I often receive requests for information on women and minorities, past and present, in science. There is a rich and diverse literature on this topic. Below I list (a) some of my favorite books on women and minorities in science and (b) For web sites see page on gender, race and science
Reading these books will get you started on the topic
Bonta, Marcia Myers (1991) Women in the Field: America's Pioneering Women Naturalists. Texas A&M University Press.
Kohlstedt, Sally Gregory (1999) History of Women in the Sciences: Readings from Isis. University of Chicago Press.
Lightfoot, Sara Lawrence (1988) Balm in Gilead: Journey of a Healer. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company
Manning, Kenneth (1983) Black Apollo of Science: the life of Ernest Everett Just. Oxford University Press.
Ogilvie, Marilyn Bailey (1986) Women in Science: antiquity through the 19th Century. The MIT Press.
Pearson, Willie, Jr. and Bechtel, H. Kenneth, eds. (1989) Blacks, Science and American Education. Rutgers University Press.
Rossiter, Margaret W. (1982) Women Scientists in America: Struggles and Strategies to 1940. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Rossiter, Margaret W. (1995) Women Scientists in America: Before Affirmative Action-1940-1972. Johns Hopkins University Press
van Sertima, Ivan (1984) Blacks in Science: ancient and modern. Transaction Books.