Michelle Obama to Be a Part of National Women’s Hall of Fame

Former First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama will be inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame (NWHF). The organization announced the news on the occasion of International Women’s Day 2021 (March 8). She will be inducted with many other personalities during a ceremony in October.

The NWHF said, in a press release about the 2021 inductees, “Advocate, author, lawyer, and 44th First Lady of the United States—the first Black person to serve in the role—Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most influential and iconic women of the 21st century.”

NWHF praised Michelle Obama for establishing several programs as the first lady, including the Joining Forces organization for veterans, the Let’s Move! program focusing on ending childhood obesity, and Let Girls Learn, which supported girls’ education worldwide. About this, NWHF said, “During her eight years as First Lady, Michelle Obama she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, transforming the White House into the ‘People’s House.’ Since leaving the White House, she has continued to have a profound public impact.”

Michelle Obama released Becoming, her personal memoir, in the year 2018, and she won the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for this. She also started The Michelle Obama Podcast with Barack Obama, her husband, and former President of the United States. Speaking about Michelle Obama’s work, NWHF also said, “Both in and out of the White House, Michelle Obama has accomplished her initiatives and so much more—becoming an advocate for healthy families, service members and their families, higher education, international adolescent girls’ education, and serving as a role model for women and young girls everywhere.”

Michelle Obama’s induction is another feather in the hat of the former first family. Poet, playwright, musician, author, and painter Joy Harjo, who made history as the first Native American to be appointed US poet laureate, is another 2021 NWHF inductee. Rebecca “Becky” Halstead, the first woman in American history to command in combat at the strategic level, and PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi will also be inducted into the NWHF this year.