A scholar, anthropologist, and academic pace-setter, Johnnetta Betsch Cole’s pioneering work about the on-going contributions of Afro-Latin, Caribbean, and African communities have advanced American understanding of Black culture and the necessity and power of racial inclusion in the US.
Regarded as the leading authority on African-American quilts and quiltmaking, Carolyn Mazloomi has fostered and promoted the perpetuation of this traditional art form through her organization the Women of Color Quilter’s Network (WCQN).
In 1936, Dr. Maude Abbott invented an international classification system for congenital heart disease, which became the definitive reference guide to the subject.
Irish arts administrator and journalist
Specialist on the decorative arts and author of The Book of Boston series, helped to acquire appropriate objects for the Gibson House and directed the cataloging of the collection.
Lebanese-American cultural ambassador in Boston
National Park Service park historian
An accomplished painter and muralist, her background in the arts framed her response to problems as varied as how to reduce youth violence, protect the environmental quality of the Mercer Island Slough, and improve the financial viability of Seattle city-owned arts facilities.
The former Executive Director of Seattle’s Northwest African American Museum, Barbara Earl Thomas is far more than an institutional administrator. She is also an inspiring lecturer on the topics of art and culture and — as the University of Washington Press notes — a “painter and writer of prodigious talent and remarkable visionary sensibility.”
Tracy Rector is a storyteller, educator, filmmaker, coordinator, co-founder of Longhouse Media non-profit organization, multi-media artist, and a 2016 Stranger Genius.