Women dating from the American Revolution to modern times were honored as the inaugural class of the Massachusetts Women’s Hall of Fame at a gala Monday night in Boston.
Honorees ranged from first lady Abigail Adams and poet Phillis Wheatley, to Doris Kearns Goodwin, the Pulitzer Prize-winning presidential historian, and Frieda Garcia, a longtime community activist in the South End and Roxbury
“Tonight we’re honoring both historic and living women. This group of women rose to the fore,” Fredie Kay, founder and president of the Massachusetts Women’s History Center, said to the crowd gathered in the ballroom of the Sheraton Boston hotel.
Eight women from history, eight living women, and four groundbreaking movements were recognized for “a lifetime of service,” for advancing the role of women in society.
As the country nears the end of its 250th anniversary celebration, Kay said it is important to remember the contributions of women that led to this moment.
“We need to learn about them and amplify them,” Kay said. “These are stories that we need to tell. We have so many more to tell.”
The historic inductees are first lady Abigail Adams; Phillis Wheatley Peters, the first published African American poet; Elizabeth Freeman, the first enslaved woman to use the state constitution to sue for her freedom; Sarah Bradlee Fulton, the “mother” of the Boston Tea Party; Jenny Slew, the first enslaved woman to win her freedom through a jury trial; Lydia Taft, the first female voter; and Mercy Otis Warren, a poet and playwright.
The Daughters of Liberty, a patriotic resistance group, was inducted as an organization. Also honored were women who led historic movements: Native American women, who protected and passed on customs and language, and the thousands of women and girls who were enslaved in Massachusetts.
Governor Maura Healey awarded the women with Hall of Fame plaques.
“What a great evening at a particularly great time. It’s really special to be able to serve with so many women,” Healey said, gesturing to Mayor Michelle Wu and Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell on the stage.
The inductees’ plaques are small-scale recreations of a Hall of Fame memorial that will be installed at the State House.
“I don’t have to tell you, but just let me remind you: Massachusetts led the way,” said Callie Crossley, a GBH broadcast journalist and the event’s emcee.
Margaret Burnham, the first Black woman to serve in the state judiciary, crossed the stage to accept her award first. She is now a distinguished professor of law at Northeastern University.
“Boston and Massachusetts have been wonderful places for women to thrive and lead,” Burnham said in an interview after the ceremony. “I look forward to the day gender identity won’t define us the way it continues to do today.”
Frieda Garcia, a longtime community activist in the South End and Roxbury, was also inducted, along with public servant Helen Chin Schlichte, who has championed Boston’s Asian American community for more than 50 years. Neither was able to attend the ceremony.
Margaret Marshall, the first woman to serve as Chief Justice of the state Supreme Judicial Court, who wrote the landmark decision that legalized same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, was honored alongside Nancy Schön, a sculptor best known for her iconic art in the Boston Public Garden, “Make Way for Ducklings.”
Doris Kearns Goodwin, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian was also inducted.
“To think of the people they’re honoring ... and to think we’re part of that — it’s electric,” Goodwin said in an interview.
Benaree Wiley, a civic leader and one of the first women to attend Harvard Business School, said it is an “immense honor” to be inducted.
“It’s encouraging, it’s inspiring, it’s humbling,” Wiley said of the award. “We have to learn our history. This is part of that.”
LGBTQ+ activist Grace Sterling Stowell, the longest-serving transgender executive director in the nation, said she “never could have imagined” she’d be recognized this way.
“It’s such an honor and privilege to be included in such an accomplished group of women,” said Stowell, executive director of the Boston Alliance of LGBTQ+ Youth. “I hope it inspires young people to see possibility.”
Our Bodies Ourselves, a women’s health organization born in Boston in the 1960s, was honored for its ongoing commitment to preserving women’s health and reproductive rights.
As a few of the original members accepted their plaques, they brought with them a black and white photograph of the founders.
“They had this shared vision and they were sick of being patronized by male doctors,” said Amy Agigian, executive director of the Center for Women’s Health & Human Rights at Suffolk University. “To be in such profoundly wonderful company, it’s an honor to share the stage with them.”
Madyline Swearing can be reached at madyline.swearing@globe.com.