Wikipedia:WikiProject Women in Religion

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Women in Religion WikiProject

Hello and welcome!

Two women from the Women in Religion WikiProject are editing on laptop and phone

The Women in Religion WikiProject is an initiative to create, update, and improve Wikimedia content pertaining to the lives of cisgender and transgender women who are notable as scholars, activists and practitioners in the world's religious, spiritual and wisdom traditions. As of October 2025, our project has created or improved more than 325 Wikipedia articles and biographies.

All are invited to contribute and join in our activities; there are many ways to help and no specialized knowledge of content or editing is required. Trainings and edit-a-thons are held regularly for new editors interested in learning to edit Wikipedia or Wikidata. This Meetup page will be used to post details about ongoing activities and events.

The Women in Religion WikiProject organizing committee meets monthly. If you would like to participate in these meetings contact Dzingle1 or click the link below.

See this video, a panel presentation our members gave at the Online June Sessions of the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion in 2024, for more information about our project and our most recent projects.

Here's our project banner. Please place it on the talk page of any new article or bio you create.

WikiProject iconWomen in Religion Mid‑importance
WikiProject iconThis article is within the scope of the Women in Religion WikiProject, a collaborative effort to improve Wikipedia's coverage of women in religion. If you would like to participate, you can visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks.Women in ReligionWikipedia:WikiProject Women in ReligionTemplate:WikiProject Women in ReligionWomen in Religion
MidThis article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.

Announcements

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Call for submissions, Volume 5

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We are happy to announce the release of the "Call for Submissions" for Volume Five of the Women in Religion biographies series published with the Parliament of the World's Religions. The working title for this volume is American Academy of Religion/Society of Biblical Literature Women's Caucus: A History of Women Claiming Voice. If interested, see here or contact Colleen Hartung (User:Dzingle1). We are excited to highlight the stories of Women's Caucus members affiliated with the AAR-SBL who have navigated marginalized spaces in academia and helped to change the landscape of AAR-SBL. Deadline is April 1, 2025.

Call for submissions, Volume 4

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We are happy to announce the release of the "Call for Submissions" for Volume Four of the Women in Religion biographies series published with the Parliament of the World's Religions. The working title for this volume is Women Challenging Dominant Religious Practices and Expectations through Women-centered Traditions and Spiritualities. If interested, see here or contact Colleen Hartung (User:Dzingle1). The submission deadline has been extended to October 31, 2024. We are looking forward to another successful publication that will allow us to continue our work of raising up the visibility of so many noteworthy women who remain undercovered on Wikipedia.

Women in Religion series

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In addition to writing, creating, and improving biographies about Women in Religion on Wikipedia, one of the goals of WikiProject Women in Religion is to increase content in general scholarship. This strategy provides secondary sources for Wikipedia users interested in adding content about women in religion to Wikipedia. To that end, we have participated in the publication of three open-sourced monographs to date, with two more in production. Two were published by ATLA: Challenging Bias against Women academics in Religion and Claiming Notability for Women Activists in Religion The third volume is published by the Parliament of the World's Religions at Parliament of the World's Religions. Work on the fourth and fifth volumes is now underway.

See Wikipedia:WikiProject Women in Religion/Women in Religion series for a list of articles created from the three volumes published thus far, as well as potential new articles.

History

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This WikiProject was launched as "1000 Women in Religion" at the 2018 Parliament of the World's Religions in Toronto, Canada, with the support of the Women's Task Force at the 2018 Parliament and the Women's Caucus of the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature. Its focus was to add one thousand women's biographies to Wikipedia to address the gender gap. Since its founding, the WikiProject has continually expanded, with affiliated Wikimedians working on regional projects in Australia, India, and Kenya. In addition to adding and improving content in Wikipedia, project members have contributed to Wikidata, WikiCommons, and WikiQuote. In 2022, the project's name was changed to Women in Religion to reflect this broader range of activity.

In the summer of 2023, four members of WikiProject Women in Religion (Clifford Anderson, Dzingle1, Figureskatingfan, and RosPost) conducted a study using Artificial intelligence large language models to ascertain their usefulness in editing Wikipedia articles and biographies. The team presented their preliminary findings at Wikimania 2023 in August 2023.

In June 2024, seven members of our project presented at the virtual conference of the American Academy of Religion. See here for the presentation at Commons and here at YouTube.

In October 2024, members presented multiple sessions at the WikiConference North America in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Upcoming events

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Monthly Virtual Edit-a-thon

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Join us for an hour of editing, the 2nd Monday of each month, 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. CST! Bring your own project to work on, or any questions you have about editing. All levels are welcome.

For Zoom meeting details and more information, contact Dzingle1 or RosPost.

Join Zoom Meeting here

Monthly Virtual Organizational Meeting

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  • Upcoming sessions: July 24, 2025, August 28, 2025, September 25, 2025

African Project, Expanding Wikipedians in Kenya

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For more information go to: Expanding Wikipedians in Kenya

Past events

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List of Women in Religion Events

Worklists and editing tasks

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Red Link List:

Improve existing biographical articles
Improve thematic articles
Improve existing lists
Improve quality of articles to GA
See WP:GAI for instructions of how to nominate and review a good article nomination (GAN).

Project statistics

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This list is bot-generated periodically; recent changes may not appear.

Women in Religion articles by quality and importance
Quality Importance
Top High Mid Low NA ??? Total
FA 1 4 4 11 20
GA 3 7 38 54 2 104
B 20 85 227 684 19 1,035
C 6 53 263 2,555 70 2,947
Start 19 110 2,528 64 2,721
Stub 1 7 1,141 30 1,179
List 1 3 10 19 2 35
Category 682 682
Disambig 1 1
File 7 7
Project 5 5
Template 9 9
NA 2 25 75 102
Other 12 12
Assessed 32 171 661 7,017 791 187 8,859
Unassessed 1 1
Total 32 171 661 7,017 791 188 8,860
WikiWork factors (?) ω = 35,780 Ω = 4.47

Sign up and let us know you are working on Women in Religion!

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Sign up for a Wikipedia account and join us in this work. See this page for information on how to create an account. You can also add our userbox template {{User WikiProject Women in religion}} to your user page, which will produce:

This user is a member of WikiProject Women in Religion

Recent Did You Know? blurbs

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See Template talk:Did you know for instructions about nominating an article for DYK.

  • ... that Eileen Niedfield, one of the first five women in her medical school's pathology program, graduated with the highest score in the United States? Nominated by Carole (Oh-Fortuna!) 16 June 2025

On this day entries

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New or improved articles

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Let us know about new submissions you have made to Wikipedia and articles you have improved below (most recent on top):

2025

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  1. Clara E. Speight-Humberston (1862–1936), Canadian spiritist, scientific researcher/writer. New. --Rosiestep (talk) 18:02, 1 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  2. Christian Women's Union of Winnipeg (est. 1883), one of the oldest charitable institutions of the city. New. --Rosiestep (talk) 18:02, 31 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  3. Belle Harpster Hartness (1867–1957), with the Union Gospel News (1890; 1915); lecturer regarding the Star of Bethlehem. New. --Rosiestep (talk) 22:37, 28 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  4. Sister Matilda (1887-1980), American nun and artist. New article. Carole (Oh-Fortuna!) (talk) 01:56, 26 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  5. Mabel Digby (1835–1911), fifth Superior General of the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (RSCJ). New article. Carole (Oh-Fortuna!) (talk) 18:31, 20 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  6. Annie Mottram Craig Batten, Canadian church soloist in Los Angeles, California; voice teacher and composer. New. --Rosiestep (talk) 14:46, 10 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  7. Martha Van Marter, Methodist magazine editor (The Sunday School Advocate, The Picture Lesson Paper, Children's Home Missions, and Woman's Home Missions); religious writer. New. Rosiestep (talk) 19:34, 8 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  8. The Twelve Theses (poster), a poster modelled on Martin Luther's Ninety-five theses attached to the door of St Andrew's Anglican Cathedral, Sydney on 4 October 1983 by members of the Movement for the Ordination of Women (MOW). LPascal (talk) 05:45, 30 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  9. Martha Mwale, political prisoner and Malawian minister in the Presbyterian church (new) Victuallers (talk) 10:19, 14 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  10. Edina Navaya, teacher and Malawian minister in the Presbyterian church (new) Victuallers (talk) 10:19, 14 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  11. Elizabeth Ursic, scholar of religion. Entry first created in an experiment using generative AI. Then revised. New. Jaireeodell (talk) 20:14, 6 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  12. Clara H. Sully Carhart (1843-1913), Canadian-born American reformer in the Women's Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. New. Rosiestep (talk) 21:39, 20 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  13. Ella May Bennett (1855-1932), a Universalist minister, was the first woman to be ordained to the ministry on Long Island. New. --Rosiestep (talk) 23:28, 18 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  14. Mary Fleming Black (1848-1893), author and co-organizer of the Woman's Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. New. Rosiestep (talk) 21:55, 16 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  15. Athanasia of Aegina, c.790 – 860 - Greek saint and abbess. Christine (Figureskatingfan) (talk) 18:38, 16 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  16. Fiona Smith (Church of Scotland) 50 men had this job as a leader of Scottish Church for 100s of years - now Fiona has it (new) Victuallers (talk) 10:31, 9 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  17. Harriet Henderson a Scottish missionary in Malawi who would an article as a "martyr of Blantyre" if she had been a bloke (redirect) Victuallers (talk) 10:31, 9 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  18. Janet S. Beck Scottish deaconess missionary who was the visible part of a 30-year partnership of three sisters to support the mission in Blantyre in what is now Malawi.Victuallers (talk) 09:35, 24 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  19. Elizabeth Hetherwick, orphan teenage Scottish missionary who became first lady of Blantyre (new)
  20. Margaret Laws born Margaret Troup Gray (1849 - 1921) was a Scottish missionary in Malawi.(upgraded) Victuallers (talk) 10:31, 9 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  21. Anne Hepburn (1925 – 2016) was a Church of Scotland missionary to Malawi and a feminist. She led a debate/fuss on the issue of the "Motherhood of God". (upgraded) Victuallers (talk) 10:31, 9 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  22. Archangela Girlani (1460-1494), Italian Carmelite nun and prioress of two convents. Improved and expanded. Christine (Figureskatingfan) (talk) 06:26, 30 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  23. Henrietta Ash Bancroft (1843–1929), college professor; field secretary, general secretary, president emeritus, Deaconess Department, Woman's Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. New Rosiestep (talk) 19:15, 23 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  24. Mary E. Norton, Congregational minister and home missionary worker. New. Rosiestep (talk) 13:27, 21 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  25. Catherine Seals, American Spiritualist leader based in the Ninth Ward, Rubystaramaryllis (talk) 23:37, 31 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  26. Mary Collins, American theologian and 10th prioress of Mount Saint Scholastica Monastery. User:Engmaj (talk), 12 January 2025.
  27. Rose Agnes Greenwell SCN, PhD, American Catholic nun and botanist. New article. User:Oh-Fortuna! (talk), 18 January 2025.
  28. M. Bernetta Quinn, OSF, PhD, American Catholic nun, poet, and literary critic. New article. User:Oh-Fortuna! (talk), 18 January 2025.

2024

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  1. Mary Daniel Turner, SNDdeN, American Catholic nun, author, and former head of the LCWR. New article. Carole (Oh-Fortuna!) (talk)
  2. Enrica Rosanna, FMA, Italian Catholic nun and first woman in Vatican history appointed to high office. New article. Carole (Oh-Fortuna!) (talk)
  3. Anysia of Thessalonica, 4th century Roman saint and martyr. Short bio, improved and re-written. Christine (Figureskatingfan) (talk) 00:59, 21 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  4. Amata of Assisi, 13th-century Italian saint, niece of Clare of Assisi. Improved and expanded. Christine (Figureskatingfan) (talk) 19:57, 16 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  5. Mai Na Lee, Hmong American scholar who published previously undocumented Hmong political history, especially about messianic leadership Pingnova (talk) 23:56, 14 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  6. Jennifer Howe Peace, interreligious/interfaith studies scholar who coined the term "coformation". Jaireeodell (talk) 18:31, 14 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  7. Nunilo and Alodia (d. 842), teenaged virgins and martyrs from Spain. Improved and expanded. Christine (Figureskatingfan) (talk) 23:17, 11 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  8. Giuseppina De Muro (1903–1965) FdC, Italian Roman Catholic nun who saved people during the Holocaust. New article. Carole (Oh-Fortuna!) (talk)
  9. Joseph Marie Armer (1907–2000) CCVI, American Roman Catholic nun and botanist. New article. Carole (Oh-Fortuna!) (talk)
  10. B. Anne Gehman (1936-2024), American psychic medium and Spiritualist pastor. New article. Carole (Oh-Fortuna!) (talk)
  11. Mother Mary Amadeus of the Heart of Jesus OSU (1846–1919), American Roman Catholic nun and author. New article. Carole (Oh-Fortuna!) (talk)
  12. Gerrie Naughton RSM (1942–2009), Roman Catholic sister and founder of ARISE Adelante. New article. Carole (Oh-Fortuna!) (talk)
  13. Mother Mary Loyola IBVM (1845–1930), English Roman Catholic nun and bestselling author. New article. Carole (Oh-Fortuna!) (talk)
  14. Mary Alma Ryan SP (1863–1929), Roman Catholic nun and academic. New article. Carole (Oh-Fortuna!) (talk)
  15. Christine Schenk CSJ (b.1946), American Roman Catholic nun and author. New article. Carole (Oh-Fortuna!) (talk)
  16. Aldobrandesca (1249 – 1309), Italian saint and mystic. Christine (Figureskatingfan) (talk) 18:10, 3 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  17. Nanette B. Paul (1866-1928) established a Biblical Museum of costumes and articles from the Holy Land. New. --Rosiestep (talk) 01:31, 3 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  18. Woman's Auxiliary of the Presbyterian Church, U.S., established in 1912. New. --Rosiestep (talk) 17:02, 1 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  19. Jennie Hanna (1856-1924), missionary worker and co-founder of the Woman's Auxiliary of the Presbyterian Church, U.S. New. --Rosiestep (talk) 13:31, 1 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  20. Susan Topliff Davis (1862-1931), President, Georgia Synodical Auxilliary Presbyterian Church; President, Presbyterian Hospital Association of Georgia. New. --Rosiestep (talk) 23:28, 30 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  21. Abigail Willis Tenney Smith (1809–1885), American missionary and teacher; President, Woman's Board of Missions for the Pacific Islands. New. --Rosiestep (talk) 00:58, 27 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  22. Amalberga of Temse, 8th century saint, virgin, and possibly abbess. Rewritten and expanded. Christine (Figureskatingfan) (talk) 02:49, 21 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  23. Elizabeth Caroline Dowdell (1829-1909), ideator, Woman's Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (and president, Alabama branch). New. --Rosiestep (talk) 16:22, 16 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  24. Woman's Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 19th-century organization of missionary women. New. --Rosiestep (talk) 03:57, 15 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  25. Harpoot Female Seminary, 19th-century missionary-supported girls' school in Turkey. New. --Rosiestep (talk) 00:14, 14 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  26. Woman's Boards of the Congregational Church, 19th-century confederated organization of missionary women. New. --Rosiestep (talk) 15:46, 13 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  27. Adela of Pfalzel, 8th century Frankish noblewoman, abbess, and Catholic saint. Expanded and re-written. Christine (Figureskatingfan) (talk) 20:08, 12 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  28. Kanja Odland (born 1963), Zen buddhist religious leader. Revised. -- Allllllice (talk) 05:54, 8 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  29. Lucia Ruggles Holman (1793-1886), American teacher, letter writer, Protestant missionary to Hawaii. New. --Rosiestep (talk) 01:12, 7 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  30. Saint Ada, late 6th or 7th century French saint. Re-written stub. Christine (Figureskatingfan) (talk) 18:09, 7 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  31. Henrietta G. Moore (1844–1940), American Universalist minister, educator, activist. New. --Rosiestep (talk) 08:15, 6 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  32. Isaura Marcos (born 1959), Spanish cloistered Catholic nun and photographer. New; translation. --Rosiestep (talk) 22:31, 19 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  33. Maria Oliva Bonaldo (1893-1976), Catholic nun; founder of the Daughters of the Church. New; translation. --Rosiestep (talk) 00:35, 20 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  34. Sarah (Wolf) Goodman (March 25, 1886 - Nov. 4, 1975), Jewish activist, philanthropist, and trustee of the Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation. --Jaireeodell (talk) 22:10, 5 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  35. Toni Ann Palermo, baseball player who became a School Sister of St. Francis User:Chitownacademic(talk), May 2024
  36. Rebecca Cox Jackson, Shaker Eldress. Improved Bio. User: Rubystaramaryllis(talk) 12:28, 30 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  37. Clotilde, late 5th/early 6th century saint, first queen of the Franks. Improved bio. Christine (Figureskatingfan) (talk) 17:39, 22 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  38. Theodora of Alexandria, 5th century Byzantine saint. Improved small bio. Christine (Figureskatingfan) (talk) 19:00, 4 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  39. Trasilla and Emiliana, 6th century Roman sister/saints; aunts of Pope Gregory I. Improved small bio. Christine (Figureskatingfan) (talk) 17:35, 30 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  40. Mary Leggett Cooke (1852-1938), American Unitarian minister; member of the Iowa Sisterhood; first woman graduate from Harvard Divinity School. New. --Rosiestep (talk) 19:10, 25 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  41. Julia Seton (1862-1950), founder, New Civilization Church. New. --Rosiestep (talk) 02:12, 17 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  42. Anandamayi Ma, a Hindu spiritual teacher and mystic from Bangladesh. Considered a saint; improve article --Dzingle1 (talk) 22:06, 15 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  43. Jaclyn Chernett, who was ordained as a hazzan in 2006, the first female Jewish cantor in the United Kingdom; new bio. Headhitter (talk) 08:40, 7 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  44. Tarbula, 4th-century saint, virgin, and martyr. New bio. Christine (Figureskatingfan) (talk) 17:25, 29 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  45. Aline Sitoe Diatta, (1920 - 1944) was West African prophet born in Senegal. Improved.--Dzingle1 (talk) 18:13, 18 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  46. Syncletica of Alexandria, 4th century saint, ascetic, anchorite, and Desert Mother. Improved, expanded 5x. Christine (Figureskatingfan) (talk) 17:13, 15 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  47. Marie Augusta Oldham (1857-1938) was an American Methodist missionary born in India. New. --Rosiestep (talk) 06:50, 1 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  48. Rose Venerini (9 February 1656 – 7 May 1728), saint and founder of schools for girls and young women in Italy and throughout the world. Revised bio. Christine (Figureskatingfan) (talk) 19:30, 29 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  49. Rev. Lena B. Mathes (1861–1951), pioneer Old South educator, social reformer, and Baptist minister. New. --Rosiestep (talk) 21:40, 18 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  50. Bl. Rita Lopes de Almeida (1848 – 6 January 1913), Portuguese nun, founder of the Sisters of Mary, Jesus and Joseph Christine (Figureskatingfan) (talk) 17:10, 13 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  51. Rev. Stella B. Irvine (1859–1926), organized the first Sunday school teachers' training class in the U.S. New --Rosiestep (talk) 22:37, 9 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  52. Paula Arai, Buddhist studies scholar and academic; new bio; subject in Vol. 2 in Women in Religion series. Christine (Figureskatingfan) (talk) 00:24, 5 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  53. Zainab al-Ghazali (1917-2005), Egyptian Muslim Activist; add source and information,--Dzingle1 (talk) 23:45, 30 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  54. Maria Hyde Hibbard (1820–1913), President, New York Branch, Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. New. --Rosiestep (talk) 12:22, 25 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  55. Genevieve (c. 419/422 AD – 502/512 AD), nun and virgin, patron saint of Paris; expanded and improved bio. Christine (Figureskatingfan) (talk) 23:18, 20 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  56. Eugenia St. John Mann (1847–1932), ordained minister, Methodist Protestant Church; first woman who ever sat as a delegate in the General Conference of that denomination in the U.S. New. --Rosiestep (talk) 21:53, 19 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  57. Jaclyn Chernett, who was ordained as a hazzan in 2006, the first female Jewish cantor in the United Kingdom; new bio. Headhitter (talk) 08:40, 7 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

For a list of articles created or improved in 2019―2023, see our Outcomes page.

Workbench

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  1. Our Red Link list of pages that need to be created
  2. African and African-Diaspora women in religion
  3. Suffragists
  4. Tools to make your articles successful

Guide for newcomers

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