Lilli Vincenz
German-American LGBTQIA+ rights activist
German-American LGBTQIA+ rights activist
French intellectual and advocate for the downtrodden
Annie Adams Fields hosted an influential literary salon in Boston and supported many women writers and engaged in significant charitable work.
Although the home of Annie Adams Fields (1834-1915) and her husband, publisher James T. Fields, at the end of Charles Street, does not survive, it was the site of their important literary salon. After his death in 1881, Annie Fields continued to support the work of many women writers, including Sarah Orne Jewett (1849-1909) who spent winters with her, poet Louise Imogen Guiney (1861-1920) and Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-96). Fields was also active in charitable works. She spent many hours at the Charity House on Chardon Street and co-founded the Cooperative Society of Visitors, a case review agency that made recommendations to the central administration of Boston’s relief organizations for aid disbursement. The Society was absorbed into the Associated Charities of Boston. Fields’ book How to Help the Poor (1884) served as an unofficial guide to the programs and policies of Associated Charities.
She joined the Nation of Islam in the mid-1950s where she helped to establish a mosque with a daycare center attached to it. In the early 1940s, she became the guardian of her half-brother Malcolm Little, who later changed his name to Malcolm X
Established the Animal Rescue League in 1899, which led to the installation of water basins around the city where dogs and cats could drink and the founding of the Horses Aid Association, which provided health care for the city’s horses free of charge
The “Mother of Journalism” in Washington.
Blind teacher of Helen Keller
Activist who co-founded Inquilinos Boricuas en Accion (IBA) in 1968 to develop and now maintain Villa Victoria, a subsidized housing community built on a parcel of city land slated for urban renewal. IBA promotes the social and economic well being of Villa Victoria’s residents with programs that support the arts, especially expressi
Boston’s first Black woman TV reporter, who led Civil Rights voter efforts, told neighborhood stories, and earned numerous accolades.
Indefatigable union activist and organizer.