Janie Hunter
African-American singer and storyteller
African-American singer and storyteller
American aerospace engineer and astronaut
American astronaut
Like other quilters in the region, Wells and Williams tended to emphasize design, bright colors, and vivid contrasts in their quilts. They played endlessly with the form of the square and the straightforward strip, disguising and exploding these essential design elements in myriad ways.
The Winnsboro Easter Rock Ensemble, under the direction of Hattie Addison Burkhalter, maintains a rare women-led African American traditional spiritual ritual, rooted in both Christian worship and West African ring shout tradition.
Because of the utilitarian nature of her quilting, Rankin never thought of herself as an artist. That began to change in 1981 when she was invited to be a resident artist at the junior high school in her hometown of Lorman, Mississippi.
Catalon represents the rich tradition of home singing, in sharp contrast to Creole zydeco and Cajun dance hall music, which until recently was performed almost exclusively by men.
Through profound performances and plays that blend theater and journalism, she has informed our understanding of social issues and conveyed a range of disparate characters.
American astronaut, Air Force colonel and doctor
FBI Support Services Technician Gladys M. Lee was working in the New York Field Office on September 11, 2001, and returned the next day to ensure her vital work for the field office continued without interruption. Lee commuted through the impact zone on a regular basis without personal protective equipment to shield her from the toxic debris from Ground Zero.