Patti Smith is an American songwriter, performer and visual artist who rocked the 1960s and 70s with her unapologetic and revolutionary art. Her words were heavily influenced by her religious upbringing, the social-political undercurrent of the time, and by idols like Arthur Rimbaud and Bob Dylan.

Smith was born in Chicago in 1946 and briefly attended college at Glassboro State Teachers College with an intention to become a high school art teacher. But traditional academia proved to be too rigid for her experimental and unconventional ways.

Stumbling into New York City’s East Village as an androgynous, wide-eyed 21-year-old, Smith quickly found herself a resident at the Chelsea Hotel, a regular at Max’s Kansas City and a pioneer of New York’s emerging punk scene – all alongside her lifelong creative partner, Robert Mapplethorpe.

The poet first melded her spoken word with rock and roll during an infamous 1971 performance at St. Mark’s Church. She went on to form the Patti Smith Group and had a two-month residency at CBGB. Her B-Side “Piss Factory” has been argued as one of the earliest punk songs. Her seminal album, Horses, sits among the top 100 albums of all time. As a visual artist, her drawings, photographs and installations have been represented by Robert Miller Gallery since 1978. She has recorded 12 albums, published more than a dozen books and co-authored the play “Cowboy Mouth.” She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. - Alison Henderson

Photo Credit : Robert mapplethorpe

Born Bernice Alexandra Kaiser on December 15th, 1912 in Sacramento CA to Alexander and Edna Burr Kaiser, Ray was given the nickname “Ray Ray”. Her artistic talent was recognized early on and after high school, she moved to Millbrook, New York with her widowed mother to attend Bennett Women's College. After graduation, Ray would study under German Abstract Expressionist Hans Hofmann in New York City where she became a founding member of the American Abstract Artists. She would first exhibit her paintings in 1937 at the Riverside Museum in Manhattan.

After her mother’s death, Ray moved to Cranbrook MI to further her studies in art. This is where Ray would meet Charles. Charles Eames was a professor and mentor to Ray during her time at the Art Academy in Cranbrook. Ray and Charles were married in Chicago in 1941 and soon after the couple headed to Southern California to start their own design office.
Sharing an extraordinary creative partnership, they collaborated on innovative designs for furniture, toys, houses, and exhibitions. Aiming to use new materials and technology of their time, the two produced high-quality objects that could be made for a reasonable cost. Though the two worked together on most projects, it is Charles who received most of the accolades. Being charismatic and likable, Charles was the “face” of Eames. But Ray’s talent was never overlooked. Charles would often say things like; “anything I can do, Ray can do better.”

Ray was known for her aesthetic eye and keen memory, obsessing over every detail such as color, material, the feel and the form of an object. Each of these aspects had to be equally as pleasing as the next to make the piece perfect. Creating pieces that were functional as well as beautiful. A lover of found objects, Ray was passionate about displaying said objects in such a way as to create a specific visual effect.

Charles passed suddenly in 1978 and the Eames office, nicknamed “the shop” by Ray, was dissolved. Ray completed a handful of projects that were already underway, and she would later become the chief archivist of their legacy. Recognized as an artist, filmmaker, and designer, Ray would seem to have been so intertwined creatively with her partner Charles that she would pass on the same day, exactly ten years later. She was 75 years old.

In 2013, “Ray Eames: A Century of Modern Design” opened in the Sacramento, California Museum. The 3,300 square foot exhibition ran for one year and showcased work produced by Ray before she met Charles in addition to the work of the Eames Office. - Traci Bunkelman

Photo Credit : Eames Office, LLC

Mickalene Thomas is a visual artist best known for her textually rich, complex paintings that are created with rhinestones, acrylic, and enamel. She explores painting, collage, film and photography and is inspired by visual memories from her childhood in the 1970s, Western art history, and pop culture to address ideas surrounding femininity, beauty, race, sexuality, and gender.

As an artist, Thomas rejects stereotypes of black women and reshapes the narrative by depicting her reclining muses with an honest, straightforward glamour; one that highlights their authentic bodies against an explosion of patterned printed textiles, animal prints, florals, and African fabrics. She has said her artworks are biographical, and culls from personal experience and subject matter that is deeply meaningful to her, and most famously, the portraits of her mother which are especially dazzling and poignant.

Mickalene Thomas explores different mediums within her practice, and continues to create newly positive images of women as a way to better understand how we relate to each other in the world. - Tiffany Harker

Photo Credit : Dana Scruggs

In 2004, the Norwegian Nobel Committee made a historic decision by awarding Wangari Maathai the Nobel Peace Prize. Maathai was the first African woman and first environmentalist to receive the honor, though some questioned the connection between the environment and peace. To Maathai, the relationship was clear: the degradation of natural resources creates shortages, shortages elicit competition, and competition leads to conflict - locally and globally.

Maathai was born in 1940 in the central highlands of Kenya. The family home was a traditional mud-walled hut, and she spent her earliest years performing domestic tasks alongside her mother, learning to respect the earth. When Maathai was 7, her brother asked a question that would change her life: "How come Wangari doesn't go to school like the rest of us?" It was not common for girls to be educated, but Wangari started school the next year. In 1960, she won a scholarship through the Kennedy Airlift Program to attend college in the United States and later went on to become the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate.

By the time Maathai returned to Kenya, the abundant environment of her childhood had been decimated by deforestation. Kenyan women no longer had firewood, clean water, or the ability to cook traditional food, and their children suffered from illness and disease due to malnutrition. Because of her education, Maathai understood what the rural women did not - that the root of their daily problems were environmental problems. Influenced by the civil rights movement from her time spent in America, she knew she must take action.

Founded by Maathai in 1977, the Green Belt Movement started as a tree planting campaign but grew into a pro-democracy movement. As women learned to collect seeds and propagate trees, they began to view public lands as something worth protecting. Rural communities mobilized in protest against the government's mismanagement of resources and began participating in elections. Maathai was publicly condemned, and members were beaten or jailed, but eventually, leadership changed. The Green Belt Movement is responsible for re-establishing indigenous crops and planting over 50 million trees. Through the Green Belt Movement and her activism, Maathai has empowered thousands of women to reclaim the values of their culture. - Kelly Longhurst

Photo Credit : Wendy Stone

Ella Baker is a lesser known civil and human rights activist and influential community organizer by design. At the height of the civil rights movement, she worked alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and W.E.B DuBois, but unlike her more famous counterparts often chose not to be the highly visible spokesperson of her cause. This was paramount to Baker’s particular brand of community organizing, in which she preferred to cultivate and develop members of the community to be the faces and leaders of their own uprising, rather than placing herself as the figurehead of the movement.

Baker, a Virginia native born in 1903, started working at the NAACP as a secretary in 1938, and by 1943 became the highest-ranking woman in the organization. She organized the masses as the director of branches and taught through her action. Traditional social systems and constructs were nothing that she wanted a part of, and she actively defied flawed systems of customary race, class, and gender roles in her organizations. She encouraged collective power rather than individual, and promoted learning through strategic, thoughtful questioning. Baker withheld judgment and arbitration throughout group discussions, allowing conflict for the purpose of learning and forming opinions.

Baker provided leadership in the Student Nonviolence Coordinating Committee, the Southern Conference Education Fund, the “Free Angela [Davis]” campaign, and supported the Puerto Rican independence movement among many other causes. As one of the most important and influential leaders of the 20th Century, Baker fought for radical change through community development and empowerment of the marginalized, remaining an activist until her death on her 83rd birthday. - Samantha Drane

Photo Source : Creative Commons

Cuban born visual artist Ana Mendieta is best known for autobiographical "earth-body” performances that focused on a spiritual and physical connection with the Earth. Mendieta used photography, film, and sculpture in her practice and addressed issues of displacement, impressing her body in various outdoor locations and recording its imprint in photographs and video. She would fill a shape in the earth with the shape of her body, and fill it with with rocks, feathers, twigs, flowers, fire or blood. Her use of blood, earth, and other organic materials reflect Mendieta's passion for religious ritual. In 1978, Ana Mendieta joined the Artists In Residence Inc (A.I.R. Gallery) in New York, which was the first gallery for women to be established in the United States.

She died, tragically at age 36, in New York when she fell from her 34th-floor apartment. Some suspect her husband, artist Andre Carl of having thrown Mendieta from the window, though he was acquitted after a three-year trial. Ana Mendieta’s legacy continues to challenge humanity’s nonchalance and provoke people to connect with each other more authentically. She remains an enduring champion of the marginalized; of race, sex, and cultural identity.
- Tiffany Harker

Ana Mendieta Grass on Woman, 1972

The term neo-soul was coined in the late 1990s to describe a style of music that fused soul with modern hip-hop and R&B. Among the genre's pioneering artists was Erykah Badu, a singer/songwriter with an affinity for freestyle rap and bohemian style whose voice drew comparisons to Billie Holiday. Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Badu grew up performing in church, school, and the local community center. She majored in theater at Grambling State University in Louisiana until returning to Dallas to pursue music full-time.

Badu's debut album, Baduizm (1997), won two Grammys and has sold almost three million copies. Two decades, four additional studio albums, and countless accolades later, Badu still performs eight months of the year - something she considers less as part of the job and more as therapy. In an industry motivated by profit, Erykah has managed to sustain a career that continues to evolve without compromising honesty.

When not touring, writing, or directing her own videos, Badu is a mother, Reiki instructor, holistic-health practitioner, and doula. In 2003 she founded Beautiful Love Incorporated Non-Profit Development (B.L.I.N.D.), a charity organization that transformed the Black Forest Theater in south Dallas into a space that provides community-based programs for inner-city youth. She has created a label, Control FreaQ Records, with a mission to allow artists creative freedom. Because to Badu, creativity is freedom. - Kelly Longhurst

Photo Credit : Amanda Demme for The New Yorker

Shirley Chisholm made history when she became the first black woman elected to the United States Congress in 1968. Chisholm's background was in early childhood education, but the ever-present issues of racial and gender inequality and lack of diverse representation in government pushed her to step into the political arena. She was elected to the New York State Legislature in 1964 where she served until winning a seat in Congress after court-ordered redistricting created a new district in her Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. During her first term, she employed an all-female staff, half of whom were black.

Chisholm blazed another trail in 1972, becoming the first black major party candidate to make a bid for the United States Presidency. Aware of the disadvantages her race and gender imposed upon her, she ran to change the face of American politics. The campaign trail was strewn with discrimination. One reporter quipped that "a new bonnet" was thrown into the race to announce Chisholm's candidacy, and she had to sue to be included in televised debates. But even if she could not win the nomination, she could secure delegates for leverage at the Democratic National Convention and demonstrate her refusal to accept the status quo.

Throughout seven terms in Congress, Chisholm was a champion of minority education, employment opportunities, universal childcare, and healthcare. She was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Women's Caucus. Though she did not win the Democratic nomination (spoiler alert: Richard Nixon won anyway), her campaign amplified the voice of the disenfranchised and changed the future of American politics. - Kelly Longhust

Photo Credit : Associated Press

When you think of 1960s psychedelic rock, Jefferson Airplane and front woman Grace Slick probably come to mind. Slick got her start in music with The Great Society, a band she formed in 1965 that became a part of the burgeoning Bay Area music scene. Slick was asked to join Jefferson Airplane in 1966, contributing unique, commanding vocals and a stage presence that was vital to the band's success.

As one of the first females to front a rock and roll band and with a career that spanned over 25 years, Grace Slick helped redefine women's role in modern music. One of the earliest songs she composed, "White Rabbit," is on The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list and is among Rolling Stone Magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. She held the record for the oldest female vocalist with a Billboard Hot 100 number one song for 12 years.

Slick retired from music and has since found a career in painting, but the rock and roll spirit that once incited her (unsuccessful) plan to spike Richard Nixon's tea with LSD lives on. Slick recently licensed a Jefferson Starship song to be used in a commercial for Chick-fil-A, a restaurant chain with a history of funding organizations that are against gay marriage. She donated the profits to Lambda Legal, a nonprofit organization working to advance the civil rights of LGBTQ people and everyone living with HIV. Slick encourages artists to take a stand against intolerance and the companies that support it. - Kelly Longhurst

Photo Credit : Ray Stevenson/REX

Barbara Hepworth's earliest memories were of traveling with her father through the Yorkshire countryside as he worked as County Surveyor. She was fascinated by the form and texture of the landscape and the sensation of moving on and through the shapes of the hills. By age 15, Barbara knew she wanted to become a sculptor. She enrolled at Leeds School of Art in 1920 and won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art in London the following year.

As a student, Barbara was among few innovative sculptors that carved directly into stone, while other sculptors made models in clay. After completing her studies at the Royal College of Art, she spent two years in Italy studying architecture and marble carving. She returned to London, where she stayed for over a decade until settling in St. Ives at the start of World War II. The landscape of St. Ives was a source of inspiration for Barbara, and she lived and worked in the seaside town until her death in 1975.

Barbara was among the first female modernist sculptors and is considered one of the greatest sculptors of the 20th century. Hepworth's work, frequently made from wood, stone, or bronze, was heavily influenced by the natural world. The use of space within her sculptures acts as an invitation to experience the inside of the sculpture as Barbara had experienced the landscape. Barbara worked for fifty years - through war, the birth of triplets, and divorce - creating more than 600 sculptures, drawings, and lithographs. Her largest piece Single Form stands in the United Nations Plaza in New York. After her death, Barbara's studio in St. Ives became The Barbara Hepworth Museum, and in 2011 The Hepworth Wakefield was opened in the town where she was born, displaying a permanent collection of her work. - Kelly Longhurst

Photo Credit : Rosemary Mathews

Linda McCartney never received any formal training in photography. She developed an interest after attending an evening photography course with a friend, and while she never returned to the class, it inspired her to take photos as a hobby. While working for Town and Country magazine in the mid-Sixties, she acquired a press-pass to a promotional shoot for The Rolling Stones. By a stroke of luck, Linda was the only unofficial photographer permitted. The photographs she took of The Rolling Stones helped launch her career as a professional photographer.

Linda's informal style of shooting combined with her love for music resulted in iconic images that elevated the genre of rock photography. She captured intimate portraits of legendary musicians such as Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and Otis Redding. Linda was the first female to have a photograph featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine and later appeared on the cover with husband, Paul McCartney.

Linda met Paul McCartney at a club in London while on a photo assignment, and they married two years later. After the dissolution of The Beatles, Paul encouraged her to learn the keyboard for a new band called Wings. The band afforded the McCartneys the opportunity to tour together with their children. Despite the criticism Linda received of her musical abilities, Wings experienced much success. The group won many awards, including a Grammy, and every album released made the top 10 charts in either the US or UK.

Linda was also an animal rights activist and pioneer in vegetarian cuisine. She published several cookbooks aimed at omnivores to prove that vegetarian cooking can be simple, healthy, and delicious. She developed a line of frozen meals to make vegetarian food even more accessible. Linda died from breast cancer in 1998, but her family remains involved in her food company and is committed to ensuring her accomplishments in photography live on.
- Kelly Longhurst

Photo Credit : Linda McCartney self portrait

When Martha Graham was 17 years old, she attended a performance by dancer Ruth St. Denis. Martha was inspired and felt her fate had been sealed: she would become a dancer. But Martha's father disapproved of this ambition, and she didn't pursue her dream until after his unexpected death. At 22 years old, Martha was told she was too old to start studying dance. Undeterred, she enrolled at Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts where she spent 8 years studying, performing, and eventually instructing.

Martha left Denishawn to choreograph and perform with The Greenwich Village Follies. In 1925, she was offered a position at Eastman School of Music that allowed her complete control of the dance program. Martha used the opportunity to experiment, using the floorwork, spiraling, and contraction and release techniques that would transform modern dance. The Martha Graham Dance Company, now the oldest modern dance company in America, was founded in 1926.

Graham performed through the 1960's and continued to choreograph until her death in 1991, having composed 180 pieces. Martha used the art of dance to express human emotion and, in her words, "make visible the interior landscape." Her pieces explored mythology, the struggles and triumphs of women, and serious social, political, and economic issues of her time. She was the first choreographer to regularly employ Asian and African American dancers and the first dancer to perform at The White House. Martha Graham revolutionized set design and movement in the performing arts. The Graham Technique is considered the cornerstone of American modern dance and continues to be taught and used globally. - Kelly Longhurst

Photo Credit : Barbara Morgan

Within a few short years of becoming a television writer, Jill Soloway wrote for the critically acclaimed HBO series Six Feet Under. Jill had worked in television for over a decade when her career came to a crossroads. She began struggling to write someone else's vision; she needed to make something of her own. Her agent wrote a check to tide her over between jobs but instead of using the money for living expenses, Jill used it to create a short film to submit to Sundance.

Jill won the Dramatic Directing Award for her feature film Afternoon Delight at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, a year after her short film was accepted. She created Transparent, a television series that features a transgender protagonist who finally decides to come out to her family at 70 years old. Inspired by real events from Jill's life, Transparent offers an intimate view into the life of a loving but slightly dysfunctional family exploring boundaries, sexuality, and gender identity.

Jill Soloway wants to topple the patriarchy, which is made clear by the name of her production company, Topple Productions. She wants to change the narrative so that women, people of color, trans people, and queer people are at the center. She wants to make women the subject instead of the object. Jill wants to change the world, and through the stories that she writes, she will. - Kelly Longhurst

Photo Credit : Danielle Levitt/The Observer

Yoko Ono was born in Tokyo, Japan into an affluent family. The family became destitute in World War II and was forced to barter and beg for food. They moved to New York after the war, and Yoko soon followed. She enrolled at Sarah Lawrence College and attended art galleries and happenings in New York City, eventually using her own loft as a performance space.

John Lennon visited Indica Gallery in London while Yoko was preparing for an exhibition in 1966. John requested to hammer a nail in an instructional piece titled Painting to Hammer a Nail. Yoko offered to let him do so for 5 shillings and he countered, offering 5 imaginary shillings to hammer one imaginary nail. The connection was instant. John and Yoko collaborated on music, film projects, and used their honeymoon to protest the Vietnam War with a two-week long Bed-in for Peace. But Yoko's relationship with John Lennon caused her to be vilified by many and often overshadowed her work.

Yoko's art is conceptual and frequently requires the participation of the viewer. Cut Piece was a seminal performance wherein Yoko sat on stage with a pair of scissors next to her and invited audience members to cut pieces of her clothing. Grapefruit is an instructional and often lyrical book designed for the reader to complete tasks, sometimes by using their imagination. Yoko's unique contributions to art, music, and film are immeasurable. She founded the LennonOno Grant for Peace, is a member of Artists Against Fracking, and continues to use her art and voice to promote peace. - Kelly Longhurst

Photo Credit : Keith Macmillan

The Taliban took control of Swat, Pakistan when Malala Yousafzai was ten years old. They condemned education for girls and enforced their severe version of Islamic law with brutality. Many girls had already been deprived of education, their culture deeming it unnecessary for the role society had reserved for them: to bear children. But Malala's father dedicated his life to academia, and she inherited a thirst for education that would not be stopped by fear. She wrote a diary for BBC Urdu using the pseudonym Gul Makai, chronicling life under the Taliban. She volunteered for the project after the girl initially chosen withdrew because of the danger.

Girls were officially banned from school when Malala was twelve. Distraught, she started advocating for education through any outlet available, including television interviews and documentaries that did not offer the safety of anonymity. The ban was lifted for girls up to age ten but Malala went anyway, hiding books under her shawl and pretending to be younger than she was. One afternoon on the ride home from school, the van came to an unexpected stop. Two armed men entered the van, asked for Malala, and shot her in the head.

Malala has found strength in her extraordinary recovery and purpose for what she considers her second life. She co-founded The Malala Fund to raise global awareness to the social and economic impact of girls' education. Malala is the youngest Nobel laureate and youngest United Nations Messenger of Peace. Her memoir, I am Malala, is a New York Times Best Seller. But Malala considers herself an ordinary girl, bickering with her younger brothers and studying between interviews and meetings.
She does not know what her future holds but her fight for education, equality, and peace will most assuredly continue. - Kelly Longhurst

Photo Credit : David Levene/The Guardian

Sonia Rykiel created her first design in the 1960's. She wanted a dress that would accentuate her pregnant figure but only found maternity clothes that concealed it. Her husband owned a boutique, and she worked with a supplier to make the dress. Soon after, Sonia designed the sweater that redefined knitwear and placed her at the forefront of a fashion industry that was shifting from couture to ready-to-wear clothing.

The Poor Boy sweater transformed knitwear from bulky work-wear to a body-hugging garment that was both practical and stylish. It was featured on the cover of French Elle during a time when couture still dominated and was worn by style icons around the world. Sonia continued to modernize fashion, being the first to use raw hems, exposed seams, and slogans. She disregarded trends and made clothing that was diverse, unpretentious, and ageless. Her fashion shows reflected the spirit of her clothes - celebrating each women's individuality.

Sonia Rykiel is synonymous with effortless Parisian style. She built a fashion empire, published several books, and helped design the interiors of some of Paris's most luxurious hotels. Sonia was a muse to Andy Warhol, was the inspiration for the film Prêt-à-Porter, and continues to inspire designers, artists, and outfits today. - Kelly Longhurst

Photo Credit : Timothy Greenfield-Sanders

Valentina Tereshkova was introduced to the Aero Club by a friend. She agreed to observe out of curiosity but felt parachute jumping wasn't for her. Though after seeing an ad posted in the textile factory where she worked, she found herself back at the airport where the club met.
She took her first jump in 1959 - so full of adrenaline that she leapt from the plane before she was instructed.

In 1961, the USSR celebrated a Space Race victory. They successfully sent the first man, Yuri Gagarin, into outer space, and plans to send the first woman into space soon followed. Valentina read that Gagarin had also been a student of the aerospace club, and although skydiving was her only qualification, she instantly resolved to become a cosmonaut. Less than a year later, Valentina and four other women were selected to begin intensive training to compete for a seat aboard the Vostok 6.

Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to fly in space in 1963, completing 48 orbits around the earth. After her flight, she earned a doctorate in engineering and became a prominent political figure. She served as a member of the World Peace Council and as a representative for the UN Conference for the International Women's Year. She has received countless accolades for her contributions to equality and peace. Valentina remains the only woman to have been on a solo space mission and continues to encourage women everywhere to shoot for the stars. - Kelly Longhurst

Photo Credit : Images Group/REX/Shutterstock.com

Eunice Waymon was discovered at a church piano recital at age seven. Her aptitude for music was so apparent that two women in the audience offered to arrange for her to take classical piano lessons. A fund was established by the community to further her education, eventually sending her to Juilliard. Eunice applied to the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in pursuit of her dream: to become the first black classical pianist.

Eunice wasn't accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music and began playing piano at bars and supper parties in Atlantic City out of necessity. She used the name Nina Simone so that her parents wouldn't learn of her shows or the popular music she was playing. Before long, Nina Simone was recording music, performing at jazz festivals, and had found herself with an unexpected career in show business.

In 1963, Nina had a concert at Carnegie Hall, though not playing the classical music that would have fulfilled her dream. That same year, the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing occurred, causing a turning point in the civil rights movement and in Simone's career. She wrote a protest song called "Mississippi Goddam" after the tragedy, and from that point forward she used music as a political weapon.

Nina Simone was a revolutionary. Her exceptional skill, the depth of her voice, and the innovative way she introduced classical aspects into other genres transformed music. Her songs are regarded as some of the most important of the civil rights movement. But beyond music or civil rights, Nina encouraged others to explore their culture and to love and celebrate the beauty of being black. - Kelly Longhurst

Photo Credit : David Hollander

Lee Krasner applied to the only girl's high school in New York City that offered an art major. Her application was denied. Six months later, she applied again and was admitted. She earned high marks in all subjects - except art - where the teacher passed her just so she could graduate. Undaunted, Lee applied to The Cooper Union and was accepted. She began working for the WPA Federal Art Project in the 1930's which provided her valuable experience in large scale art and allowed her to network with other artists.

Lee met Jackson Pollock by arriving at his apartment, uninvited and unannounced. They both had paintings in an exhibition and she wanted to make his acquaintance. The two artists married in 1945. Lee felt so strongly that Pollock's work was significant that she spent much of her time managing his alcoholism and promoting his paintings, allowing his career to overshadow her own. After his untimely death and in an ever-changing art world, Lee worked tirelessly to ensure Pollock gained the recognition she felt he deserved. But Lee never stopped painting.

Lee Krasner began to see greater recognition in the 1970's with the assistance of the women's movement. Lee's high standards led her to cut apart drawings and paintings which she would often create collages from. Her versatility and skill allowed her to adapt her style throughout her career to express herself more fully. She is one of the few female artists to have had a retrospective of her work shown during her lifetime. Lee left most of her fortune to fund The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, which was established to provide financial assistance to artists in need. Through this organization and through her artwork, she continues to influence and inspire generations of painters. - Kelly Longhurst

Photo Credit : Fred Prater

Gloria Steinem started her career as a freelance journalist. She first became known for her expose, "A Bunny's Tale," published in Show Magazine. She got a job at the Playboy Club for the expose, expecting not to get past the interview process. The piece revealed objectification and poor working conditions at the club but it harmed her career as a writer. She had been a Bunny and the reason why didn't matter.

Gloria helped found New York Magazine and began writing about the political issues she was truly interested in. She reported on an abortion hearing staged by women because legislative hearings about abortion law reform featured only male speakers. It was this transformative assignment that converted her into an active feminist. Gloria was an established journalist but nobody wanted to publish articles about women's issues. She began public speaking with her friend and activist Dorothy Pitman Hughes, and in 1971 the two of them co-founded Ms. Magazine. The feminist magazine was first met with ridicule but the test copy sold out in eight days. Ms. Magazine is still active today.

Gloria's objective is simple but the challenges it faces are complex. Her aspiration is for an egalitarian society where people are linked instead of ranked. She believes the ranking system began when reproductive control was taken away from women and that ranking of gender roles sets a foundation for ranking by race and class. She defines ways in which traditional gender roles are harmful to democracy and works to educate on how we can change them, starting in our homes. The world still faces many of the social justice and human rights problems that existed when Gloria's activism began nearly fifty years ago. But at 82 years of age, Gloria Steinem is still writing, still delivering powerful speeches, and still fighting. - Kelly Longhurst

Susan Brownell Anthony was introduced to civil rights at a young age. Her father was a liberal Quaker and the Anthony family's opposition to slavery, respect for women's equality, and involvement in activism would influence Susan greatly.

Susan's first involvement in reform was with the Daughters of Temperance, a secret society formed when the Sons of Temperance refused to allow women to participate. She began attending antislavery meetings and developing friendships with other female activists, finding inspiration in their ideas and their bravery to speak them. It was not long before she realized that women's influence could be of little help in political action. Women needed the vote.

Susan traveled across the country, often alone and in harsh conditions, to attend and speak at conventions, meet with politicians, and to spread the idea of women's rights to anyone who would listen. When the country was on the brink of the Civil War, Susan dedicated her work to the abolitionist movement. She petitioned, dangerously placing herself at the center of mobs and violence, helping to gain 400,000 signatures against slavery. When the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified, Susan thought finally it must be the time for women. But many she had admired and worked alongside cautioned her that to enfranchise former slaves and women at the same time was too much. Women must wait.

Susan disagreed. They had waited long enough. Women wanted the right to own property and sign contracts, education and job opportunities, and equal pay. Women wanted the right to divorce and rights to their children. In 1872, Susan and fourteen other women in Rochester registered to vote and cast their ballots in a congressional election. They were arrested less than two weeks later. Susan was the only woman to go to trial and when sentenced to pay a fine, she refused. Susan was never able to legally vote but she did find victory in women's education, the promise of voting rights in four states, and in inspiring a new generation to carry the women's suffrage movement. The Nineteenth Amendment allowing women to vote was passed fourteen years after her death. - Kelly Longhurst

Photo Credit : Corbis via Getty Images

Maya Angelou's voice is recognizable to anyone who has heard her speak. The cadence, artfully selected words, and the tendency to burst into song are all uniquely Maya. That she became an acclaimed writer and public speaker seems obvious. To learn that she spent five years of her childhood virtually mute is both puzzling and insightful.

Maya was raised primarily by her grandmother in a racially segregated town in Arkansas. At seven years old while staying in St. Louis with her mother, she was raped. The man was her mother's boyfriend and shortly after he was released from jail, he was murdered. Maya's young mind thought her voice had killed him and that she could never speak again. She returned to Arkansas and spent her time reading as many books as possible and learning to listen in a way she never had. Many ridiculed Maya because of her muteness but a woman named Mrs. Flowers became a mentor to her. Mrs. Flowers lent her books and introduced Maya to what eventually made her speak: poetry.

Maya's experiences and accomplishments were vast. She was a singer, a dancer, a civil rights activist, a writer, and a teacher. Her memoirs pull you into her world and her memories as if they were your own. She earned over fifty honorary degrees, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. But Maya's perseverance and perspective are what make her truly extraordinary. Difficult experiences did not make her bitter, they made her stronger. She was not limited by her circumstances, she broke barriers. - Kelly Longhurst

Photo Credit : Chester Higgins

 Jane Goodall decided she wanted to live with animals in Africa when she was just eight years old. She entered the forest of Tanzania eighteen years later with few qualifications apart from tenacity, bravery, and a profound fascination with animals. Jane went on to make groundbreaking discoveries about chimpanzees that changed science forever. She earned her Ph.D. and continued research work for years until coming to a grim realization; the chimpanzee population was plummeting, their habitat being destroyed, and she alone could not stop it. Jane decided to dedicate her life to educating others about conservation, sustainability, and the interconnection between the environment and human well-being. Perhaps Jane's most vital message is that which she shares most often to young people through her youth-led organization: that people can make a difference and there is a reason for hope. - Kelly Longhurst

Photo Credit : Hugo Van Lawick via National Geographic Creative