Jennifer Lawrence, Loretta Lynn and Diane Sawyer among inspiring women on Kentucky list
A Kentucky woman stood up to former U.S. Gymnastics Doctor Larry Nassar and helped put him behind bars for sexually abusing children.
Rachael Denhollander's bravery inspired 500 more survivors to come forward.
A Kentucky woman was killed for taking a stand against segregation and her death was never avenged.
Alberta Jones was the first African American woman to pass the bar exam in Kentucky, the first African American female prosecutor in the state and a Civil Rights icon.
And it was a Kentucky woman who was the highest paid actress in the world for two years in a row.
Jennifer Lawrence has become a household name. She was named a Time most influential person in the world in 2013 and in Forbes Celebrity 100 list in both 2014 and 2016.
Are you registered to vote? Take the first step to making sure your vote counts.
In commemorating the 100-year anniversary of the 19th amendment, which declared women should have the right to vote, the USA Today Network will name 10 American women from each state and the District of Columbia who've made a significant difference in the world and their respective states as Women of the Century.
More than 100 Kentucky women were nominated by the public earlier this year and a panel of Kentucky historians and educators narrowed it down to 15 women. The finalists for the national recognition represent what’s best about Kentucky and span from early 20th century icons to modern-day activists.
Kentucky is known for Appalachia, bourbon and horse racing. And for sure, we found kick-butt women to represent those topics and so much more.
Women from our commonwealth are also leading the way in politics, education, entertainment and activism.
These are their stories.
Who is your Woman of the Century? Did we miss a woman you think should be on our list? We’d like to hear from you.
Georgia Davis Powers
First African American and first woman to be elected to the Kentucky Senate
(1923-2016)
Georgia Davis Powers, the first African American and first woman to be elected to the Kentucky Senate and served 21 years, spent her life fighting for equality.
Powers was influential in organizing the 1964 March on Frankfort for Civil Rights. She spent years advocating for fair housing and was a good friend of Martin Luther King Jr. She also worked with Jesse Jackson and Jackie Robinson in her civil rights efforts.
Diane Sawyer
Trailblazing journalist
(1945- )
Recognized by Forbes magazine as a trailblazing female journalist, Sawyer has been an iconic face in the world of reporting for around half a century. She was born in Glasgow, Kentucky, and got her career start at WLKY-TV in Louisville.
From there, she served as a press aid in the Nixon White House, helped write Nixon’s memoirs and became a news correspondent for CBS news in D.C. In that role, she’s been a CBS Morning News co-anchor, the Early Morning News co-anchor and co-anchor of 60 Minutes.
She’s received the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, multiple Emmys and multiple George Foster Peabody Awards.
She was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame and the Broadcast Magazine Hall of Fame.
Martha Layne Collins
First woman elected as Kentucky’s governor
(1936- )
As the first woman to be elected as Kentucky’s governor (and still, the only one) and the third woman in the country to be elected to a governorship, Martha Layne Collins is a true pioneer.
The Bagdad, Kentucky, native also served as a schoolteacher, court clerk, Democratic party secretary, president of the Woodford County Jaycee-ettes and as a member in other pro-women groups throughout her life.
Collins also served as Kentucky’s lieutenant governor in 1979 before her 1983 governorship.
Alberta Jones
First woman to become a prosecutor in Louisville
(1930-1965)
Alberta Jones, the subject of a homicide investigation that has never been solved, was a passionate civil rights activist and the first woman to become a prosecutor in Louisville.
Jones, a woman of color, was pulled from her rental car in 1965 and beaten in the head with a brick before she passed out and was tossed into the Ohio River and drowned.
Jones became a lawyer when Louisville was still heavily segregated, and she was the first Black woman to pass the Kentucky bar exam. She was passionate about working domestic violence cases and getting justice for battered wives.
She was killed a few months after she became prosecutor, and investigators recently discovered police may have overlooked evidence in her case out of racism.
Loretta Lynn
Grammy Award-winning country music singer-songwriter
(1932- )
One of country music’s most legendary artist, Loretta Lynn was born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky.
With a career spanning 60 years, Lynn is known for focusing on women’s issues in her music and pouring her life story into her songs. Her first hit in 1960, “I’m a Honky Tonk Girl,” was followed dozens of others including “Blue Kentucky Girl," “You Ain’t Woman Enough" and “Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind).”
A four-time Grammy winner, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010, and the first woman to win the Country Music Association’s coveted Entertainer of the Year award, Lynn has recorded 70 albums and sold more than 45 million records around the globe.
One of eight children born into an impoverished Eastern Kentucky coal miner’s family, her life was the subject of her 1970 hit, “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” and served as the title of her 1976 autobiography (co-written with journalist George Vecsey). Lynn’s life story went on to become the basis for the Academy Award-winning motion picture, “Coal Miner’s Daughter” starring Sissy Spacek.
Mary T. Meagher
Five-time Olympic medalist
(1964- )
The five-time Olympic medalist who once held world records for her time in the 100-metre and the 200-metre butterfly, Mary T. Meagher was born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1964.
She’s a Team USA Hall of Famer and won nine world championships and 24 national swimming titles.
When she was just 14, she set her first world record in the 200-meter butterfly, according to the Hall of Fame, and is considered to be one of the best female butterfly specialists.
In 1981, Meagher again set world records in the 100 and the 200 butterfly.
Rachael Denhollander
Women's rights activist, lawyer and former gymnast
(1984- )
Rachael Denhollander was a gymnast and the first person to publicly accuse the former USA gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar of abuse.
Her courageous May 2017 testimony against Nassar was a catalyst for other women to step forward. More than 350 girls and young women saying they were abused by Nassar, who is serving an effective life sentence on federal and state charges.
Elmer Lucille Allen
Chemist and ceramic artist
(1931- )
Elmer Lucille Allen was the first Black chemist at the Brown-Foreman Co. in her hometown of Louisville. She was more than a scientist, working as not only a senior chemist but earning a master’s degree in ceramics.
Allen was the first recipient of the Community Arts Lifetime Local Achievement Award and was named a Woman of Distinction in 2004. She’s spent her life dedicated to volunteer work, has received numerous awards for her artwork and has been the subject of multiple books.
She serves now on the Women’s Suffrage committee at the Frazier Museum, among other boards and organizations for the empowerment of women, women of color and artists.
Jennifer Lawrence
Academy Award-winning actress
(1990- )
Representing Kentucky in Hollywood, Jennifer Lawrence has been called the most successful actor of her generation and her face recognized internationally from such blockbusters as “The Hunger Games,” “X-Men” and “Silver Linings Playbook,” the latter for which she was awarded an Academy Award.
Lawrence became an activist for equal pay for women after finding out she was paid less than her male co-stars on “American Hustle.”
She has also been an outspoken advocate for positive body image, speaking out repeatedly against Hollywood pressure to lose weight.
And, she established the Jennifer Lawrence Foundation, which helps financially support organizations and events that help abused young people, people with disabilities and people who have other health issues.
Patty Hill
Composer and teacher who co-wrote “Happy Birthday” with sister Mildred
(1868-1946)
The world’s most-familiar and most-sung song – heard at countless parties and celebrations for more than a century – was written by a pair of Kentucky sisters: Patty and Mildred Hill in the 1890s.
“Happy Birthday” has been sung in at least 143 movies and has passed Bach, Beethoven and the Beatles for the song most often sung in English.
More coverage
Women of the Century: They didn’t succeed despite adversity, but often because of it
50 states: Learn about notable women from every state
Who is your Woman of the Century?: Let us know
Recognizing women past and present: See all of our coverage
Special thanks to the Kentucky panel: Kirby Adams, Lynetta Crawford, Sarah Graves, Randolph Hollington, Marsha Weinstein and Debby Yetter
Sources used in the Women of the Century list project include newspaper articles, state archives, historical websites, encyclopedias and other resources.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Women of the Century Kentucky list includes Academy Award winner
