Paula Oyola

Activist who co-founded Inquilinos Boricuas en Accion (IBA) in 1968 to develop and now maintain Villa Victoria, a subsidized housing community built on a parcel of city land slated for urban renewal. IBA promotes the social and economic well being of Villa Victoria’s residents with programs that support the arts, especially expressi

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Sarah-Ann Shaw

Boston’s first Black woman TV reporter, who led Civil Rights voter efforts, told neighborhood stories, and earned numerous accolades.

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Ella Little-Collins

She joined the Nation of Islam in the mid-1950s where she helped to establish a mosque with a daycare center attached to it. In the early 1940s, she became the guardian of her half-brother Malcolm Little, who later changed his name to Malcolm X

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Anna Clapp Harris Smith

Established the Animal Rescue League in 1899, which led to the installation of water basins around the city where dogs and cats could drink and the founding of the Horses Aid Association, which provided health care for the city’s horses free of charge

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Sarah Parker Remond

International anti-slavery lecturer and activist for African American and women’s suffrage. Later, she moved to Italy where she became a medical doctor.

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Harriet Boyd Hawes

Archeologist Harriet Boyd Hawes became the first woman to lead an archaeological expedition when she discovered the ancient town of Gournia on Crete. In later years she also served as a volunteer nurse during the Greco-Turkish War and World War I.

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Susan Paul

In the 1830s, Susan Paul (1809-41) taught at the Smith School on Joy Street, a segregated school for African American children funded jointly by the city and private donations. Paul was also an officer in the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society.

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