In photos: 100 years of women fighting for equality

Amelia Earhart helped smash the glass ceiling for women in aviation almost immediately after she first took to the skies. Less than a year after receiving her pilot's license, she became the first woman to breach an altitude of 14,000 feet solo. In 1932, she became the first woman — and second pilot — to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Earhart also helped fight for gender equality on the ground, serving as the first president of the Ninety-Nines, an international organization for female pilots.

Women with the Army Auxiliary Corps wait for a trolley in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, five months after Congress passed a bill authorizing non-combat military duty for women. The 1942 legislation effectively allowed women to join the war effort in roles such as radio operators and air traffic controllers.

US Sen. Hattie Caraway signs legislation on October 19, 1943, making history as the first woman to take up the gavel as the Senate's presiding officer. Caraway, who represented Arkansas, first entered the Senate by appointment after her husband, US Sen. Thad Caraway, died. After serving in her husband's place, Caraway surprised party leaders by declaring her own candidacy for a full term. She won the election in a landslide, becoming the first woman elected to the Senate.

Army Maj. Charity Adams inspects members of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion upon their arrival in England in February 1945. The "Six Triple Eight" was the only all-Black Women's Army Corps unit to serve in Europe during World War II.

Reporter Marguerite Higgins was a trailblazer for female journalists and war correspondents. She covered the liberation of Dachau for the New York Herald Tribune during World War II, and she was one of the few women on the front lines during the Korean War. She's seen here going over notes with Col. John "Mike" Michaelis while on assignment in 1950. One year later, Higgins became the first woman to receive a Pulitzer Prize for international reporting.

Former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt visits the Vote for Women exhibit at the New York Historical Society in 1952. Often hailed the "First Lady of the World," Roosevelt was one of the most politically active first ladies to step foot in the White House. She served on the UN Commission on Human Rights and encouraged her husband, President Franklin Roosevelt, to appoint more women to federal positions. "The battle for the individual rights of women is one of long standing and none of us should countenance anything which undermines it," she wrote in her weekly "My Day" column.

Rosa Parks became one of the biggest leaders of the civil rights movement after she was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat for a White passenger in 1955. Parks' arrest was the spark Jo Ann Robinson and the Women's Political Council of Montgomery, Alabama, needed to set their plan of a bus boycott in motion. The Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted for 381 days and brought national attention to the issue of segregation.

Marine biologist and author Rachel Carson became the second woman hired by the US Bureau of Fisheries in 1936. Although she published multiple books throughout her life, her groundbreaking book "Silent Spring" became a springboard for the global environmental movement. Her research on the effects of pesticides led to the ban of DDT.

Pioneering mathematician Katherine Johnson poses at her desk at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, in 1962. Johnson was part of NASA's "computer pool" — a group of mathematicians whose calculations powered NASA's first successful space missions. Her work, and the work of several other Black female employees, helped launch America's first manned trip to space. Their work was long overlooked until the 2016 novel and movie "Hidden Figures" brought their stories into the spotlight.

President John Kennedy hands out pens at the White House after signing the Equal Pay Act into law in 1963. The law mandates that men and women receive equal pay for equal work regardless of sex.

Writer and activist Gloria Steinem became one of the most outspoken female voices in America in the 1960s and 1970s. Steinem, along with fellow activist Betty Friedan and US Rep. Bella Abzug, fought for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment — a constitutional amendment guaranteeing legal gender equality for all American citizens regardless of sex. "Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for women everywhere," Steinem wrote in an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times.

US Rep. Patsy Mink hangs a homemade nameplate on the door of her new office after becoming the first woman of color and the first Asian American woman elected to Congress in 1965. Mink's tenure in office focused on fighting for gender and racial equality. She helped author Title IX, a law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs and activities.

Dorothy Height, longtime president of the National Council of Negro Women, was a leading voice for civil rights in the 1960s. Height helped spearhead "Wednesdays in Mississippi," a project that brought groups of interracial and interfaith Northern women to Jackson, Mississippi, in hopes of building understanding between Black and White women. President Barack Obama later called her the "godmother" of civil rights, noting that she "served as the only woman at the highest level" of the movement.

On June 7, 1965, the Supreme Court struck down a Connecticut law that banned the use of contraceptives, ruling it could not be enforced because the Constitution protects the right to marital privacy. The case Griswold v. Connecticut would become the basis for future decisions about reproductive rights in the United States. Here, Estelle Griswold, left, and Cornelia Jahncke flash a victory sign upon seeing the news of the ruling in a local paper. Griswold was executive director of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut. Jahncke was its president.

Broadcast journalist Barbara Walters reviews film negatives at NBC Studios in 1966. Walters made history in 1976 after becoming the first woman to co-anchor an evening network news show. Before retiring from journalism in 2014, Walters interviewed every US president and first lady from the Nixons to the Obamas.

Women march in New York City as a part of the Women's Strike for Equality March on August 26, 1970. The event was spearheaded by activist and author Betty Friedan to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 19th Amendment and to call out the work still needed to be done for equal rights for women. "This is not a bedroom war. This is a political movement," Friedan said during a rally. "Man is not the enemy. Man is a fellow victim."

US Rep. Shirley Chisholm announces her presidential campaign in Brooklyn, New York, in 1972. Chisholm set many political precedents, becoming the first Black woman in Congress and the first woman and African American to seek a nomination for president of the United States.

Tennis champion and LGBTQ advocate Billie Jean King helped pave the way for the fight for women's equality in the world of sports. In 1973, she helped form the Women's Tennis Association and threatened to boycott the US Open if the winner of the women's singles title wasn't paid as much as her male counterpart. King is seen here being carried to the tennis court by four men during her famous "Battle of the Sexes" match against Bobby Riggs.

In 1973, the US Supreme Court ruled in a landmark decision, Roe v. Wade, that a woman's right to an abortion was protected by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. Although the decision legalized abortion, states were allowed to regulate abortion in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. Here, three generations of women join a picket line to protest St. Louis Mayor John Poelker after he refused to allow city hospitals to perform any abortions after the Supreme Court ruling.

In 1966, Barbara Jordan was elected to the Texas Senate, making her the first African American state senator in the United States since 1883. Jordan was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1972 and became a household name after her opening remarks in the impeachment proceedings against President Richard Nixon. She is pictured here in 1976 as she delivers the first keynote speech given by an African American woman at the Democratic National Convention. "My presence here is one additional bit of evidence that the American Dream need not forever be deferred," she told the crowd.

Civil rights activist Coretta Scott King, holding the microphone, discusses a minority women's rights resolution proposed during the 1977 National Women's Conference in Houston. From organizing marches with her husband, Martin Luther King Jr., to founding the Full Employment Action Council, King left a legacy of fighting for racial, gender and economic equality. "She moved quietly but forcefully into the fray. She stood for peace in the midst of turmoil," said the Rev. Joseph Lowery after her death in 2006.

Muriel Siebert, often referred to as the "First Lady of Wall Street," broke gender barriers in the finance world after she bought her own seat on the New York Stock Exchange for nearly half a million dollars. She later became the first woman to serve as superintendent of banking for New York.

In 1979, 2nd Lt. Marcella Ng became the first Black woman to earn her aviator wings in the United States Armed Forces. Ng served 22 years in the Army before retiring in 2000.

In 1981, Sandra Day O'Connor became the first female justice on the US Supreme Court. During her time on the bench, O'Connor helped uphold abortion rights and fought against stereotypical gender roles for both men and women. Twelve years later, Ruth Bader Ginsburg would join her on the bench, becoming the second female justice on the Supreme Court.

Sally Ride was one of the first six women selected to join NASA's astronaut school in 1978. During the 1983 Challenger mission, Ride became the first American woman — and the youngest American — to leave the atmosphere. She was 32. After leaving NASA, Ride founded the nonprofit SallyRide Science and was a strong advocate for improving math and science education for girls.

Social activist Dolores Huerta, center, leads a rally in San Francisco's Mission District as part of a national boycott against the use of pesticides on table grapes. Huerta, who co-founded what is now the United Farm Workers, helped advocate for the passing of the Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975. That granted farm workers in California the right to organize and bargain for better wages. "The great social justice changes in our country have happened when people came together, organized and took direct action. It is this right that sustains and nurtures our democracy today," Huerta said during a Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony in 2012. "The civil rights movement, the labor movement, the women's movement and the equality movement for our LGBT brothers and sisters are all manifestations of these rights."

Few women have made as big of an impact on the television world as legendary talk-show host, actress, philanthropist and entrepreneur Oprah Winfrey. At 19, she became the first African American anchor and the youngest for WTVF-TV in Nashville, Tennessee. Her 25-season talk show, "The Oprah Winfrey Show," influenced culture for decades and earned her 16 Daytime Emmy Awards. The self-made billionaire became the first Black woman on Forbes magazine's "World's Richest People" list in 2003, and she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013.

Dr. Antonia Novello was the first woman and first Hispanic to be appointed surgeon general of the United States. After her appointment in 1990, Novello helped raise national awareness on issues such as domestic violence and the AIDS epidemic.

US Sen. Barbara Boxer gestures toward US Sen. Joe Biden during a news conference about the Violence Against Women Act in 1993. The landmark legislation, passed one year later, was one of the first federal packages of its kind to protect victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

Madeleine Albright is sworn in as the first female secretary of state after a rapid-fire Senate confirmation in 1997. President Bill Clinton nominated Albright for the position four years after he chose Janet Reno as the first female US attorney general. Speaking to the Huffington Post in 2010, Albright said, "The reason I made women's issues central to American foreign policy was not because I was a feminist, but because we know that societies are more stable if women are politically and economically empowered."

The Los Angeles Sparks face the New York Liberty during the WNBA's inaugural game in 1997. The league started with eight teams spread across the East and West coasts. In the inaugural game, Sparks guard Penny Toler scored the first basket.

Actress Halle Berry delivers an acceptance speech after becoming the first, and so far only, African American woman to win the Academy Award for Best Actress. "This moment is so much bigger than me," said Berry, who was awarded for her starring role in "Monster's Ball." "This moment is for Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll. It's for the women that stand beside me, Jada Pinkett, Angela Bassett, Vivica Fox. And it's for every nameless, faceless woman of color that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened."

Mohini Bhardwaj performs on the balance beam at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Bhardwaj defied traditional gymnast stereotypes by competing in the Olympic Games at 25 years old, and she became the first Indian American gymnast to earn an Olympic medal.

Nancy Pelosi is surrounded by her grandchildren and the children of other Congress members after being elected as the first female Speaker of the House in 2007. She made history again in 2019 when she returned to serve as House Speaker for a third term.

Former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice speaks at a news conference in Washington, DC, in 2008. Rice was the first woman to serve as national security adviser and the second woman to serve as secretary of state.

Trailblazing author and poet Maya Angelou spent her career lifting up oppressed voices while breaking down barriers in the literary community. Her book "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" challenged the preconceived notions of what Black women could write about in the 1960s, and it became a foundation of student reading lists throughout the United States. Here, Angelou receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2010.

US Sen. Tammy Duckworth arrives at the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC, for a 2010 ceremony honoring World War II veterans who fought in the Pacific. Duckworth, a veteran herself, became a double amputee when her helicopter was shot down in Iraq in 2004. After returning to the United States, Duckworth began her political career as a congresswoman and then later became a senator. In 2018, she became the first US senator to give birth while in office. "Parenthood isn't just a women's issue," she said in a statement announcing the birth of her second daughter. "It's an economic issue and one that affects all parents — men and women alike."

Serena Williams celebrates a second-round victory at Wimbledon in 2016. With 73 career singles titles, 23 doubles titles and two mixed-doubles titles, Williams has spent her life dominating tennis courts. The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion has won more career prize money than any other female athlete, and she has openly fought against sexism in the tennis world.

Hillary Clinton celebrates on stage on the final night of the Democratic National Convention in 2016. The former first lady, US senator and secretary of state made history as the first woman to receive a presidential nomination from a major political party.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley signs a bill to remove the Confederate flag from the State House grounds in Columbia in 2015. Haley made history in 2011 after she became the first woman and the first person of an ethnic minority to become the governor of South Carolina. She was also the second Indian American governor in US history.

Thousands of people walk down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC. during a march for women's rights in January 2017. More than 1 million people participated in the Women's March nationwide, making it the largest single-day protest in American history.

Sandra Bullock holds a purse with a Time's Up pin at the Academy Awards in 2018. The Time's Up initiative was created by a group of more than 1,000 women in the entertainment industry as a way to fight gender-based violence, discrimination and sexual assault in the workplace.

Democratic congresswomen pose together outside the US Capitol in 2019. From Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman ever elected to the House, to Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, the first Muslim women elected to Congress, the 116th class included a record-shattering 101 women.

Megan Rapinoe lifts the Women's World Cup trophy after the United States women's soccer team defeated the Netherlands in the 2019 final. Off the field, 28 members of the team sued the US Soccer Federation for paying women players less than they paid men. In May 2020, a federal judge ruled that the team members did not prove wage discrimination. A spokeswoman for the players said they would appeal the decision.

Astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch pose inside the International Space Station. The two conducted the first all-female spacewalk outside of the station in October 2019. "What we're doing now shows all the work that went in for the decades prior, all of the women that worked to get us where we are today," Meir said during a news conference.

San Francisco 49ers offensive assistant Katie Sowers always dreamed of coaching in the NFL. And when she walked into Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, on February 2, 2020, she made history as the first woman and openly gay person to coach in a Super Bowl. "My long-term goal is to be a head coach and then move on to executive management," she said in a 2016 interview. "It's not a typical path, but then again, nothing about what I'm doing is typical."