Hall of Fame
Inaugural Class - 2026 Inductees
The Massachusetts Women’s History Center (MWHC)’s flagship program, the Massachusetts Women’s Hall of Fame (MWHOF) Selection Committee is excited to announce the inaugural class of HISTORIC women and organizations to be inducted into the MWHOF! Announcement of LIVING Inductees coming soon - stay tuned!
Historic Revolutionary Women Inductees
Abigail Adams
First Lady, Advisor, Writer
Daughters of Liberty
Patriotic Female Resistance Association
Enslaved Women of Massachusetts, names known and names once known
Robbed of Freedom, Committed to Liberty
Elizabeth Freeman
Freedom Suit Petitioner
Sarah Bradlee Fulton
Mother of the Boston Tea Party
Deborah Sampson Gannett
Patriot, Soldier, Lecturer
Jenny Slew
Successful Freedom Seeker
Lydia Taft
First Female Voter
Mercy Otis Warren
Revolutionary Poet, Playwright, Historian
Native American
Research in progress
Phillis Wheatley Peters
First African-American Author
A note on images: These historic women lived before the invention of photography. Some of their images were captured by portrait painters and illustrators. Other women appear only as handwritten names in census and legal records, their likenesses lost to history. We recognize that images and stories of women have been marginalized in the historic record, even as we work to illuminate the important contributions of Massachusetts women to local, national, and global history.
Living Women Inductees
To be announced soon!
Background on Inductee Selection
The inductees are women and organizations of great achievement - in some cases well-known and in other cases largely or completely unknown, but all have made great and important contributions which are inspirational!
The MWHOF received nominations from historians, scholars and the general public. College and high school interns provided additional research, our curators provided information and the MWHOF Selection Committee met frequently for months to make its decisions, which the MWHC Board approved unanimously.
As 2026 is the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution, the HISTORIC women/organizations for the inaugural class are dedicated to women/organizations of the Revolutionary Era! Living inductees, to be announced soon, have provided a lifetime of contributions and achievements in a variety of fields. Stay tuned!
...remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors.
Abigail Adams, from a letter to her husband, John Adams, March 1776