The Skirball Museum is proud to present profiles of six members of the Jewish-American Hall of Fame and the medals commemorating their accomplishments. Each of these women has made significant contributions in literature, education, advocacy, medicine, and public service. These medals are from a collection representing 50 years of the Jewish-American Hall of Fame, recently gifted to the Skirball Museum by Mel and Esther Wacks, Debra Wacks, and Sheri Wacks.

The featured women are Emma Lazarus, whose sonnet, "The New Colossus," is at the entrance to the Statue of Liberty; Ernestine Rose, who worked tirelessly on behalf of women's rights alongside Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton; Henrietta Szold, founder of Hadassah and the Hadassah Hospital system in Jerusalem; Lillian Wald, creator of the Henry Street Settlement on New York's Lower East Side; Gertrude Elion, whose research led to the development of the AIDS drug AZT and who was a Nobel laureate in Medicine; and Rebecca Gratz, who founded several social service and educational agencies in Philadelphia.

All but one of the six medals displayed were designed by women. Gerta Ries Weiner designed the medals for Ernestine Rose, Emma Lazarus, Rebecca Gratz and Henrietta Szold. The medal for Lillian Wald was designed by Virginia Janssen.