21st-century American women

Ravenna Mathews Helson (February 13, 1925–2020) was an American psychologist known for her research on the psychology of women and creativity. Dacher Keltner has described her as "a pioneer in the study of women's lives".

Cynthia Brants (20 June 1924 – 11 January 2006) was an American artist and a member of the Fort Worth Circle of artists. She attended Saturday classes at the Fort Worth School of Fine Art from the age of 10, studying under Blanche McVeigh. After leaving Fort Worth Arlington Heights High School, Brants attended Madeira School, Greenway, Virginia and then majored in art at Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, New York. Here she studied under Kurt Roesch and met a number of European refugees who were working in the New York art world, including André Masson and Lyonel Feininger.
After graduation, Brants traveled around post-war Europe, and established her studio in Fort Worth.From 1958 to 1962 she taught painting and drawing at Sarah Lawrence College.In 1979 Brant moved to Granbury, Texas, where she worked as a scenic designer and painter during the renovation and re-opening of the Granbury Opera House.

Adlene Harrison (November 19, 1923 – February 19, 2022) was an American politician who served on the Dallas City Council from 1973 to 1977, and was acting mayor of Dallas in 1976. She also served as regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency from 1977 to 1981 and as the first chair of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Board. She was the first Jewish woman to serve as Mayor of a major U.S. city. She was Dallas' first Jewish mayor and first female mayor; Annette Strauss would follow her in both categories. Harrison, a Democratic city councilwoman, succeeded Wes Wise as mayor when he resigned to run for the United States Congress. She served until the election of a new mayor, Robert Folsom, at the end of the year.
Harrison died on February 19, 2022, at the age of 98.

Nellie Jane Gray (1924 – August 13, 2012) was an American anti-abortion activist who founded the annual March for Life in 1974, in response to the Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade, which decriminalized abortion the previous year. The New York Times credits her with popularizing the term pro-life.

Elizabeth Rogers (born Betty Jayne Rogers, May 18, 1934 – November 6, 2004) was an American actress.

Virginia B. MacDonald (née Blue) (October 24, 1920 – July 12, 2008) was an American politician.
Born in El Paso, Texas, MacDonald went to the University of New Mexico. MacDonald lived in Arlington Heights, Illinois, and was involved with the Republican Party. She served in the Illinois Constitutional Convention of 1970. MacDonald served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1973 to 1983. MacDonald then served in the Illinois State Senate from 1983 to 1993. She died at her home in Arlington Heights, Illinois.

Ruthe Lewin Winegarten (August 26, 1929 – June 14, 2004) was an American author, activist, and historian.

Jimmie Coker Holland (April 9, 1928 – December 24, 2017) was a founder of the field of psycho-oncology. In 1977, she worked with two colleagues to establish a full-time psychiatric service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The program was one of the first of its kind in cancer treatment, and trained its psychologists to specialize in issues specific to people with cancer.

Eloisa Garcia Tamez (born March 2, 1935) is an American civil rights leader, lecturer, professional nurse, professor and retired officer of the United States Army's Nursing Corps. She is a prominent opponent and litigant against the Texas-Mexico border wall. She self-identifies as being of Lipan Apache descent.

Dee Ann Story (née Suhm; December 12, 1931 – December 26, 2010) was an American archaeologist. Story lived in Wimberley, Texas, and was a professor at the University of Texas at Austin. Story's best-known excavations were the George C. Davis and Deshazo sites. Story's work with Caddo Mounds State Historic Site, took place in the 1960s and 1970s and pinpointed the timeline of the area. She brought more advanced techniques to the dig, such as radiocarbon dating. Story was also the first woman hired to work as a professional archaeologist for the state of Texas.