Civil rights activist Hilda Simms became a national celebrity for her leading role in the first all-Black performance of the Broadway show Anna Lucasta. Frustrated by her struggling career and the lack of roles for Black actors, Simms worked as the creative director for the New York State Human Rights Commission to address racial discrimination in the entertainment industry.
Secretary Deb Haaland made history when she became the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary.
Mexican writer, editor, columnist and cultural promoter.
American composer, instructor, activist, and businesswoman
Irish novelist, translator, and composer
Civil rights activist who helped found the National League of Colored Women in 1893
American abolitionist and suffragist who co-founded the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society
As the literary editor of The Crisis (1919–1926) she introduced many Harlem Renaissance writers, including Langston Hughes and Jean Toomer, to the public, in addition to being a writer herself.
The NAACP’s first national youth director
NAACP field organizer from 1921 to 1924, YMCA worker and writer