Louisa Matilda Snelson

George and Louisa Snelson are remembered as the father and mother of Palmerston North. Together, they were associated with founding or initiating most of the institutions and civic projects in the town during the 1870s and 1880s.

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Marsha P Johnson

Marsha P. Johnson was one of the most prominent figures of the gay rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s in New York City. Always sporting a smile, Johnson was an important advocate for homeless LGBTQ+ youth, those effected by H.I.V. and AIDS, and gay and transgender rights.

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Lois Curtis

Lois Curtis was one of the plaintiffs in the landmark Supreme Court case Olmstead v. L.C. (1999) that established the right of individuals with disabilities to live in the least restrictive settings possible.

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Judy Heumann

Judith “Judy” Heumann was a part of almost every pivotal moment in the disability rights movement. Considered “the mother” of the movement, she was a tireless advocate for the disabled community.

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Matilda Joslyn Gage

Famously referred to as “the woman who was ahead of the women who were ahead of their time,” author, activist, and lecturer Matilda Joslyn Gage worked tirelessly to advocate for abolition, women’s rights, and Native American rights.

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Alice Erh-Soon Tay

Among the highlights of Tay’s distinguished career as an academic lawyer at the University of Sydney was her appointment as president of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC), a position she occupied from 1998 to 2003.

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Jessie Spinks Rooke

Jessie Rooke was a leader in both the temperance and suffrage campaigns in Tasmania, where the legislature enacted the women’s vote in 1903, the year after the passage of the Commonwealth Franchise Act.

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Lillias Skene

Described as ‘well known among the women who count in Melbourne life’, Skene’s particular focus was on improving the welfare of women and children.

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