Andrea Jenkins made history in 2017 when she became the first African American, openly transgender woman elected to public office in the United States. As a politician, poet, activist, and community historian, Jenkins strives to bring “the notion of love into the public discourse.”
Folk singer and social rights activist Joan Baez uses her voice to advance social change.
American political activist
Activist for woman’s suffrage, protective labor legislation for women, the abolishment of child labor, and world peace.
Graphic designer who worked for the OSS, the precursor to the CIA
Cora Du Bois became interested in anthropology while earning a M.A. in history from Columbia University. Cora then traveled to the American Southwest to pursue further research in anthropology—studying several Native American tribes in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. She later joined the OSS, the precursor to the modern CIA.
New York-based artist Mickalene Thomas is best known for her elaborate paintings composed of rhinestones, acrylic and enamel. Thomas introduces a complex vision of what it means to be a woman and expands common definitions of beauty.
Disability culture activist and community performance artist
Between 1996 and 1997, three transgender women – known in in court records as A, D and G to protect their identities – were denied gender reassignment surgery by the North West Lancashire Health Authority in England. In 1999, the women brought a legal suit against the Health Authority.
Scholar and one of Eleanor Roosevelt’s earliest female political and feminist mentors