100 MOST FASCINATING BLACK WOMEN OF THE 20th CENTURY

Ebony, March, 1999

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT

In 1961, she made news as one of the first Black students to enter the University of Georgia in Athens. Today, she is one of the most prominent Black journalists in the world, covering the vast political and social changes occurring in South Africa.

PAM GRIER

Her bad and beautiful screen persona made her a national icon during the height of the blaxploitation film craze of the '70s. As the statuesque, take-no-prisoners heroine of films such as Coffy and Foxy Brown, she blew audiences (and bad guys) away, and demonstrated the indomitability of the Black woman.

MOTHER HALE (1905-1992)

As the founder of "Hale House," an institution that gives care and hope to drug-addicted and abused children, Clara McBride Hale inspired a nation to reach out to its youngest victims.

LORRAINE HANSBERRY (1930-1965)

The first Black woman playwright to have a work produced on Broadway (A Raisin in the Sun), Hansberry also was an uncompromising foe of racism and oppression. In addition to gathering support for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, she also was a vocal critic of the House Un-American Activities Committee.

FANNIE LOU HAMER (1917-1977)

One of the major figures of the Freedom Movement, this civil rights activist challenged the injustice of Southern voting laws and was a pivotal force in the Freedom Democratic Party.

PATRICIA ROBERTS HARRIS (Below) (1924-1985)

The first Black woman to serve in a United States president's cabinet, she was tapped by President Jimmy Carter to serve as secretary of Housing and Urban Development in 1977. In 1980, Carter appointed her secretary of the Department of Health Education and Welfare.

THE RT. REV. BARBARA HARRIS

The first woman bishop of the Episcopal Church, she was consecrated in the Massachusetts diocese in 1989 and became an international symbol of the struggle for gender equality in the church.

ANNA ARNOLD HEDGEMAN (1899-1990)

Activist, author and social worker, she served under FDR as executive director of a commission dedicated to ensuring fair employment practices. She was a major architect of the 1963 March on Washington and was instrumental in securing passage of the Civil Rights Bill of 1964-'65.

ANITA HILL

Law professor, lecturer and author, she became the defining symbol of the sexual harassment movement and the catalyst for the 1992 electoral victories that helped redefine the role of women in politics and business.

DOROTHY HEIGHT

A protegee of Mary McLeod Bethune, she led the National Council of Negro Women from 1957-'97 and was a major leader of the Freedom Movement.

ALEXIS HERMAN

As Secretary of Labor to President Clinton, she's stood in the firestorm of contentious disputes and brought new sensibilities and sensitivities to the role of the nation's chief labor negotiator.

BILLIE HOLIDAY (1915-1959)

One of the most influential jazz singers of all time and an immensely popular nightclub performer and recording star of the '30s, '40s and '50s, She was one of the greatest song stylists of any era. Her haunting voice breathed new life into every lyric.