Shimeji Kanazawa

Nisei activist who was the community liaison between the Japanese community and the military government in Hawai’i during World War II. She later supported community causes for the elderly like Project Dana.

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Irene Gomez-Bethke

Irene Gomez-Bethke, a daughter of Mexican parents who immigrated to Minnesota, played a leadership role in bending the arc of history toward social justice, serving as Minnesota Commissioner of Human Rights, guiding boards and commissions as a volunteer, and co-founding both Centro Cultural Chicano and Instituto de Arte y Cultura.

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Ruth A Myers

A persistent voice for Native children and their families, Myers focused on education policy as well as learning opportunities for Native students. She also produced curricula and resource materials that reflected Native American history and culture for all Minnesota learners.

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Maria Sanford

One of the first female professors in the United States, Maria Sanford was an English professor at the University of Minnesota for nearly thirty years.

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Pat Bellanger

Pat Bellanger was an Ojibwe activist and a cofounder of the American Indian Movement (AIM) who spent over fifty years fighting for Indigenous rights on a national and local level.

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Betty Connolly

Betty Connolly was a working class suffragist from Newton Highlands, Massachusetts who was affiliated with the National Woman’s Party.

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