Maine Women's Hall of Fame

The Maine Women's Hall of Fame was created in 1990 to honor the achievements of women associated with the U.S. state of Maine. The induction ceremonies are held each year during March, designated as Women's History Month. Nominees are chosen by the public via an online nomination form. The University of Maine at Augusta displays the hall of fame in its Bennett D. Katz Library, and also hosts the hall of fame online at the university's website. The nomination form lists three criteria for eligibility:

1) Woman's achievements must have had a significant statewide impact 2) Woman's achievements significantly improved the lives of women in Maine 3) Woman's contribution has enduring value for women.

Nominations have a December deadline of any given year.

The first two inductees in 1990 were Mabel Sine Wadsworth and Margaret Chase Smith. Wadsworth had devoted her life to multiple issues, including maternal health and family planning, founding the Wadsworth Women's Health Center. She was a member of the board of Board of Directors of Legal Services for the Elderly, and helped raise funds for noteworthy organizations.

Margaret Chase Smith was the first woman elected to serve in the United States Senate. She ran for President of the United States in the 1964 Republican Party primarily, but lost out to Barry Goldwater. She was also the first Republican to speak out against the tactics of fellow Senator Joseph McCarthy, in her June 1, 1950 address on the floor of the Senate.

Two decades after its inception, the list of Inductees contains an Olympic gold medalist, Joan Benoit, two more United States Senators, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, and the mother of a Senator, Patricia M. Collins who herself had been mayor of a Maine city. Geneticist Elizabeth S. Russell joined the list, as did the President University of Maine at Presque Isle Nancy H. Hensel. Author and Holocaust survivor Judith Magyar Isaacson has been honored by an induction into the hall of fame. With the 2011 inductees, the hall of fame had honored 35 women for their contributions to Maine and to the female population.

Inductees Maine Women's Hall of FameNameImageBirth–DeathYearArea of achievement2026Addiction medicine(1880–1965)2026United States Secretary of Labor2024Former director of Homeless Initiatives2024Physician 2023Professor and author(1934–2025)2022Women's reproductive rights advocate(1977–)2022Astronaut, biologist2021Associate Professor of Leadership Studies at the University of Southern Maine(1954–)2021Dean of the University of Maine School of Law and former Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court2020Feminist activist and political strategist, policy advocate and lobbyist, State House staffer, and non-profit leader2020Thomas College professor, former state president of the American Association of University Women of Maine and the Maine Association of Family and Consumer Sciences2019Advocate for women's health, equality and education(1947–)201975th Governor of Maine(1985–)2018Olympic luger(1854–1946)2018Maine’s First Licensed Guide(1940–2022)2017University of Maine Mathematics. One of the founders of the Women’s Studies Program at the University of Maine Orono(1912–2017)2017President of Casco Bay College and a Husson College Business Professor2016Physician and women's health advocate2016Advocate for victims and survivors of sexual assault(1946–)2015Senior Vice President at CEI (Coastal Enterprises, Inc.)(1946–)2015Retired president of Kennebec Valley Community College; chief academic officer for the Maine Community College System2014First woman president of Thomas College2014Executive director of the Maine Human Rights Commission and a founding member of the Maine Women's Lobby(1956–)2013Co-founder of Hardy Girls Healthy Women, activist, author, researcher and professor at Colby College(1942–)2013Former Maine State Representative and State Senator; co-director of Maine NEW Leadership program of the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center(1949–)2012Victims' advocate2012Women's health advocate, women's rights activist, AIDS educator (1952–)2011United States Senate(1920–2015)2011Professor Emerita of Food and Nutrition at the University of Maine; 2002 New England University Continuing Education Association Faculty Member of the Year Award; (1908–2008)2010Philanthropist(1949–2023)2009Director University of Maine Women's Resource Center(1952–)2008Advocate for women's issues(1869–1945)2008Women's suffrage(1954–)2007Deputy Administrator, Wage and Hour Division U. S. Dept. of Labor; former Executive Director of the Frances Perkins Center(1947–)2007Former Maine State Treasurer, served in Maine State Senate(1946–)2006Bishop of Maine, Episcopal Church(1927–2024)2005Mayor of Caribou (1981–1982), chairman of Maine Committee for Judicial Responsibility and Disability, and Catholic Charities Maine(1944–)2005Maine House of Representatives(1949–)2004Executive Director of the Maine Children's Home for Little Wanderers in Waterville(1925–2015)2004Holocaust survivor, human rights activist, author of Seed of Sarah: Memoirs of a Survivor(1943–)2003President University of Maine at Presque Isle(1941–)2002President, University of Maine at Farmington(1948–2001)2001Co-founder of Maine Women's Lobby(1955–)2001United States House of Representatives(1924–2008)2000Physical education instructor(1957–)2000American marathon runner who won a gold medal at the 1984 Summer OlympicsWoolum (1998), pp. 213–214 (1940–)1999Maine State Senate(1947–)1999United States Senate(1944–2023)1998Executive Director, Family Crisis Services, Portland, Maine(1916–2009)1997Founder, Washburn-Norlands Living History Center(1903–2001)1997Home economist, nutritionist(1914–2005)1996Environmentalist, woman's issues advocate(c. 1939–1993)1996Theatre director, actress, director of Somerset County Basic SkillsBerkowitz (1998), pp. 13–23(1949–)1995Founded Women's Business Development Corporation, advocate for entrepreneurship for women(1905–2002)1994Writer, teacher, historian(1904–1990)1993College professor who, along with professor Grace A. Dow, established the Maine Women's Writers Collection; namesake of the Dorothy M. Healy Professorship at the University of New England; (1885–1980)1992Dean of Women at Colby College(1868–1952)1991First practicing female attorney from Maine, first president of Business and Professional Women's Foundation, served in both the Maine House of Representatives and Maine State Senate(1947–)1991Director of Maine Displaced Homemakers Program(1913–2001)1991GeneticistWayne (2010), pp. 827–828(1897–1995)1990United States Senate, United States House of RepresentativesSigerman (2003), pp. 122–125; Ferraro (2006), pp. 20–49; (1910–2006)1990Birth control activist

Maine Women's Hall of Fame

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