The Arizona Women's Hall of Fame recognizes women natives or residents of the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of
Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
for their significant achievements or statewide contributions. In 1979, the office of Governor
Bruce Babbitt
Bruce Edward Babbitt (born June 27, 1938) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 47th United States secretary of the interior from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as the List of governors of Arizo ...
worked with the Arizona Women's Commission to create the Hall of Fame. The first inductees were in October 1981. During its first decade, the Hall of Fame was overseen by the Arizona Historical Society and the Arizona Department of Library, Archives and Public Records. A steering committee would each year select a varying number of women to be inducted. The 1991 inclusion of
Planned Parenthood
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization creator
Margaret Sanger
Margaret Sanger ( Higgins; September 14, 1879September 6, 1966) was an American birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. She opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, founded Planned Parenthood, and was instr ...
resulted in disapproval being heard from some in the Arizona Legislature, and funding dried up. With the lone exception of
María Urquides
María Luisa Legarra Urquides (December 8, 1908 – June 16, 1994) was an American educator and proponent of bilingual education. She spent her life in the US state of Arizona, but influenced national educational policies. Urquides served in lo ...
in 1994, there were no Hall of Fame inductees for over a decade. Inductions finally resumed in 2002, when the Hall of Fame has only inducted new honorees every two years. The award returned to being annual in 2018.
In 2023, AZWHF created a scholarship awarded to an individual pursuing a degree in a museum program or a history discipline with an emphasis on women.
As of 2024, sponsorship of the Arizona Women's Hall of Fame is provided by Arizona Humanities, the
Arizona Secretary of State
The secretary of state of Arizona is an elected position in the U.S. state of Arizona. Since Arizona does not have a Lieutenant governor (United States), lieutenant governor, the secretary stands first in the Gubernatorial lines of succession in ...
, the
Arizona State Capital Museum, Arizona State Libraries and Archives, Arizona Heritage Center at
Papago Park
Papago Park () is a Urban park, municipal park of the cities of Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix and Tempe, Arizona, United States. It has been designated as a Phoenix Points of Pride, Phoenix Point of Pride.
It includes Hunt's Tomb, which is listed on ...
, SRP, Arizona Community Foundation, PBS – Horizonte, the
Arizona Historical Society
The Arizona Historical Society (AHS) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to connect people through the power of Arizona's history. It does this through four regional divisions. Each division has a representative museum
A museum is ...
, C.L. Russell, and Front Doors.
Inductees
Notes
References
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Further reading
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External links
Arizona Women's Hall of Fame
{{Authority control
Women's halls of fame
Lists of American women
State halls of fame in the United States
Women in Arizona
Halls of fame in Arizona
Lists of people from Arizona
History of women in Arizona
Women's Hall of Fame