International Women's Day: 7 NJ women who made a difference

Jersey Girls do not pump their own gas.

But they do win the Nobel Prize and Olympic gold. They do think outside the box.

And they do fight the power and change the system.

Here are seven accomplished and esteemed women from New Jersey:

1. Clara Barton, Bordentown

A Civil War heroine, Clara Barton was born in Massachusetts in 1821, but moved to New Jersey in her 20s, where she founded the state's first free public school.

Her work as a wartime nurse during the Civil War earned her the nickname "Angel of the Battlefield." She later founded the American Red Cross and devoted much of her life to advancing the rights of women.

Barton died in 1912. She was inducted into the inaugural class of the New Jersey Hall Of Fame in 2008.

2. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Tenafly

She was born in New York in 1850 and spent much of her life there and in Boston. But from 1868 to 1887, her most active years in the women's suffrage movement, Elizabeth Cady Stanton lived in Tenafly.

A leading figure in the early women’s rights movement, Stanton helped organize the first women’s rights convention. She also was an abolitionist.

Another Heroine: 100 years before Rosa Parks, Elizabeth Jennings made history

Stanton died in 1902. Her home in Tenafly was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1975. She was inducted into the 2014 class of the New Jersey Hall Of Fame.

3. Toni Morrison, Princeton

Toni Morrison is that rare author who is both a celebrated intellectual and a household name. From 1989 until her retirement in 2006, Toni Morrison held the Robert F. Goheen Chair in the Humanities at Princeton University.

Born in Ohio in 1931, Morrison has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, the National Book Critics Circle Award and a Grammy Award. Some of her best known novels are "Beloved," "The Bluest Eye," "Song of Solomon" "Jazz" and "Paradise."

In 2017, Princeton dedicated a building in her honor, Morrison Hall.

4. Judy Blume, Elizabeth

Are you there, Judy? It's us, all the teenaged girls.

Judy Blume's novels for middle-school readers pushed the envelope and broke the mold, all without resorting to cliches like that. She is best known for "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret," a frank coming-of-age tale. She echoed that theme from a boy's point of view in "Then Again, Maybe I Won't."

And she was way ahead of her time with "Blubber," a wrenching book about bullying, and "Iggie's House," about prejudice and racism, among many others.

More about Judy: Meet Judy Blume, outstanding Jersey Girl

It's no surprise, then, that her novels are often targets of book-banning campaigns. Blume has fought censorship efforts and has been an outspoken advocate for freedom of speech and intellectual freedom.

Born in 1938, Blume grew up in Elizabeth and often uses New Jersey as a setting for her books. She is a member of the 2010 class of the New Jersey Hall Of Fame. She currently lives in Key West, Florida.

5. Alice Waters, Chatham

Are you a locavore who loves farm-to-table restaurants, organic food and sustainable farming practices?

You have Alice Waters to thank for much of that.

Waters, born in Chatham in 1944, is a chef, restaurateur and food policy activist.

In 1971, she opened Chez Panisse, a restaurant in Berkeley, California, that pioneered the organic food movement and set the standard for California cuisine. Through her Chez Panisse Foundation and Edible Schoolyard programs, she advocates for healthier school lunches and universal access to healthy food.

She was inducted into the 2014 class of the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

6. Christine Todd Whitman, Oldwick

Christine Todd Whitman was the first — and so far, only — female governor of New Jersey, from 1994 to 2001. She was the second woman and first Republican woman to defeat an incumbent governor in a general election in the United States. She was also the first Republican woman to be re-elected governor.

She went on to serve in George W. Bush's administration as head of the Environmental Protection Agency, from 2001 to 2003.

She was born in New York City in 1946, but grew up in Oldwick.

7. Laurie Hernandez, Old Bridge

Born in 2000, Laurie Hernandez competed in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, taking home gold for the team event in women's gymnastics and silver for the balance beam.

Later that year, the Old Bridge native went on to win the 23rd season of "Dancing With The Stars," with dancing partner Val Chmerkovskiy.

Because of her sunny personality and expressive face, she was dubbed "the human emoji" during the Olympics.

More about Laurie: Meet Laurie Hernandez, awesome New Jerseyan