elizabeth I of England, or her much-later relative, Queen Elizabeth II. Then there's Queen Elizabeth also known as the Winter Queen -- and a whole lot of others.Florence Nightingale practically invented the profession of nursing, and also brought sanitary conditions to soldiers in wars -- at a time when more soldiers typically died of disease than of injuries in battle.
