As the calendar turns to March, it is time to celebrate Women’s History Month. 

In Indiana, that history includes race car driver Sarah Fisher, TV personality Jane Pauley, politician Julia Carson, and actress Joyce DeWitt among others.

Here is a look at five women with Indiana connections who have made a difference.

Madam ‘CJ’ Walker, originally named Sarah Breedlove, is known for being the first African American woman to be a millionaire, and her making her homemade hair products for black women.

Walker was born in Louisiana and spent most of her life in Denver and St. Louis. She was orphaned a the age of 7 and eventually landed in Indiana in 1910 where she set up her hair product business. She mainly learned about her business from her brothers who were barbers.

In 1910, she set up a beauty school in Indiana, which caused her business to grow rapidly.  She sadly died in 1919 from high blood pressure at the age of 51. Her name still continues to be honored at the “Walker Theatre” on Indiana Avenue near the IUPUI campus. Plans have recently been announced by the city of Indianapolis to redevelop the Walker Theatre.

Vivica A. Fox was born in South Bend in 1964. 

She’s a 1982 graduate of Arlington High School in Indianapolis and went on to attend and graduate from Golden West College with an Associate Arts degree.

She started her acting career playing “Maya Reubens” in a soap opera during 1989-1991, she’s known for her big roles like Kill Bill (2003); Two Can Play That Game (2001), Set it Off (1996), and Soul Food (1997). Her biggest role may have been Will Smith’s girlfriend in the blockbuster Independence Day and she recently appeared in The Masked Singer.

Janet Jackson was born in 1966 in Gary, Indiana. She is a talented singer/musician who followed the footsteps of her talented brothers The Jackson 5. 

Jackson appeared in a comedy series in the 1970s titled Good Times and a dance series titled Fame. She also has been in a couple of movies such as For Colored Girls, Why did I Get Married (parts 1 and 2) (2007,2010), Poetic Justice (1993), and ¨Nutty Professor 2 (2000).

She’s also known for musical hits like ¨Rhythm Nation (1989)¨, ¨Control (1986)¨, and ¨The Way Love Goes (1993)¨.

Jackson has sold more than 100 million records in her musical career but may be best known for her controversial appearance in the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show when Justin Timberlake was involved in a wardrobe malfunction that exposed her breast. 

Jenna Fischer was born in 1974 in Fort Wayne but was raised in St. Louis Missouri.

As a trained actress, she began to act in one of her biggest roles as Pam Beasley in The Office. She’s also appeared in Blades Of Glory (2007), and the great horror film Slither (2006).

Fischer would then go on to star in a Broadway show titled Reasons To Be Happy (2011). In 2021 she was awarded “iHeart Radio’s Podcast Of The Year” for the podcast she shared with her best friend.

Vivian Carter was a founder of her company Vee-Jay records, along with her husband James Bracken. Carter and Bracken were radio disc jockeys before they bought their radio company. She opened a recording shop in Gary, Indiana, in 1950, and became the first successful black-owned recording company in the United States. 

Carter had a variety of artists and genres in the 50s to the 60s, like gospel, pop, rhythm and blues, and doo-wop. But in the mid-60s they were experiencing legal difficulties and went bankrupt causing them to lose their company in 1966. In 1989 Vivian Carter died in a nursing home from high blood pressure and diabetes.