Leaders of the Social Justice Movement
Anna Julia Haywood Cooper (1858-1964) prominent African-American scholar, author,
and a co-leader of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs
Bayard Rustin (1917-1987) American civil rights activist and credited as the chief
organizer of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
Bella Savitsky Abzug (1920-1998) lawyer, congresswoman, and co-founder of the
National Women’s Political Caucus
Betty Friedan (1921-2006) Author of The Feminine Mystique and co-founder of the
National Women’s Political Caucus
Cesar Chavez (1927-1993) co-founder of National Farm Workers Association and Latino
civil rights activist
Coretta Scott King (1927-2006) carried on the fight for civil rights following the
assassination of her husband, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Desmond Mpilo Tutu (1931- ) anti-apartheid activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner
Elizabeth Blackwell (1821 - 1910) first woman physician, founded the New York
Infirmary for Women and Children in 1857, and founded Women’s Medical College in
1867
Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815 – 1902) leader in women’s rights movement, presenter at
the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, and political activist
Ella Josephine Baker (1903-1986) leader in civil and human rights activism and 1931
director of the Young Negroes Cooperative League
Ellen Pence (1948- ) leader in the domestic/sexual violence movement and co-founder of
the Duluth Domestic Abuse Intervention Project
Emma Goldman (1869-1940) anarchist and labor union supporter
Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977) American voting rights activist and civil rights leader.
Harvey Bernard Milk (1930-1978) first openly gay man elected to public office and gay
rights activist
Hector Perez Garcia (1914-1996) founder of the American G.I. Forum – a Hispanic
veterans and civil rights organization
Ida Bell Wells-Barnett (1862-1931) Civil and women’s rights leader and journalist
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (1917-1984) India’s first and sole female prime minister
John Brown (1800-1859) American abolitionist best known for the raid on Harper’s Ferry
Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin (1842-1924) editor of the first newspaper written by and for
African-American women and co-leader of the National Association of Colored
Women’s Clubs
Judy Shepard (1952- ) gay rights activist and mother of Matthew Shepard, 21-year old
man killed for being a homosexual in Laramie, WY
Lucretia Mott (1793-1880) credited with being the first American “feminist” but is more
commonly known as a Quaker, abolitionist, social reformer, and supporter of
women’s rights
Lucy Stone (1818 – 1893) one of the first women in the United States to earn a college
degree, graduating first in her class from Oberlin College in 1847, organized the first
National Women’s Rights Convention
Margaret Chase Smith (1897 - 1995) the first woman to serve in the U.S. House of
Representatives and the U.S. Senate. In 1964 she became the first woman to be
placed in nomination for the presidency of the United States at a major party
convention
Mary Church Terrell (1863-1954) one of the first African-American women to earn a
college degree and co-leader of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs
Mary McLeod Bethune (1875 – 1955) dedicated her life to improving educational
opportunities for African Americans, founded school for African American girls
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) one of the founding feminist philosophers and author of
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Rodolfo Gonzales (1928-2005) considered a co-founder of the Chicano civil rights
movement and convened the first Chicano youth conference in 1969
Sojourner Truth (1787-1883) freedom fighter and African-American rights activist
Standing Bear (1834-1908) argued successfully in 1879 in a US district court that Native
Americans were “persons within the meaning of the law”
Wilma Pearl Mankiller (1945-2010) first female chief of the Cherokee Nation
*It is important to note the obvious omissions from this list, including but not
limited to: Harriet Tubman, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcom X, Mahatma
Gandhi, Susan B. Anthony, Mother Teresa, and Rosa Parks. It is the sincere hope
of this curriculum that these names need not be included in the lesson as they are
already WELL covered in history books. If you, the instructor find that this is not
the case, please include more well-known social justice leaders in your lessons.
This list is to highlight important figures in the advancement of human rights that
are usually omitted or glossed over in textbooks.
Supplemental List – More social Justice Movement Leaders to consider
Al Gore (1948- ) Environmental activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner
Buffy Sainte-Marie (1941- ) Aboriginal-Canadian singer/songwriter and Native American
civil rights activist
Carrie Chapman Catt (1859-1947) handpicked by Susan B. Anthony to be her successor
and lead the women’s suffrage movement
Crazy Horse (1840-1877) Leader of the Oglala Lakota and Native American civil rights
activist
Dorthea Dix (1802-1887) activist for rights of the mentally ill and mentally insane
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) social and economic justice activist
Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) advocated for patient rights and the original reform of
health care
Gabriela Mistral (1889-1957) homeless children activist, re-organized the library and
school systems of Mexico, and Nobel Prize winner
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) played a significant role in the scientific revolution
Gloria Steinem (1934 - ) writer, feminist leader, and co-founder of the National Women’s
Political Caucus
Jeannette Rankin (1880-1973) elected twice to the US House of Representatives, she was
an activist for pacifism
Leonard Peltier (1944- ) Native American civil rights activist and member of the American
Indian Movement
Margaret Sanger (1879-1966) women’s rights activist, specializing in reproductive rights
Maria Montessori (1870-1952) first woman in Italy to be awarded an M.D. for her work
with “defective children”, she reformed educational methods and procedures
Mark Segal (?) gay rights activist and former president of both The National Gay Press
Association and the National Gay Newspaper Guild
Martin Luther (1483-1546) rejected the notion that God’s forgiveness could be bought
with money, best known for nailing his Ninety-Five Theses to the door the Church of
All Saints in 1517
Pete Seeger (1919- ) folk singer of protest music in support of international disarmament,
civil rights, and for environmental causes
Ralph Nader (1934- ) political activist with interests in consumer protection,
humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government
Sandra Day O’Connor (1930- ) First woman appointed to the US Supreme Court
Sonia Sotomayor (1954- ) First Hispanic woman appointed to the US Supreme Court
Susan Schecther (?) author and activist in the anti-violence movement