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At the age of 17, Maria Tallchief moved to New York City to pursue her dreams of becoming a dancer. She went from dance company to dance company looking for work. Many of the companies discriminated against her because of her Native American ancestry. Rejection did not stop Tallchief; she continued working towards her goal and eventually became one of America's most popular ballerinas.

Elizabeth Marie Tall Chief was born January 24, 1925 in Fairfax, Oklahoma. Her father was a member of the Osage Nation. Her mother, Ruth Porter, had grown up very poor and was never able to take dancing lessons. Therefore, when Tallchief and her sister Marjorie showed interest in dance her mother immediately placed them in lessons. Tallchief excelled at dance and music. During her teen years, Tallchief's family moved to Los Angeles, California in hopes of securing a significant role. Unfortunately, major opportunities were slow coming. In the meantime, Tallchief explored different genres of dance and was drawn to ballet.

Upon graduating from high school, Tallchief moved to New York City to pursue ballet full time. She was selected as an understudy in the Ballet Russe, the premier Russian ballerina company in the United States. In 1942, when one of the lead ballerinas abruptly stepped down, Tallchief was called to stand in. Her performance received positive reviews from top critics. As her career began to take off, many tried to persuade Tallchief to change her last name so that dance companies would not discriminate against her. She refused and continued to perform as Maria Tallchief. In 1947, she became the first American to dance with the Paris Opera Ballet. After marrying choreographer George Balanchine, who created her signature Firebird role, she became prima ballerina of the New City Ballet. One of Tallchief's best-known roles was as the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker. Tallchief perform at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow in 1960, making her the first American to do so.

After retiring from dancing, Tallchief and her sister opened the Chicago City Ballet, a ballet school and dance company. Never forgetting her Native American ancestry, she spoke out against injustices and discrimination. As prima ballerina, Tallchief not only broke barriers for Native Americans, she also became one of the only Americans recognized in European ballet companies. Tallchief died on April 11, 2013.

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At the age of 17, Maria Tallchief moved to New York City to pursue her dreams of becoming a dancer. She went from dance company to dance company looking for work. Many of the companies discriminated against her because of her Native American ancestry.

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Pioneering Women of American Architecture

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Pioneering Women of American Architecture

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Discover women writers who have made a mark on American history and culture. Learn about Phillis Wheatly, who in 1773 was the first African American to have a book published. Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), brought widespread attention to the issue of slavery. Rachel Carson's Silent Spring (1962) helped launch the environmental movement, while Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique (1963) helped launch a new wave of feminism.

Literary giant Zora Neale Hurston captured the rich voices and mythos of the African American oral storytelling tradition. Sandra Cisneros is regarded as a key Latina voice in American literature. Louise Erdrich, whose many works explore the psychology and world of Native Americans is considered a major voice in the American Indian renaissance. Women continue to expand literary forms and reveal issues of identity in the private and public spheres, adding to the rich tapestry of American identity and touching on our shared humanity.

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American Women Writers-and Readers | Smithsonian Institution

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Discover women writers who have made a mark on American history and culture. Learn about Phillis Wheatly, who in 1773 was the first African American to have a book published. Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), brought widespread attention to the issue of slavery.

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Founded in 1981 and opened in 1987, the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) is the only museum solely dedicated to celebrating the achievements of women in the visual, performing and literary arts. The museum's collection features 5,000 works from the 16th century to the present created by more than 1,000 artists, including Mary Cassatt, Frida Kahlo, Alma Thomas, Lee Krasner, Louise Bourgeois, Chakaia Booker, and Nan Goldin, along with special collections of 18th-century silver tableware, botanical prints, and artists' books.

NWMA brings recognition to the achievements of women artists of all periods and nationalities by exhibiting, preserving, acquiring, and researching art by women and by teaching the public about their accomplishments. To fulfill its mission, the museum cares for and displays its collection, presents special exhibitions, conducts education programs, maintains the Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center, publishes a member magazine and books on women artists, and supports a network of state and international committees. NMWA also serves as a center for the performing and literary arts and other creative disciplines. NMWA is located at 1250 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C., in a landmark building near the White House.

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National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C., United States - Google Arts & Culture

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Founded in 1981 and opened in 1987, the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) is the only museum solely dedicated to celebrating the achievements of women in the visual, performing and literary arts.

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Amanda Gorman, the United States' first-ever youth poet laureate, recited her stirring poem " The Hill We Climb" at the inauguration.

Amanda Gorman, the United States' first-ever youth poet laureate, recited her stirring poem The Hill We Climb, which is reprinted below, at the January 20, 2021 inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The 22-year-old recent Harvard graduate was the youngest Inaugural Poet in history.

Gorman is the author of two upcoming books: a picture book, Change Sings: A Children's Anthem, and her debut poetry collection, The Hill We Climb: Poems. Her inaugural poem is also being released in a special gift edition.

The Hill We Climb

When day comes we ask ourselves,
where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we carry,
a sea we must wade
We've braved the belly of the beast
We've learned that quiet isn't always peace
And the norms and notions
of what just is
Isn't always just-ice
And yet the dawn is ours
before we knew it
Somehow we do it
Somehow we've weathered and witnessed
a nation that isn't broken
but simply unfinished
We the successors of a country and a time
Where a skinny Black girl
descended from slaves and raised by a single mother
can dream of becoming president
only to find herself reciting for one
And yes we are far from polished
far from pristine
but that doesn't mean we are
striving to form a union that is perfect
We are striving to forge a union with purpose
To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and
conditions of man
And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us
but what stands before us
We close the divide because we know, to put our future first,
we must first put our differences aside
We lay down our arms
so we can reach out our arms
to one another
We seek harm to none and harmony for all
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:
That even as we grieved, we grew
That even as we hurt, we hoped
That even as we tired, we tried
That we'll forever be tied together, victorious
Not because we will never again know defeat
but because we will never again sow division
Scripture tells us to envision
that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree
And no one shall make them afraid
If we're to live up to our own time
Then victory won't lie in the blade
But in all the bridges we've made
That is the promise to glade
The hill we climb
If only we dare
It's because being American is more than a pride we inherit,
it's the past we step into
and how we repair it
We've seen a force that would shatter our nation
rather than share it
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy
And this effort very nearly succeeded
But while democracy can be periodically delayed
it can never be permanently defeated
In this truth
in this faith we trust
For while we have our eyes on the future
history has its eyes on us
This is the era of just redemption
We feared at its inception
We did not feel prepared to be the heirs
of such a terrifying hour
but within it we found the power
to author a new chapter
To offer hope and laughter to ourselves
So while once we asked,
how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?
Now we assert
How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?
We will not march back to what was
but move to what shall be
A country that is bruised but whole,
benevolent but bold,
fierce and free
We will not be turned around
or interrupted by intimidation
because we know our inaction and inertia
will be the inheritance of the next generation
Our blunders become their burdens
But one thing is certain:
If we merge mercy with might,
and might with right,
then love becomes our legacy
and change our children's birthright
So let us leave behind a country
better than the one we were left with
Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest,
we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one
We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west,
we will rise from the windswept northeast
where our forefathers first realized revolution
We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states,
we will rise from the sunbaked south
We will rebuild, reconcile and recover
and every known nook of our nation and
every corner called our country,
our people diverse and beautiful will emerge,
battered and beautiful
When day comes we step out of the shade,
aflame and unafraid
The new dawn blooms as we free it
For there is always light,
if only we're brave enough to see it
If only we're brave enough to be it
Photo credit: Amanda Gorman / Facebook

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Amanda Gorman's Inaugural Poem, "The Hill We Climb," Transcript and Video

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Amanda Gorman, the United States' first-ever youth poet laureate, recited her stirring poem " The Hill We Climb" at the inauguration. Amanda Gorman, the United States' first-ever youth poet laureate, recited her stirring poem The Hill We Climb, which is reprinted below, at the January 20, 2021 inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

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Dolly Parton, the beloved country music star and humanitarian, celebrates her 75th birthday!

Dolly Parton grew up in poverty in rural Tennessee, but went on to become one of the greatest country musicians of all time and a beloved humanitarian supporting causes ranging from children's literacy to COVID-19 vaccine development! The legendary singer, who is celebrating her 75th birthday today, has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, with 25 songs reaching number one on the Billboard country music charts. A prolific songwriter, Parton has written over 3,000 songs and won ten Grammy Awards and 50 nominations, the second most nominations of any female artist in history. An inspiring role model to many of her fans, particularly the working class women whose stories feature prominently in her songs, Parton has long encouraged them to pursue their dreams, observing: "If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving another one."

Born in a one-room cabin on the banks of the Little Pigeon River in Pittman Center, Tennessee in 1946, Parton was the fourth of 12 children. Her mother, Avie Lee Parton, had a dozen children to care for by the age of 35 and her father, Robert Lee Parton, worked first as a sharecropper and later tending his own small farm to support the family. Parton described her family as 'dirt poor,' recounting that her father paid the doctor who delivered her with a bag of cornmeal. Music played an important part of her life from a young age, however, and her mother often sang the children ballads that had been brought by immigrants from the British Isles to southern Appalachia over a century earlier.

Parton gave her first public performances at age six at the family's church; by age seven, she began playing a homemade guitar. Before long, she was performing on local radio and television stations, and she even appeared at the famous country music radio broadcast, the Grand Ole Opry, at the age of 13. She moved to Nashville the day after graduating from high school and began her career as a songwriter, signing with Monument Records in 1965. The record label wanted to market her as a bubblegum pop singer and she released a string of unremarkable pop singles. Parton, however, was determined to record country songs and when the label finally relented, her first country album, Hello, I'm Dolly, released in 1967, had two of its singles reach the top 25 on the country charts.

Shortly afterward, she joined country music entertainer Porter Wagoner on his syndicated weekly TV show, and the pair regularly hit the charts with their duets. To the frustration of both of them, however, Parton's solo songs didn't do as well initially. Finally, in the 1970s, her career took off, with "Joshua" becoming her first number one single in 1971. Soon her songs were regularly in the top 20, including favorites like "Coat of Many Colors," "My Tennessee Mountain Home," "Jolene," and "I Will Always Love You," a number one hit which she wrote about the end of her professional work with Wagoner. Parton recently shared the stories behind many of most beloved songs in a bestselling new memoir, Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics.

By the late 1970s, Parton had become one of the country's most popular country singers; her 1977 album "Here You Come Again" became her first million-seller and she won her first Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance in 1978. In 1980, Parton also appeared in her first feature film, the comedy 9 to 5, which she co-starred in with Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda. She also wrote and recorded the film's title song, which received an Oscar nomination for Best Song. She continued appearing in a variety of films, including the musical film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and Steel Magnolias. In recent decades, Parton has also appeared in many television shows, often making cameo appearances, ranging from The Simpsons to Reba.

Over the decades, Parton emerged as a major philanthropist, primarily through her Dollywood Foundation which was created in 1988. It began by offering college scholarships to high school students in Tennessee and grew into the Imagination Library in 1995. Based at her Dollywood theme park near Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, the program started by offering a free book once a month to every child in Parton's home county. Over the years, it has expanded to five countries, and has distributed over 150 million books to children in need.

Parton says that she started the program in honor of her father who was illiterate, observing that "he got a kick out of people calling me the book lady." In addition to her literacy efforts, Parton has supporting wide-ranging causes including aid to families impacted by wildfires, environmental conversation, the American Red Cross, HIV/AIDS charities, and more. Recently, she gave one million dollars to Vanderbilt University Medical Center to help fund the development of the Moderna vaccine for COVID-19.

Throughout her career, Parton has been vocal about her experience with sexism. When people mocked her for her elaborate wigs and heavy makeup, she cheerfully declared with her trademark wit, "It takes a lot of money to look this cheap." She also took aim at people who underestimated her because of her appearance: "I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I'm not dumb," she pointed out, "and I also know that I'm not blonde." The experience of working class women, often grappling with poverty and sexism, were also common themes in many of her songs. The new biography, She Come By It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs, explores how Parton's songs validated the experience of many women whose lives and struggles largely go unheard.

Today, Parton is one of the most honored country singers of all time and she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2005, she was also awarded the National Medal of Arts, the highest honor given by the U.S. government for achievements in the arts. Parton takes pride in continuing to encourage and inspire people around the world, not just with her music, but also with her attitude towards life: one that celebrates optimism, kindness, and taking pride in being yourself. As she once observed: "You can be rich in spirit, kindness, love and all those things that you can't put a dollar sign on."

Books For Kids and Adults About Dolly Parton

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Dolly Parton, Legendary Singer, Songwriter, and Philanthropist, Celebrates Her 75th Birthday

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Dolly Parton, the beloved country music star and humanitarian, celebrates her 75th birthday! Dolly Parton grew up in poverty in rural Tennessee, but went on to become one of the greatest country musicians of all time and a beloved humanitarian supporting causes ranging from children's literacy to COVID-19 vaccine development!

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The Nobel committee praised Glück "for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal."

The acclaimed American poet and essayist Louise Glück has been awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize for Literature! The Nobel committee praised Glück "for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal." The 77-year-old Yale professor is best known for lyric poems focused on intense personal experiences, such as those involving loss, rejection, desire, and healing. She has been honored with a Pulitzer Prize for The Wild Iris and a National Book Award for Faithful and Virtuous Night, as well as serving as the Poet Laureate of the United States for 2003 to 2004. In announcing the award, the Nobel Prize committee chair Anders Olsson, praised Glück's unique voice, observing: "It is candid and uncompromising, and it signals that this poet wants to be understood - but it is also a voice full of humor and biting wit."

Glück was born in New York City in 1943, and her parents encouraged her literary interests from a young age, teaching her Greek mythology and classic stories from history like the life of Joan of Arc. She developed the eating disorder anorexia nervosa in her teens, and spent years undergoing therapy. "It was a very, very, very important event for me, because it got me into psychoanalysis, which became important to my thought," she said in a 2012 interview. "I feel as though I learned how to think in psychoanalysis.And I recovered a self that could be in the world." Because of her illness, Glück did not enroll in college as a full-time student, instead attending poetry workshops with Léonie Adams and Stanley Kunitz at Columbia University's School of General Studies.

Glück published her first book of poetry, eaching released me. It was one of the most dramatic transformative experiences of my life and entirely positive." Personal struggles and tragedies made their way into her work, giving it a raw and emotional quality that spoke to many readers. She also often draws on mythology and history as a framework to explore both her personal experiences and modern life, and on nature as a focus for contemplation about self and the divine. The wealth of symbolism and meaning in her poetry make it a rich opportunity for analysis, and her poem "Mock Orange" from Firstborn, in 1968, but then struggled with writer's block until she began teaching at Goddard College in Vermont. "It was one of the greatest gifts of my life," she later reflected. "T The Triumph of Achilles is often called an "anthology piece" because of how often it appears in collections and college textbooks.

In recent years, Glück has published more volumes of poetry, including Averno, which was a National Book Award finalist, and A Village Life, which was a finalist for the Griffin International Poetry Prize. The publication of a collection of 50 years of her poetry, Poems 1962-2012, was hailed as "a literary event... magisterial in execution [and] monumental in scale." In her most recent collection of essays, 2018's American Originality: Essays on Poetry, she explores the meanings and importance of both classic American poetry and the works of young and emerging poets, and confronts the idea that great art must always spring from despair and pain. Instead, she argues, well-being and happiness can help a writer build a beautiful, poetic life.

The Nobel Prize in Literature was created in 1901, and Glück is the sixteenth woman to receive the prestigious award; previous American laureates include Toni Morrison in 1993 and Bob Dylan in 2016. When her win was announced, Glück was astounded and nearly at a loss for words: "It's too new, I don't know, really, what it means.... Mostly I am concerned for the preservation of daily life with people I love." However, she has shared insightful advice for young would-be poets in previous interviews: "Read poetry. Read. Keep yourself open to alternatives.... [But] live in the world," she advised. "I think your poems - the ones that are yours and not skillful clones of existing poems - will come about through your having lived the life that most closely enacts your own passions."

Books And Toys To Inspire Aspiring Young Poets

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Celebrated American Poet Louise Glück Wins 2020 Nobel Prize for Literature

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The Nobel committee praised Glück "for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal." The acclaimed American poet and essayist Louise Glück has been awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize for Literature! The Nobel committee praised Glück "for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal."

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A Mighty Girl tribute to Judy Blume in honor of Banned Books Week.

For decades, Mighty Girls have devoured the works of Judy Blume, from Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret to Forever... to Just As Long As We're Together. Her characters are compelling to readers because they face real issues - issues like puberty, struggles with friends, sexuality, divorce, and bullying. There's even a book, Everything I Needed To Know About Being A Girl I Learned from Judy Blume, which features a collection of essays by twenty-four notable women authors about the impact Judy Blume's novels have had on their lives and writing.

But what many Mighty Girl readers may not know is that the very topics that made Blume's work speak so powerfully to them also made them the subject of frequent challenges and bans. Blume has the dubious distinction of being one of the most banned writers in America. In fact, challenges and bans to her books still happen frequently; as a result, in some towns, it is actually harder for kids to get access to her books now than when they were written.

In the process of defending her books, Blume has emerged as a determined defender of authors' rights to address controversial issues, even in children's and young adult literature - and of children's rights to read them. In honor of Banned Books Week, which runs from September 27 to October 3, A Mighty Girl is proud to present this tribute to Blume's efforts to ensure that authors, both present and future, don't have to face censorship as they write for children.

If you'd like to learn more about Mighty Girl books by many authors that have been challenged and banned, check out our blog post Dangerous Words: Challenged and Banned Mighty Girl Books.

"This Is America, We Don't Have Censorship"

Blume's experience with censorship and banning of children's books began early in her career with her 1970 book Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret (age 9 - 13). At the time, Blume had already written two books, one of which, Iggie's House (age 8 - 12), was one of the first books marketed to children to tackle racism and prejudice. But Margaret would rapidly become both a classic and a topic of major debate about what topics are acceptable for children's literature.

In Banned in the U.S.A.: A Reference Guide to Book Censorship in Schools and Public Libraries, by Herbert N. Foerstel, Blume says that her writing "was not courage. It was naivete. I had absolutely no idea I was writing a controversial book. There was nothing in it that wasn't a part of my sixth grade experience." Margaret's experiences included getting a first bra, having her first period (and wrestling with menstrual products, a sanitary belt in the original and adhesive pads in a more recent update), and starting to feel attracted to boys. The book also tackled jealousy among friends and the tension between the desire to fit in and the desire to speak up about your own opinions.

Blume also captured the complexity of a dual religion family - Margaret's mother is Christian and her father is Jewish - and Margaret's search for identity and comfort in belief. Margaret's relationship with God is a very personal one: "Are you there, God? It's me, Margaret," she says at one point. "I just did an exercise to help me grow. Have you thought about it, God? About my growing, I mean. I've got a bra now. It would be nice if I had something to put in it."

When Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret, was challenged for its references to menstruation, puberty, and budding sexuality, as well as for its depiction of religious faith outside of a priest, minister, or rabbi's guidance, Blume was shocked. Speaking to The Guardian in July 2014 she said, "My feeling in the beginning was wait, this is America: we don't have censorship, we have, you know, freedom to read, freedom to write, freedom of the press, we don't do this, we don't ban books. But then they did."

In her introduction to Places I Never Meant to Be: Original Stories By Censored Writers, which Blume edited, she writes, "When Margaret was published in 1970 I gave three copies to my children's elementary school but the books never reached the shelves. The male principal decided on his own that they were inappropriate for elementary school readers... The stories go on and on but really, I wasn't that concerned. There was no organized effort to ban my books or any other books, none that I knew of, anyway." But in the 1980s, "censors crawled out of the woodwork, organized and determined. Not only would they decide what their children could read but what all children could read... Suddenly books were seen as dangerous to young minds."

But in the meantime, Blume had still been writing more of her honest and dangerous books. Unknowingly, she had positioned herself to become the second most banned author in the US - behind only Stephen King - and a champion for complex, provocative children's literature.

"They Are Corrupting Your Child": Censorship In Action

More of Blume's books starring girls, including Deenie (age 12 and up) from 1970, Blubber (age 8 - 12) from 1974, Forever... (age 14 and up), from 1975, and Tiger Eyes (age 12 and up), also ended up in the censor's crosshairs. All four of these books, along with Margaret, are on the American Library Association's top 100 frequently challenged and banned books for 1990 to 1999.

What was Blume writing about that proved to be so controversial? Blubber received challenges for its blunt depiction of bullying in schools, including the fact that the biggest bully in the class receives no consequences for her actions. In Tiger Eyes, the depiction of alcoholism and discussion of depression and suicide are what draw the critics' ire. But perhaps the most vicious attacks were against books like Deenie and Forever..., which address issues of sex and sexuality, topics that seem guaranteed to evoke challenges.

1970's Deenie tells the story of a beautiful girl, an aspiring model, who is suddenly faced with a scoliosis diagnosis. Now confined to a Milwaukee brace for years - as long as it takes to straighten her spine - Deenie wrestles with her own body image and with her sudden awareness of how she has treated people with disabilities in the past. But as Deenie wrestles with these challenges, she is also discovering her body and sexual pleasure. Passages cited as the reason for challenges and bans of this book include "[That week] I touched my special place practically every night. It was the only way I could fall asleep and besides, it felt good." This, as well as a frank discussion from a gym teacher that calls masturbation "normal and harmless", have led to the book being called "inappropriate" for child and young adult audiences.

But it was Forever... that earned some of the most vicious criticism, making it Blume's most censored book. Katherine is sure that her relationship with Michael is the one, her first and only love. The relationship becomes increasingly physical, with Katherine ending up making a trip to Planned Parenthood for a birth control prescription before having sex with Michael. But when they are separated for the summer, Katherine begins to question whether her first love is really a forever love. By the end of the summer, Katherine realizes that first love is special, but it's rarely the true love of your life.

Criticisms leveled against Forever... include everything from sexual immorality to complaints about depicting disobedience to parents. While fans of the book consider Katherine's scrupulous preparation for first intercourse, including arranging birth control, and Michael's frank discussion about getting a sexually transmitted infection from a previous sexual partner, as examples of a responsible sexual relationship on both sides, those attributes are exactly the issues that cause the most complaints from parents and schools. When it was removed from a school in Iowa, the reason given was that it "does not promote abstinence and monogamous relationships [and] lacks any aesthetic, literary or social value."

Blume had been inspired to write Forever... by her daughter, Randy, to whom the book is dedicated. "She was reading all these books, where a girl succumbed [to sex], she would be punished, sometimes she would die. And Randy said, 'Couldn't there ever be a book where two nice kids do it and nobody has to die?' And I thought 'Yes, I need to write this'." But this book, and her ongoing support of Planned Parenthood, has had a significant effect on the way she lives her life. Speaking to The Guardian recently, she said, "I went to a couple of places two years ago and I got seven hundred and something hate-mail warnings - 'We know where you are going to be and we'll be there waiting for you', that sort of thing. My publisher sent me with a bodyguard... And nothing happened and probably nothing would have happened, but it was very scary."

That's the significant change that Blume has observed in how censorship and book banning happens. In Places I Never Meant To Be, she writes "we had individual parents running into schools, waving books, demanding their removal - books they hadn't read except for certain passages... School administrators sent down the word: Anything that could be seen as controversial had to go. Often books were quietly removed from school libraries and classrooms or, if seen as potential troublemakers, were never purchased in the first place. These decisions were based not on what was best for the students, but what would not offend the censors."

Parent organizations began to form, both locally and nationwide, with the mission of removing books they deemed unsuitable. An example of a censorship group's attitude comes from Parents Against Bad Books In Schools which reads "they are corrupting your child...You feel the school system is forcing their values (or lack of values) on you and your child. What should you do?" And despite PABBIS' argument that "Bad is not for us to determine...What each parent considers bad varies and depends on their unique situation, family and values," they also advocate using challenge procedures for books that you feel are inappropriate, and pursuing the challenge to higher levels if the book isn't removed by the school.

Blume writes on her website, "Today, it's not only language and sexuality (the usual reasons given for banning my books) that will land a book on the censors' hit list. It's Satanism, New Age-ism and a hundred other isms, some of which would make you laugh if the implications weren't so serious. Books that make kids laugh often come under suspicion; so do books that encourage kids to think, or question authority; books that don't hit the reader over the head with moral lessons are considered dangerous."

And in this climate, where books are being pulled not only from school libraries, but public library shelves as well, Blume took on a new role: a leader of the anti-censorship movement, and an advocate for free reading for children.

Fighting Back Against Censorship

Blume has long argued that "censorship grows out of fear....They want to believe that if their children don't read about it, their children won't know about it. And if they don't know about it, it won't happen." But as she argued at the Hay Festival of Literature and the Arts in June, "A lot of people worry much too much about what their children are reading... If a child picks up a book and reads something she has a question about, if she can go to her parents, great. Or else they will read right over it. It won't mean a thing. They are very good, I think, at monitoring what makes them feel uncomfortable. If something makes them feel uncomfortable they will put it down."

So with that in mind, Blume has spoken publicly and often about the need to stop censoring children's literature. In 1999, in an op-ed to the New York Times about attempts to ban Harry Potter, saying "The real danger is not in the books, but in laughing off those who would ban them.... The list of gifted teachers and librarians who find their jobs in jeopardy for defending their students' right to read, to imagine, to question, grows every year." Increasingly, she says, "If children are excited about a book, it must be suspect."

As a result, she writes on her website, "it's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers." She even acknowledges that the fear of censorship has affected her own work: she removed a reference to masturbation in her draft of Tiger Eyes after her editor asked her if leaving it in was worth the risk of readers not having access to the book. In Places I Never Meant To Be, she says, "What effect does this climate have on a writer? Chilling. It's easy to become discouraged, to second guess everything you write... I've never forgiven myself for caving in to editorial pressure based on fear, for playing into the hands of the censors. I knew then it was all over for me unless I took a stand."

She found the National Coalition Against Censorship, a coalition of over 40 non-profits dedicated to preventing books from being removed from shelves; learning about NCAC, she says, changed her life. Speaking in Banned in the USA, Blume says, "It's difficult keeping track of [challenges and bans], because the authors don't find out unless someone else notifies them. More recently, thanks to the National Coalition Against Censorship, we are hearing more promptly about when and where our books are being banned." And with the NCAC's help, people can rally together to stop challenges and show support for authors, teachers, and librarians being criticized for challenged works.

She writes, "If no one speaks out for [young readers], if they don't speak out for themselves, all they'll get for required reading will be the most bland books available. Instead of finding the information they need at the library, instead of finding novels that illuminate life, they will find only those materials to which nobody could possibly object... In this age of censorship I mourn the loss of books that will never be written, I mourn the voices that will be silenced - writers' voices, teachers' voices, students' voices - and all because of fear."

So what can you do? Blume has a section on her website devoted specifically to censorship - and how to combat it. In her section What To Do If It Happens To You, she tells kids, teachers and librarians, and authors, some steps they can take if censorship affects a work that they care about. She also provides a resource guide and toolkit, designed in conjunction with NCAC, for dealing with book censorship in schools.

And she sees signs of progress: writing for Index on Censorship magazine during Banned Books Week in 2013, she says, "I am encouraged by a new awareness. This year I have received a number of letters from young people who are studying censorship in their classes. And in many communities across the country, students from elementary through to high school are becoming active (along with caring adults) in the fight to maintain their right to read and their right to choose books...Only when readers of all ages become active, only when readers are willing to stand up to the censors, will the censors get the message that they cannot frighten us."

Additional Recommended Resources

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Protecting "The Books That Will Never Be Written": Judy Blume's Fight Against Censorship

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A Mighty Girl tribute to Judy Blume in honor of Banned Books Week. For decades, Mighty Girls have devoured the works of Judy Blume, from Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret to Forever... to Just As Long As We're Together.

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Julie Andrews, star of beloved classics "The Sound of Music" and "Mary Poppins," celebrates her 85th birthday!

Whether you first met her on stage at the West End in London or Broadway in New York; on the screen as Mary Poppins, Maria von Trapp, or Queen Clarisse Renaldi; or as the author of a beloved children's book like Mandy or The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles; or her memoirs Home and Home Work, chances are good you've been charmed by Julie Andrews! The legendary English performer and author is celebrating her 85th birthday today, and she's still touching the hearts of people around the world. Andrews is also quick to point out that her success over the years was far from smooth, however, providing an inspiring model of resilience for her fans young and old: "Perseverance," she says, "is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th."

Born in Surrey, England in 1935, Andrews demonstrated a gift for singing from a young age. One of her early instructors, concert soprano Lilian Stiles-Allen, once wrote "the range, accuracy and tone of Julie's voice amazed me... she had possessed the rare gift of absolute pitch." Andrews began performing in 1945 with her mother and stepfather, and before long was singing solo professionally. In 1948, at the age of 13, she became the youngest solo performer to appear in a Royal Command Variety Performance, and was soon billed as "Britain's youngest prima donna." Although many encouraged her to consider a career in opera, she didn't feel her voice had "the necessary guts and weight for opera," and preferred to sing "bright and sunny" songs, so musical theater was a natural fit.

After performing for several years in London's West End and on BBC radio and television, Andrews moved to America in 1954 where she delighted Broadway audiences as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady and Lady Guinevere in Camelot. Her stage career led to her first big movie role when Walt Disney chose her to play the iconic Mary Poppins, even delaying the start of production to accommodate her pregnancy. The film was hugely successful upon its release in 1964, winning Andrews' Best Actress awards at both the Oscars and Golden Globes. She starred in one of her most beloved roles of her career the following year as Maria von Trapp in The Sound of Music. The movie was the highest-grossing film of 1965 and won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Catapulted into stardom, Andrews continued to star in many more films over the years, including such hits as Thoroughly Modern Millie and Victor/Victoria.

In the midst of her Hollywood success, Andrews also became an author; her first two children's books Mandy and The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles, became bestsellers and remain in print today. She co-authored many of her later children's books with her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton, including The Very Fairy Princess, Simeon's Gift, Dragon: Hound of Honor, The Great American Mousical, Little Bo in Italy, and Thanks to You: Wisdom from Mother and Child.

In 1997, Andrews faced one of her biggest professional and personal challenges after she developed problems with her voice, and a surgery that was supposed to remove nodules from her vocal cords - which she later found out she did not even have - caused permanent damage. "[Losing my voice] was one of the hardest things to deal with," she later reflected. "And I did think it was maybe one of the worst things that could possibly happen, because I enjoyed and love singing so much." It took multiple additional surgeries, and very careful recovery and practice, before she felt she could try again. The next time she would sing on screen was in 2001's The Princess Diaries; the song was deliberately set in a range that accommodated her recovering voice. The appearance marked the beginning of a career revival, and she has since appeared or voiced characters in Eloise, Shrek, Enchanted, Aquaman, and Despicable Me.

Andrews has received accolades around the world for her long and distinguished career, including being made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, receiving Kennedy Center Honors, and being granted a Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. Today, she continues to spread a message to both children and adults about the importance of dreams, perseverance, and preparation. "Sometimes opportunities float right past your nose," she observes. "Work hard, apply yourself, and be ready. When an opportunity comes you can grab it."

Books And Movies Starring Julie Andrews

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Julie Andrews, Legendary Actress, Singer, and Author, Celebrates Her 85th Birthday

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Julie Andrews, star of beloved classics "The Sound of Music" and "Mary Poppins," celebrates her 85th birthday! Whether you first met her on stage at the West End in London or Broadway in New York; on the screen as Mary Poppins, Maria von Trapp, or Queen Clarisse Renaldi; or as the author of a beloved children's book like Mandy or The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles; or her memoirs Home and Home Work, chances are good you've been charmed by Julie Andrews!

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While working with the French Resistance, Josephine Baker smuggled secrets written in invisible ink on her sheet music.

The popular image of Josephine Baker is of a daring entertainer, one who often shocked audiences by defying all the conventions of the day. But behind the tabloid fodder of her dramatic stage performances and glamorous lifestyle - including a pet cheetah - there was a complex woman that many of her fans never saw. Baker was a French Resistance spy, a civil rights activist, and an adoptive mother to a "Rainbow Tribe" of a dozen diverse children that she hoped could model racial unity. "She never thought that anything was impossible," observes Bennetta Jules-Rosette, author of Josephine Baker in Art and Life: The Icon and the Image. "She could do things we would consider ahead of their time, because she never thought she would fail."

Josephine Baker was born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri on June 3, 1906, and her show business career started early: her mother had a song-and-dance act and would carry her baby daughter onto the stage starting when she was about a year old. However, the family struggled financially, and Baker began working as a live-in domestic for white families at age 8 and, by age 12, she dropped out of school. By thirteen, she had run away and was working as a waitress and living on the streets. At fourteen, Baker married for the first time, and divorced her first husband the following year. She found work with a street performance group, the Jones Family Band and married again in 1921 at age 15. That marriage was also short-lived, but by the time it ended, she had developed a reputation under the last name Baker, so she kept it for the rest of her life.

During the Harlem Renaissance, Baker went to New York City and began to build her career; within a few years, she was "the highest-paid chorus girl in vaudeville." She then had an opportunity to tour in Paris, where audiences were thrilled by her risqué performances and compelling stage presence. She joined the Folies Bergère and became famous for her "Danse sauvage" wearing a banana skirt. But she wanted to be known as more than an "exotic" or "primitive" act, so she took vocal coaching and transformed her personas, both on stage and off it. Shirley Bassey, who lists Baker as one of her great influences, once said "she went from a 'petite danseuse sauvage' with a decent voice to 'la grande diva magnifique'.... I swear in all my life I have never seen, and probably never shall see again, such a spectacular singer and performer."

Baker's success in Paris, however, didn't translate into success at home. After poor reviews of her performances in the U.S. in the late 1930s, she returned to France, marrying Jewish Frenchman Jean Lion and becoming a French citizen in 1937. After France declared war on Germany in 1939 in response to the invasion of Poland, Baker was recruited by the Deuxième Bureau, France's military intelligence agency, as an "honorable correspondent". Throughout much of the war, she maintained a busy performance schedule which provided an excellent cover for her covert activities as a sub-lieutenant in the Women's Auxiliary of the Free French Air Force.

She helped support General Charles de Gaulle's Free French movement by gathering information for the Resistance at high society events held at embassies. Her fame gave her the unusual ability to visit neutral nations during the war as she worked as a spy for the French Resistance, smuggling information about German installations and troop movements in invisible ink on her sheet music or pinned on notes inside her underwear, trusting that her fame would prevent extensive searches. For her service to France during the war, Baker was awarded the Croix de guerre and the Medal of the French Resistance with Rosette, and de Gaulle named her a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, the country's highest decoration.

Following the war, Baker was eager to return to her performing career, but she also had a newfound desire to champion civil rights causes. In 1963, she became the only official female speaker at the famous March on Washington, telling the vast crowd, while wearing her Free France uniform, "You know I have always taken the rocky path. I never took the easy one, but as I get older, and as I knew I had the power and the strength, I took that rocky path and I tried to smooth it out a little. I wanted to make it easier for you." During her work with the Civil Rights Movement, Baker formed an adoptive family she called the Rainbow Tribe; she hoped that her two daughters and ten sons would show that "children of different ethnicities and religions could still be brothers." After Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, Coretta Scott King even asked Baker to consider taking King's place as leader of the Civil Rights Movement; however, Baker declined, saying that her children were "too young to lose their mother."

Baker performed until the end of her life in many of the most prominent venues in the world, including Carnegie Hall in New York, the London Palladium, and the Gala du Cirque in Paris. On April 8, 1975, she held a retrospective revue at the Bobino in Paris, which was financed by Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and opened to rave reviews. There was so much demand for seating that fold-out chairs were added to allow more ticket sales. Four days later, she was found in her bed, surrounded by newspaper reviews praising her show, in a coma from a cerebral hemorrhage; she died the same day. After her death, Baker's adoptive country honored her for her wartime service once again when she became the first American-born woman to receive full French military honors at her funeral. And, in the end, her death likely would have satisfied her; "I shall dance all my life," she once said. "I would like to die, breathless and spent, at the end of a dance."

Books And Resources about Josephine Baker

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Josephine Baker: The Famous Entertainer Who Became a World War II Allied Spy

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While working with the French Resistance, Josephine Baker smuggled secrets written in invisible ink on her sheet music. The popular image of Josephine Baker is of a daring entertainer, one who often shocked audiences by defying all the conventions of the day.

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Beverly Cleary redefined children's literature for a generation of young readers.

For decades, children have delighted in the adventures of Ramona and her sister Beezus, Henry Huggins and his dog Ribsy, and Ralph, the motorcycle riding mouse! Although these books were written long ago, their characters feel like they could still be living in the house next door thanks to the remarkable writing of their author, Beverly Cleary, who celebrated her 104th birthday this year! When asked about the multi-generational appeal of her books, Cleary credits the spirit of childhood which she believes is just as timeless as her stories. "I think deep down inside children are all the same," she told NPR in a 2006 interview. "They want two loving parents and they would prefer a house with a neighborhood they can play in. They want teachers that they can like. I don't think children themselves have changed that much."

Cleary was born in 1916, and lived on a farm in rural Yamhill, Oregon until she was 6 years old. Then her father got a job as a bank security officer in Portland, and the family moved to the city. The adjustment was difficult on Cleary, and she felt even worse when her first grade teacher put her in a group for struggling readers. "The first grade was separated into three reading groups - Bluebirds, Redbirds, and Blackbirds. I was a Blackbird. To be a Blackbird was to be disgraced. I wanted to read, but somehow could not," she later reflected. Her reading difficultly was magnified by the phonics lists and Dick and Jane stories that were used for reading instruction at the time. "[We] wanted action," she wrote in her memoir, A Girl from Yamhill. "We wanted a story."

Fortunately, a school librarian realized what Cleary needed, and introduced her to books that she enjoyed. By the third grade, she had caught up in reading ability, and by sixth grade, she was an avid reader and writer. Her sixth grade teacher even suggested that she should become a children's writer based on the quality of her class assignments. Her passion for reading led Cleary to pursue a career as a children's librarian, and she earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English at the University of California at Berkeley in 1938, followed by a Master's Degree in Library Science at the University of Washington in 1939.

She began working as a children's librarian in Yakima, Washington in 1939, and then as the post librarian at the U.S. Army Hospital in Oakland, California. Her conversations with the children she served, however, turned her thoughts back to writing as she struggled to find books to recommend to her young patrons with characters they could relate to. "I think children want to read about normal, everyday kids," she said in a 1999 interview. "That's what I wanted to read about when I was growing up. I wanted to read about the sort of boys and girls that I knew in my neighborhood and in my school.... I think children like to find themselves in books." Since she couldn't find those books already on the shelves, she set out to write them.

Cleary's first book, Henry Huggins, was accepted for immediate publication in 1950. It was a tremendous success, with kids loving to read stories about characters like Henry and his friend Beezus that reminded them of themselves. Then Cleary noticed that all of the children in her book seemed to be only children, so on a whim, she gave Beezus a little sister. "Ramona just appeared on her own," Cleary says, "and kept growing in each book." It wasn't long before Cleary and her editor decided Ramona needed her own books. Ramona Quimby would end up becoming one of Cleary's most popular characters as she grew from a rambunctious preschooler in Beezus and Ramona into an imaginative and empathetic fourth grader in Ramona's World.

Cleary kept writing until the late 1990s, and she always tried to keep the interests of her audience in mind. "I really wrote [ The Mouse and the Motorcycle] for my son when he was in about the third grade and was disillusioned with school and reading and I said, well, what would you like to read about? And he said motorcycles," she recalled in an interview. "Then we were traveling in England and he was sick in bed for a couple of days and we bought him some miniature cars and a little motorcycle to play with.... And when we came home, a neighbor called me over to show me a mouse that had fallen into a bucket in her garden, and it crossed my mind that that mouse was just the right size to ride that motorcycle." To date, she says The Mouse and the Motorcycle is still one of her most popular books among boys.

In addition to being beloved by kids for generations, Cleary's work is widely critically acclaimed. She won a Newbery Medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw and Newbery Honors for Ramona Quimby, Age 8 and Ramona and Her Father, as well as the 1981 National Book Award for Ramona and Her Mother. Her books have sold 91 million copies and been published in over 25 languages, and in recognition of her contributions to children's literature, she received the 1975 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award from the American Library Association for her "substantial and lasting contributions to children's literature." She was also named a Library of Congress Living Legend in 2000 and received the National Medal of Arts in 2003.

Looking back at the end of her long career, Cleary reflects that what makes her work so enduring is largely thanks to her keen ability to remember what it's like to be a child and evoke those memories in her stories. "I'm just lucky," she insists. "I do have very clear memories of childhood. I find that many people don't but I'm just very fortunate that I have that kind of memory." All in all, she says, "I've had an exceptionally happy career."

Books By and About Beverly Cleary

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Beverly Cleary, The Beloved 104-Year-Old Author, Transformed Children's Literature With Relatable Characters Like Ramona Quimby

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Beverly Cleary redefined children's literature for a generation of young readers. For decades, children have delighted in the adventures of Ramona and her sister Beezus, Henry Huggins and his dog Ribsy, and Ralph, the motorcycle riding mouse!

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Augusta Fells Savage became the first African American woman to open her own art gallery in America.

In 1939, a new art gallery opened in Harlem in New York City. It was called the Salon of Contemporary Negro Art, and it was the brainchild of Augusta Fells Savage, a talented sculptor who had faced obstacles due to her sex and race at every turn. Savage was the first African American woman to open her own art gallery in America, and she hoped her Salon would give black artists a place to exhibit their work, free from the prejudice that kept them - and her - out of the mainstream art world. "We do not ask any special favors as artists because of our race," she said to the 500 people who attended the gallery's opening. "We only want to present to you our works and ask you to judge them on their merits."

Savage was born on February 29, 1892 in Green Cove Springs, Florida, and from an early age her fingers yearned to sculpt. "From the time I can first recall the rain falling on the red clay in Florida. I wanted to make things," she recalled. "When my brothers and sisters were making mud pies, I would be making ducks and chickens with the mud." But her father, a Methodist minister with a conservative interpretation of the Biblical prohibition against graven images, punished her for her creations: "My father licked me four or five times a week, and [he] almost whipped all the art out of me." Fortunately, she persevered, and her high school principal encouraged her artistic talents by allowing her to teach a clay modeling class.

After two early marriages - her first at the age of 15 - Savage decided to pursue her love of art by moving to New York City. In 1921, she was admitted to The Cooper Union School for the Advancement of Science and Art, a scholarship-based school, selected ahead of 142 men on the waiting list. The school's board was so impressed by her work that they even granted her a stipend to cover room and board after she lost her job as an apartment caretaker.

Still, she often came face to face with prejudice. In 1923, she was accepted to a summer art program sponsored by the French government at the Fontainebleau School of Fine Arts, but her acceptance was retracted after it became clear she was black. "It would not be wise to have a colored student," said a letter from the admissions committee, "as complications would arise, and the student would suffer most from these complications." Savage publicized this injustice by writing letters to newspapers in both America and Europe, which made headlines on both sides of the Atlantic. While she did not get to study at Fontainebleau, one supportive committee member, sculptor Hermon Atkins MacNeil, invited her to study with him privately.

After completing her studies, Savage worked in steam laundries in Manhattan to support herself and her family, while continuing to sculpt. She received her first commission, a bust of W.E.B. DuBois for the Harlem Library, which led to more commissions including busts of other black leaders such as Marcus Garvey and William Pickens. Her 1929 bust of a young black boy entitled Gamin, which was voted most popular in an exhibition at the time of 200 works by black artists, cemented Savage's reputation as an influential artist of the Harlem Renaissance. Today, Gamin is on permanent display at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

In 1934, Savage became the first African-American artist elected to the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors. She established the Savage Studio of Arts and Crafts in Harlem, open to anyone who wanted to learn to paint, draw, or sculpt. Among her young students were several who went on to become nationally-known artists including abstract painter Norman Lewis, figurative painter Jacob Lawrence, and portrait artist Gwendolyn Knight.

Savage was commissioned by Board of Design for the 1939 New York World's Fair to create a piece inspired by the song "Lift Every Voice and Sing," which is often referred to as the "black national anthem." Her 16-foot tall sculpture, The Harp, reimagined a standing harp using twelve standing African American youth as its strings, with an arm and hand as its sounding board. Over 5 million people came to see The Harp, and it was used in both a World's Fair postcard and a small replica souvenir. However, Savage did not have the funds to transport or store the piece, so it was destroyed when the fair was over.

In fact, little of Savage's work survives today. Because she couldn't afford bronze, she often had to make her sculptures out of plaster; most of these have crumbled over time. Other works, like The Harp, were destroyed because they could not be moved or stored, while some of her work has simply disappeared. In 1988, the Schomburg Center in Harlem held a retrospective of her work, but could only locate 19 pieces. Throughout her career, Savage fought to help African American artists publicize their work. "She was keen on creating an infrastructure for black artists," says Wendy NE Ikemoto, curator at the New York Historical Society. "She put a lot of thought and energy into creating these intellectual spaces and networks for the work of black artists."

In addition to the students she fostered during the Harlem Renaissance, Savage devoted much of her later life to teaching children and summer art camps, mostly in Saugerties, New York. When she died of cancer in March 26, 1962, she was almost forgotten, but her impact as an artist and teacher is far better appreciated today. Ultimately, her greatest wish was to inspire young artists: "I have created nothing really beautiful, really lasting," she once said, "but if I can inspire one of these youngsters to develop the talent I know they possess, then my monument will be in their work."

Books About Trailblazing Women in Art and Sculpture

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The Sculptor Who Persisted: "He Almost Whipped All the Art Out of Me"

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Augusta Fells Savage became the first African American woman to open her own art gallery in America. In 1939, a new art gallery opened in Harlem in New York City. It was called the Salon of Contemporary Negro Art, and it was the brainchild of Augusta Fells Savage, a talented sculptor who had faced obstacles due to her sex and race at every turn.

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"I share this honor with ancestors and teachers who inspired in me a love of poetry, who taught that words are powerful and can make change when understanding appears impossible."

Poet Joy Harjo has been named America's 23rd Poet Laureate - making her the first Native American person to hold the prestigious position! "Joy Harjo has championed the art of poetry - 'soul talk' as she calls it - for over four decades," Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a press release announcing Harjo's selection. "To her, poems are 'carriers of dreams, knowledge and wisdom,' and through them she tells an American story of tradition and loss, reckoning and myth-making." The 68-year-old, who is also the first poet laureate from Oklahoma, called it a "tremendous honor," saying, "I share this honor with ancestors and teachers who inspired in me a love of poetry, who taught that words are powerful and can make change when understanding appears impossible, and how time and timelessness can live together within a poem."

Harjo was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1951 with the given name Joy Foster, but she took her paternal grandfather's last name when she joined the Muscogee Creek Nation at age 19. As a child and a young adult, she faced alcoholism and abuse within her family, life as a teen mother, and struggles with poverty. However, she also discovered a love of artistic expression, and particularly for drawing symbolism and traditions from Native American oral storytelling culture into her work.

Harjo published her first book of poetry in 1975; since then, she's written multiple acclaimed volumes, including her most recent book, Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings: Poems, which was a finalist for the 2016 Griffin Poetry Prize, and an upcoming book, An American Sunrise, which releases in August. She's also the author of a memoir, Crazy Brave, as well as a picture book, For a Girl Becoming, about a girl's journey from birth through adulthood. Poetry, she says, has "the ability to transform experiences that could potentially destroy a pe o ple, a family, a person to experiences that build connection and community.... I needed to find my voice, I think, in order to live."

The position of poet laureate is intended "to raise the national consciousness to a greater appreciation of the reading and writing of poetry." Harjo has often explored challenging issues in her work such as violence against women and the relationship between modernization and traditionalism, and she believes that the written and spoken word has tremendous power to bring people together. "Since I started writing in 1973, I've almost always been on the road with poetry, and meeting people and communities... [in] every state in the union, small and large communities, for years on behalf of poetry - and the gift that poetry brings to all of us," says Harjo. "Communities that normally would not sit with each other, I would love to see... interchanges with poetry. I really believe if people sit together and hear their deepest feelings and thoughts beyond political divisiveness, it makes connections."

Books About Groundbreaking Female Poets

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Joy Harjo Makes History As First Native American to be Named U.S. Poet Laureate

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"I share this honor with ancestors and teachers who inspired in me a love of poetry, who taught that words are powerful and can make change when understanding appears impossible." Poet Joy Harjo has been named America's 23rd Poet Laureate - making her the first Native American person to hold the prestigious position!

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Harlem Renaissance poet Anne Spencer lived her entire life in Virginia, where she tended her garden, worked as a librarian and teacher, hosted luminaries of Black intellectual and cultural life, and fought for equal rights for African Americans.

Spencer was born Annie Bethel Scales Bannister near Danville, Virginia on February 6, 1882. She was the only child of Sarah Louise Scales and Joel Cephus Bannister, a former slave with Black, white, and Seminole Indian ancestry. Soon after her birth, the family moved to Martinsville, VA, where Spencer's father opened a saloon. Spencer began studying at the Virginia Seminary in Lynchburg, VA (now Virginia University of Lynchburg) at the age of 11. She distinguished herself as a student of literature and languages and graduated as valedictorian in 1899.

Spencer then taught for two years before marrying Edward Alexander Spencer in 1901. The two had been students together - Edward tutored Annie in math and science, while Annie helped Edward with languages. Edward became the first African-American postman in Lynchburg, as well as an entrepreneur in construction and business. In 1903 they moved into a Queen Anne style home in Lynchburg that Edward had designed and built. They lived in that house for the rest of their lives. Today it is the home to the Anne Spencer House & Garden Museum. The couple had three children: Bethel Calloway, Alroy Sarah, and Chauncey Edward. Chauncey became a pioneer aviator who fought for greater opportunities for African-American pilots.

Spencer possessed a lifelong determination to improve conditions for African Americans in her community. It was through her civil rights work that she began her career as a poet. Spencer and her husband frequently hosted Black travelers in their home, as African Americans were barred from staying at local inns and hotels due to Jim Crow segregation. As a result, their home became a salon for prominent individuals like W. E. B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson, and Thurgood Marshall. In 1918, Spencer helped found the Lynchburg chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Writer and activist James Weldon Johnson was the Spencers' guest while he helped open the local NAACP chapter. Spencer had dabbled in poetry since she was a child and Johnson recognized her talent. He recommended her to H.L. Mencken and the two writers published her poem, "Before the Feast of Shushan," in The Crisis (Feb. 1920). Johnson also included Spencer's poetry in his 1922 anthology, The Book of American Negro Poetry. By 1931, Spencer had published poems in magazines like The Crisis, Palms, and Opportunity, all associated with the Harlem Renaissance literary and artistic movement. Though she remained in Virginia, Spencer maintained close friendships with other Harlem Renaissance writers throughout her life, including Johnson, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Countee Cullen.

Though Spencer wrote prolifically, she published few poems after the death of Johnson in 1938 and in total published a relatively small number (approximately 30) in her lifetime. Two dozen more were published in her biography by J. Lee Greene, Time's Unfading Garden: Anne Spencer's Life and Poetry (1977). But the quality of her work established Spencer as a significant poet of the twentieth century. Spencer was the first African-American woman poet published in the Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry (1973). She used traditional forms like sonnets, epigrams, and elegies, and most of her poems are short, with few extending beyond 20 lines. Her poetry draws on universal themes such as religion and mythology as well as her garden and nature. Spencer treasured her home garden and the cottage her husband built for her there, which she named Edankraal. (Edankraal derives from the couple's names, Edward and Anne, and kraal, the Afrikaans word for enclosure or corral.) She would draw inspiration there, often reading and writing late into the night.

Spencer also worked for 20 years as a librarian and part-time teacher of literature and language at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, the African-American high school in Lynchburg. She supplemented the school library's scant collection with volumes of her own and led a campaign to replace the school's white faculty with Black teachers. She served on many local committees intended to improve legal, social, and economic conditions for her community, and frequently wrote to newspaper editors and city officials on these issues. She was staunch in her refusal to ride segregated buses and street cars. Spencer's son said of her, "My mother was full of fire."

Spencer passed away from cancer at the age of 93 in 1975. She is buried alongside her husband, who died in 1964, at Forest Hills Cemetery in Lynchburg. In 2019, the United States Postal Service announced that Spencer would be honored on a Forever Stamp as part of the "Voices of the Harlem Renaissance" series, alongside writer and critic Alain Locke, novelist Nella Larsen, and historian Arturo Alfonso Schomburg.

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Harlem Renaissance poet Anne Spencer lived her entire life in Virginia, where she tended her garden, worked as a librarian and teacher, hosted luminaries of Black intellectual and cultural life, and fought for equal rights for African Americans. Spencer was born Annie Bethel Scales Bannister near Danville, Virginia on February 6, 1882.

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Often called the "Mother of the Blues," Ma Rainey was known for her deep-throated voice and mesmerizing stage presence that drew packed audiences and sold hit records in the early twentieth century. Also a songwriter, her lyrics and melodies reflected her experiences as an independent, openly bisexual African-American woman.

Ma Rainey was born Gertrude Malissa Nix Pridgett in Columbus, Georgia on April 26, 1886. Her parents, Thomas and Ella (Allen) Pridgett, were minstrel performers. Rainey displayed a talent for singing at a young age and began performing as a teenager. She made her debut with the Bunch of Blackberries revue at the Springer Opera House in Columbus. She then began singing with traveling vaudeville acts in tent shows, honky-tonks, and carnivals.

It was on the performance circuit that she met comedian, singer, and dancer Will "Pa" Rainey, and the two married in 1904. They formed a double act ("Ma and Pa Rainey") and toured with various African-American minstrel troupes and vaudeville groups, most notably the Rabbit Foot Minstrels. After about a dozen years of marriage, Rainey and her husband separated. Rainey then created her own show: "Madame Gertrude Ma Rainey and Her Georgia Smart Set."

Rainey, the "Mother of the Blues," was influential for bridging the traditions of vaudeville and authentic Southern blues. The blues descended from the call-and-response storytelling songs of West Africa. Captive Africans passed them down through the generations while enslaved in the Western Hemisphere. Rainey's strong voice and characteristic "moaning" style of singing also fueled her success. A vibrant stage presence, she was known for her gold teeth, flashy clothing and jewelry, and establishing a personal connection with her audiences.

Life as a traveling entertainer was not easy for African Americans in the early decades of the twentieth century. The Theater Owners Booking Association (TOBA) arranged many of their performances. TOBA was well known for its exploitative working conditions and the low wages it paid African-American performers. Many eventually claimed that TOBA stood for "Tough on Black Artists."

Still, Rainey was a star on the TOBA circuit. She attracted large audiences of adoring fans across the South and Midwest. Her performances drew racially mixed (though still segregated) audiences, demonstrating her wide appeal. Her two-hour show usually began with jazz numbers by the band and a performance by a line of chorus girls. After comedy routines and other acts, Rainey would make her grand entrance and dazzle the audience with songs like "I Ain't Got Nobody," "A Good Man is Hard to Find," and her encore, "See See Rider Blues."

Rainey signed a recording contract with Paramount Records in 1923, making her one of the earliest recorded blues musicians. Between 1923 and 1928, she recorded almost 100 records, many of them national hits that are now part of the American musical canon. Her 1924 recording of "See See Rider Blues" (for which she was accompanied by a young Louis Armstrong) was added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry in 2004.

Rainey's songwriting was notable for its raw depiction of life from the perspective of a woman struggling with heartbreak, depression, and other maladies. But amidst these difficulties, Rainey's protagonists did not rely on male partners or submit to the rules society tried to inflict on them. In the song "Oh Papa Blues," Rainey tells of the wrongs a former lover committed against her, but her lamentation soon turns to scheming for revenge. In "Prove It on Me Blues," Rainey boasts about her attraction to women and wearing men's clothing. As scholar and activist Angela Davis wrote, the women in Rainey's songs "explicitly celebrate their right to conduct themselves as expansively and even as undesirably as men."

Rainey's cultural legacy is profound. She was a mentor to the legendary blues singer Bessie Smith, and the two were rumored to have had a romantic relationship. Rainey is credited with inspiring later singers such as Dinah Washington, Big Mama Thornton, and Janis Joplin. Her story inspired famed playwright August Wilson's 1982 play Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, which takes its title from Rainey's 1927 song of the same name (which in turn refers to the black bottom dance trend of the 1920s). It was a Broadway success and was recently adapted as a film.

Rainey made her home in Chicago for much of the 1920s and early 1930s. When she lost her recording contract with Paramount (the company claimed her style of blues had fallen out of fashion) she resumed touring and performed at private parties. Following the deaths of her sister and mother, Rainey returned to Columbus, Georgia to live with her brother. She owned and managed two theaters and was active in the Friendship Baptist Church, where her brother was a deacon. Rainey passed away from heart disease on December 22, 1939 at the age of 53.

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Often called the Often called the "Mother of the Blues," Ma Rainey was known for her deep-throated voice and mesmerizing stage presence that drew packed audiences and sold hit records in the early twentieth century. Also a songwriter, her lyrics and melodies reflected her experiences as an independent, openly bisexual African-American woman.

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Jazz pianist and singer Hazel Scott was not only the first African-American woman to host her own television show, but she also bravely stood up to the House Un-American Activities Committee and the Hollywood studio machine. The gifted and popular performer dazzled audiences in the U.S. and abroad with her jazzy renditions of classical works.

Hazel Dorothy Scott was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad on June 11, 1920. She was the only child of R. Thomas Scott, a West African scholar from England, and Alma Long Scott, a classically trained pianist and saxophonist. Scott displayed her talents for music at an early age and, by the age of three, Scott could play the piano by ear. When her mother's music students would hit a wrong note, Scott would yelp with displeasure.

Scott's parents separated and she moved with her mother and grandmother to New York City in 1924. Scott's mother played in several all-women bands to earn a living. Scott and her mother were extremely close, and Scott called her mother "the single biggest influence in my life." Alma became friends with prominent African-American musicians, which gave Scott the opportunity to learn from a variety of musical greats, such as Art Tatum, Lester Young, and Fats Waller.

Her mother's musical connections made it possible for Scott to audition for the prestigious Juilliard School of Music at the unheard-of age of eight (students were supposed to be 16). Scott's rendition of Rachmaninoff's "Prelude in C-Sharp Minor" convinced professor Oscar Wagner of Scott's "genius" and he arranged a scholarship so that he could instruct her privately.

By the time she was a teenager, Scott was performing professionally throughout the city. At the age of 13, she joined her mother's jazz band, Alma Long Scott's American Creolians. At 15, Scott made her individual stage debut opposite Count Basie's big band at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City. She won a local competition to host her own radio show and, in 1938, made her Broadway debut in the musical revue Sing Out the News. Despite her demanding musical career, Scott graduated high school with honors.

It was her 1939 performances at Café Society in Greenwich Village that pushed Scott's career to the next level. Café Society was New York's first fully integrated nightclub and the city's hot spot for jazz. When singer Billie Holiday ended her standing engagement there three weeks early, she insisted on Scott as her replacement. When the run was up, Scott was the "Darling of Café Society" and the club's new headliner.

Audiences found Scott's penchant for "jazzing the classics" irresistible. She would begin by playing familiar classical piece, then would improvise, adding jazzy runs and flourishes to their melodies. She was not the first put a jazz spin on the classics, but the combination of her classical training, her early exposure to top jazz musicians, and her natural talent enabled Scott to astonish listeners with her stylings. She was a talented singer as well, possessing a vibrant and full-bodied voice. Her "Bach to Boogie" recordings on the Signature and Decca labels broke sales records.

After appearing in several Broadway productions, Scott moved to Los Angeles and signed with RKO, a major movie studio. However, she immediately came up against the racist strictures of Hollywood. She turned down the first four roles offered to her, all for singing maids. She instead appeared as herself in five films, a sophisticated woman with immense musical talents, and insisted on the appropriate credit: "Hazel Scott as Herself." She also called for pay equal to that of her white counterparts. But standing up to the studio's demands brought her film career to an end by 1945.

It was not just in Hollywood that Scott took a stand against racial prejudice. She was one of the first performers to refuse to play before segregated audiences, including the stipulation in all her contracts. Scott credited her courage to the example her mother set for her as a proud and independent woman. Scott's fame and talent helped too: by 1945 she was attracting large audiences and earning today's equivalent of over one million dollars per year.

Scott returned to New York City from Hollywood, where she began an affair with Harlem preacher and politician Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. In 1944, Powell became the first African American elected to Congress from New York. Scott and Powell married the following summer, amid great scandal (he divorced his previous wife just days earlier) and great fanfare (the glamorous couple was the subject of intense media interest). Scott gave birth to their son, Adam Clayton Powell III, in 1946.

In the summer of 1950, Scott made history as the first African-American woman to host her own television show. The Hazel Scott Show aired for 15 minutes, three times a week, first in New York City and then nationally. Scott played the mix of classics, jazz, and boogie-woogie blues for which she was known and the show earned good ratings. However, it came to an abrupt end after just a few months. Scott was named in Red Channels, the pamphlet that listed the supposed Communist sympathizers in entertainment. Scott chose to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee. They accused her of performing for organizations with Communist ties; she had never heard of all but one of them and said she was unaware of its political affiliation. She attested that she had supported a Communist candidate for New York City Council years earlier, but claimed she was never a party member. Despite these avowals, The Hazel Scott Show was canceled a week later.

In the mid-1950s, Scott and Powell separated, formally divorcing in 1960. Scott moved to Paris in 1957 and joined the Black expatriate community there. Her home became a gathering place for African-American musicians and artists. During this time, Scott was briefly married to Swiss-Italian comedian Ezio Bedin.

Scott returned to the U.S. in 1967, but the peak of her fame was behind her. The music scene had moved on from jazz and blues to Motown and British pop. Still, Scott performed in small clubs for her fan base, made a few recordings, and even took small roles in soap operas. Scott passed away from pancreatic cancer on October 2, 1981, just two months after her final performance.

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Jazz pianist and singer Hazel Scott was not only the first African-American woman to host her own television show, but she also bravely stood up to the House Un-American Activities Committee and the Hollywood studio machine. The gifted and popular performer dazzled audiences in the U.S.

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Selma Burke discovered her love for sculpture as a young child and followed her passion to Harlem Renaissance New York, Parisian art studios, and even the White House. The artist behind President Franklin Roosevelt's image on the dime, she was a dedicated art teacher and one of the most notable sculptors of the twentieth century.

Selma Hortense Burke was born on December 31, 1900 in Mooresville, North Carolina. She was the seventh of Mary Jackson and Neal Burke's 10 children. Her father was a Methodist minister who also worked on the railroads and cruise ships. Burke's interest in art began at an early age, sculpting small objects and animals with white clay from a nearby riverbed. "One day, I was mixing the clay and I saw the imprint of my hands," she told the New York Post in 1945. "I found that I could make something... something that I alone had created."

Burke's father encouraged her artistic pursuits. She often used the objects he brought back from his ocean travels as the models for her sculptures. Her interest in African art began with a collection of African artifacts the family inherited from Burke's uncles who had done missionary work abroad. Burke's mother, on the other hand, encouraged her to follow the more practical career path of nursing. Burke graduated from the Slater Industrial and Slater Normal School (later Winston-Salem State University) in 1922. She went on to Saint Agnes Training School for Nurses in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she graduated as a registered nurse in 1924. After that, she completed further nursing training in Philadelphia. She married her childhood friend Durant Woodward, but she was widowed when he died not long after their wedding.

Burke moved to New York City in the late 1920s where she worked as the private nurse for Amelia Waring, an heiress to the Otis Elevator empire. Waring helped Burke gain exposure to the arts and culture scenes in New York. Burke began socializing with the artists and writers associated with the Harlem Renaissance. She was romantically involved with poet and novelist Claude McKay (sources vary as to whether they ever legally married), but it was a tumultuous pairing and the two soon separated. After Waring's death, Burke left nursing and turned her focus to sculpture.

She studied art at Sarah Lawrence College, modeling to pay for her classes. Burke twice traveled to Europe to hone her technique, where she studied under artists such as Henri Matisse and Aristide Maillol in Paris. But with the threat of Nazism rising in Europe, Burke returned to the United States. She taught art to youth in New York City through the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project and the Harlem Community Arts Center, where influential sculptor Augusta Savage was her mentor. In 1940, Burke opened the Selma Burke School of Sculpture. The next year, Burke earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Columbia University (where she had received a scholarship) and held her first solo exhibit in a New York gallery.

Following the entry of the United States into World War II, Burke enlisted in the Navy, becoming one of the first African-American women to sign up. Her assignment was to drive a truck at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. She injured her back on the job and while recuperating, she won a nationwide contest for the commission of a bronze relief portrait of President Franklin Roosevelt. Burke felt that photographs of Roosevelt were inadequate for her needs and requested a sitting with the President so she could draw him. Roosevelt agreed and Burke sketched Roosevelt over two days in February 1944.

Roosevelt passed away in April 1945. His successor, President Harry S. Truman, unveiled Burke's relief portrait at the Recorder of Deeds Building in Washington, D.C. on September 24, 1945. Though she endorsed it, Eleanor Roosevelt reportedly did not like the portrait at first, as it depicted her husband as a younger man. Burke responded that she intended the image to represent Roosevelt as Americans had long known him, not as he appeared in his final years. In addition to the bronze portrait, Burke's profile of Roosevelt is widely acknowledged as the basis for his image on the U.S. dime. The dime's image is officially attributed to U.S. Mint Chief Engraver John Sinnock, but many, including Burke, claim that Sinnock borrowed from Burke's depiction.

Burke described herself as "a people's sculptor" and intended for her art to speak to wide audiences, including those who lacked an arts education. Her work often focused on the human body and she used brass, bronze, alabaster, and limestone, among other materials. Her sculptures included figures and busts of prominent African Americans such as John Brown, Duke Ellington, Mary McLeod Bethune, and A. Philip Randolph. Some of her well-known pieces include (1937), Temptation (1938), (Untitled) Woman and Child (1950), and Together (1975).

Burke married architect Herman Kobbe in 1949 and the two moved to an artists' colony in New Hope, Pennsylvania. Kobbe passed away in 1955, but Burke remained in Pennsylvania for the rest of her life. Burke continued to emphasize arts education, running the Selma Burke Art Center in Pittsburgh from 1968-1981. She taught children about the vibrancy of sculpture and encouraged them to touch works of art in order to fully understand them. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter awarded Burke with a Women's Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement award. Burke received honorary doctorates from Livingstone College in 1970 and Spelman College in 1988.

Burke completed her final sculpture in 1980: a nine-foot bronze statue of Martin Luther King Jr. that stands in Marshall Park in Charlotte, North Carolina. She passed away in 1995 in New Hope, Pennsylvania. Her sculptures are still on display at institutions such as Winston-Salem State University, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Mooresville Public Library in her North Carolina hometown.

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Selma Burke discovered her love for sculpture as a young child and followed her passion to Harlem Renaissance New York, Parisian art studios, and even the White House. The artist behind President Franklin Roosevelt's image on the dime, she was a dedicated art teacher and one of the most notable sculptors of the twentieth century.

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Though a high school teacher discouraged her from writing because of her poor spelling, Suzan-Lori Parks went on to become one of the most successful playwrights in the United States. The first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (2002) and a pioneer of historically conscious and linguistically complex theater, her work is now taught at drama schools across the country.

Parks was born on May 10, 1963 at Fort Knox in Kentucky to Donald and Francis McMillian Parks. Her father was a colonel in the United States Army, and Parks spent her early childhood in Odessa, Texas while her father served in Vietnam. The distinctive dialect she soaked in during her years in West Texas would influence her dialogue when she began writing for the stage. In 1974, Parks moved with her family to Germany where her father was stationed. She and her siblings attended local schools and became fluent in German. An early love for stories from mythology and folklore made Parks dream of becoming a writer, but after her high school teacher dissuaded her, she turned her focus to science.

After returning to the U.S., Parks graduated from The John Carroll School in Bel-Air, Maryland in 1981. She entered Mount Holyoke College where she rediscovered her love for poetry and prose, and switched her major from chemistry to English and German literature. In college, Parks studied fiction-writing under acclaimed writer James Baldwin. He encouraged her talent, calling Parks, "an utterly astounding and beautiful creature who may become one of the most valuable artists of our time." He steered her toward writing plays, due to her tendency to act out all the voices when she read her short stories aloud. Parks graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Mount Holyoke in 1985.

Following Baldwin's advice, Parks sought further theater education in order to improve as a playwright. She studied acting at the Drama Studio London and cleaned the school at night in order to support herself. Parks then moved to New York City, working secretarial jobs while writing her plays. Her first produced play was the one-act Betting on the Dust Commander (1987). It debuted at The Gas Station, a bar Parks frequented on Manhattan's Lower East Side, that had never hosted a play before. She paid the actors and the director out of her own pocket. The production was so basic that Parks ran the lighting cues, which consisted of plugging and unplugging an extension cord. The play ran for three nights and Parks's family made up the bulk of the audience.

Parks's first full-length play, Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom, premiered at the Brooklyn Arts and Culture Association in 1989. The play offers scenes about African-American life in the United States dating back to slavery, all linked by metaphors drawn from the natural sciences. It met with critical success right away and won Off-Broadway's Obie Award for Best New American Play. The New York Times deemed Parks "the year's most promising new playwright."

Parks continued writing at a prolific pace. She penned the screenplays for the films Anemone Me (1990) and Girl 6 (1996), the latter of which was directed by Spike Lee. In between, she wrote The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World (1992), Devotees in the Garden of Love (1992), and The America Play (1994). The success of her plays continued to grow throughout the decade. Venus (1996) told a fictional tale based around the true story of a Khoisian woman, Sarah Baartman, who was exhibited as a curiosity for the amusement of European audiences in the early nineteenth century. Venus earned Parks her second Obie Award in 1996. In the Blood (1999), a work inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, made theshortlist for the Pulitzer Prize.

Parks's most acclaimed play, Topdog/Underdog, is about African-American brothers Lincoln and Booth. Lincoln, who works as an Abraham Lincoln impersonator in whiteface (a concept she first wrote about in The America Play), is staying with Booth after his wife kicked him out of their home. Both men are struggling to cope amid poverty and racism and the tensions deepen as Lincoln overstays his welcome. The play premiered at the Public Theatre in 2001 and moved to Broadway after a sold-out run. That year, Parks was awarded the esteemed "genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation. The following year, she made history when Topdog/Underdog earned the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. She was the first African-American woman to win the award.

In the lead-up to the Broadway opening of Topdog/Underdog, Parks finished her first novel, Getting Mother's Body. An experimental retelling of William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, it is about an African-American family living in 1960s West Texas. Soon after it was published, she set a seemingly-impossible task for herself: to write a new short play every day for a year. She stuck to it, writing in hotels and airports while on her book tour. The result was 365 Plays/365 Days (2006) - a yearlong, nationwide staging of the short plays in nearly 700 theaters around the world, ranging from ornate opera houses to street corners. It was one of the largest grassroots collaborations in theater history.

Parks continued to write in new styles and forms. In 2005, she co-wrote her first teleplay: an adaption of Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, starring Halle Berry and produced by Oprah Winfrey. Parks also adapted the book for the Ray Charles Musical ( Unchain My Heart) as well as the classic opera Porgy and Bess. The latter won the Tony Award for Best Musical Revival in 2012.

Parks has taught playwriting at the California Institute for the Arts and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. The author of nine full-length plays thus far, Parks was again shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize in 2015. In 2019, she won her second Obie Award for playwriting (and third total) for White Noise.

Parks lives in New York City with her husband, guitarist Christian Konopka, and their son Patrick.

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Though a high school teacher discouraged her from writing because of her poor spelling, Suzan-Lori Parks went on to become one of the most successful playwrights in the United States. The first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (2002) and a pioneer of historically conscious and linguistically complex theater, her work is now taught at drama schools across the country.

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Chronicles of American Women: Your History Makers

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Prior to the start of World War II, Angelou moved back in with her mother, who at this time was living in Oakland, California. She attended George Washington High School and took dance and drama courses at the California Labor School.

When war broke out, Angelou applied to join the Women's Army Corps. However, her application was rejected because of her involvement in the California Labor School, which was said to have Communist ties. Determined to gain employment, despite being only 15 years old, she decided to apply for the position of a streetcar conductor. Many men had left their jobs to join the services, enabling women to fill them. However, Angelou was barred from applying at first because of her race. But she was undeterred. Every day for three weeks, she requested a job application, but was denied. Finally, the company relented and handed her an application. Because she was under the legal working age, she wrote that she was 19. She was accepted for the position and became the first African American woman to work as a streetcar conductor in San Francisco. Angelou was employed for a semester but then decided to return to school. She graduated from Mission High School in the summer of 1944 and soon after gave birth to her only child, Clyde Bailey (Guy) Johnson.

In 1969, Angelou published I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, an autobiography of her early life. Her tale of personal strength amid childhood trauma and racism resonated with readers and was nominated for the National Book Award. Many schools sought to ban the book for its frank depiction of sexual abuse, but it is credited with helping other abuse survivors tell their stories. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings has been translated into numerous languages and has sold over a million copies worldwide. Angelou eventually published six more autobiographies, culminating in 2013's Mom & Me & Mom.

Angelou carried out a wide variety of activities on stage and screen as a writer, actor, director, and producer. In 1972, she became the first African American woman to have her screen play turned into a film with the production of Kunta Kinte's grandmother in the television miniseries Georgia, Georgia. Angelou earned a Tony nomination in 1973 for her supporting role in Jerome Kitty's play Roots in 1977. Look Away, and portrayed

Angelou died on May 28, 2014. Several memorials were held in her honor, including ones at Wake Forest University and Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco. To honor her legacy, the US Postal Service issued a stamp with her likeness on it in 2015. (The US Postal Service mistakenly included a quote on the stamp that has long been associated with Angelou but was actually first written by Joan Walsh Anglund

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Poet, dancer, singer, activist, and scholar Maya Angelou is a celebrated author best known for her unique and pioneering autobiographical writing style.

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Any list of revolutionary women in music can't help but fall spectacularly short, so take this one - published to celebrate International Women's Day - as just a suggestion, or an argument, and please tell us who you think we've missed. Nina Simone and Dolly Parton, perhaps? Taylor Swift? We'd love to hear your choices, and your reasons why.

Our criteria was not to collate a list of the most successful female musicians in history, although many here were/are extremely successful, but to think of women who have had a profound effect on the history of music - even if, in the case of the top two on this list, it's taken musicologists hundreds of years to realise it.

1. Kassia of Constantinople

Correctly or not, Kassia - born around 805 - is often called "the first female composer of the Occident" (the Western world) and her place in Byzantine folkore was sealed even before we knew of her music. She was from a wealthy family and dissed Emperor Theophilos at a "bride show" after he used the story of Eve from the Book of Genesis to suggest that women were responsible for much evil.

"And through a woman [came forth] the better [things]," she replied, annoyed. The Emperor decided to marry Theodora, who became empress, and Kassia adopted the monastic life. About 50 of her magical hymns survive, although authorship of some has been debated, as well as hundreds of her non-liturgical verses, including this zinging epigram: "I hate the rich man moaning as if he were poor."

In his book The Story of Music, Howard Goodall credits Kassia with "mixing the parallel organum style with the drone style", adding that her music "gracefully refutes the assumption that the development of early music is exclusively the handiwork of men".

2. Hildegard of Bingen

In 2014, Howard Goodall and Suzy Klein made a case for Hildegard of Bingen's Ave, generosa being one of 50 pieces that changed the course of music history. In an In Our Time episode broadcast in the same year, Melvyn Bragg said: "Little known until 30 years ago, the music of Hildegard is now regarded among the best of the Middle Ages, but remarkably her music is only a small aspect of her overall achievement. Hildegard was a 12th century nun and a scholar of impressive breadth. Sometimes known as the Sibyl of the Rhine, she wrote a series of works documenting prophetic visions she had experienced, she was an accomplished theologian and also wrote about science, medicine and the natural world."

Hildegard has become a feminist icon with champions in the non-classical world, too, including Canadian art-pop artist Grimes, American singer-songwriter Julia Holter, and Cerys Matthews, who said she felt that "she could hear the tumble weed rolling through the listeners' houses" when she played Hildegard's music on her 6 Music show. Listen to Cerys discussing Hildegard of Bingen on Radio 4's Great Lives:

3. Clara Schumann

We're now moving on 700 years to the great German pianist and composer Clara Schumann - a jump that says much about the pressures on women not to compose music throughout history, as Schumann knew all too well. "I once believed that I had creative talent, but I have given up this idea; a woman must not wish to compose - there never was one able to do it," she said later in her life. "Am I to be the one? It would be arrogant to believe that."

But her achievements were huge. She had a distinguished 61-year career as a concert pianist, during which time she normalised playing from memory, rewrote the rule book on what kinds of pieces could and should be played at recitals (thereby changing the public's tastes) and was an influential teacher. She was also instrumental in drawing attention to the equally huge talents of her husband, Robert, as well as their friend Brahms, whose music she was the first to play. And her own compositions are finally getting the recognition they deserve too, particularly her 1846 Piano Trio in G minor, different recordings of which are discussed above.

4. Sister Rosetta Tharpe

We have in Sister Rosetta Tharpe a singer, songwriter and guitarist who had a considerable influence on spiritual and popular music in her hey-days of the 1930s and 1940s, and also left a lasting legacy. Often called 'The Godmother of Rock 'n' Roll', she inspired Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Little Richard and Chuck Berry and is perhaps more revered now, 44 years after her death, than she was in her lifetime.

"Nobody - not Chuck Berry, not Scotty Moore, not James Burton, not Keith Richards - played wilder or more primal rock 'n' roll guitar than this woman who gave her life to God and would have celebrated her 100th birthday on 20 March," wrote Richard Williams in the Guardian in 2015. "With a Gibson SG in her hands, Sister Rosetta could raise the dead. And that was before she started to sing."

Here's her 1948 self-penned hit, Up Above My Head:

5. Delia Derbyshire

Above, former BBC Radiophonic Workshop employee Brian Hodgson explains how the bare bones of the Doctor Who theme were written by Australian composer Ron Grainer and taken to the Workshop to be reimagined in a structures sonore ('sonorous sculptures') style. The job was handed to Delia Derbyshire, who worked with sound engineer Dick Mills. Grainer was so surprised by the final track he said, "Jeez Delia, did I write that!?"

The 1963 song is one of the most recognisable pieces of music ever written: a legendary TV signature tune, but also an historically significant recording - perhaps the most influential electronic music track ever composed. But there was far more to Derbyshire's work than the Doctor Who theme. Two years after it was completed, Tomorrow's World visited her at the Workshop (below) to discover how she made such seemingly alien music. She demonstrated a process that was surprisingly human and organic, but also revolutionary. Did Derbyshire inadvertently invent British techno music in the course of her work at the BBC? Some of her once-lost recordings certainly sound astonishingly modern.

6. Carole King

The 1960s and 70s witnessed a boom in female singer-songwriters, from Joni Mitchell, to Dolly Parton and Carly Simon, and they all owe much to Carole King, the most successful female songwriter of the second half of the 20th century in both the US and UK.

King started out in the very late 1950s as a performer and writer and made her name with Will You Love Me Tomorrow in 1960, which she wrote for The Shirelles with lyricist Gerry Goffin, her first husband. It became the first No. 1 in history for an African-American girl group and kick-started King's extraordinary career. By the 70s, she broke out as a recording and performing star in her own right, particularly with her smash 1971 album Tapestry, and in 2013 became the first ever female recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.

7. Aretha Franklin

In this clip from BBC Radio Scotland's The Jazz House, which starts with Aretha singing (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman - a Carole King/Gerry Goffin song - presenter Stephen Duffy says: "Aretha Franklin has one of the most individual voices in all of music and I don't mean that in a purely vocal sense; she is a complete musician."

And she didn't budge an inch on her journey to become perhaps the most fêted soul singer of all time - female or male. She had a string of crossover hits on Atlantic Records between 1967 and 1980 without ever diluting her sound or message. She was the spirit of the age and with her reimagining of Otis Redding's Respect, in particular, she laid down an anthem for civil and gender rights that's as potent today as it was 50 years ago.

Aretha's 1985 album Who's Zoomin' Who? was her first to go platinum and two years later she became the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Her soul, sass and mastery of music live on in contemporary superstars like Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige and Adele.

8. Patti Smith

With Patti Smith, as with every artist on this list, it helps to think what came before, and what happened after. There were of course female rock stars before Smith - Suzi Quatro, especially - but she was a new kind of artist in music, and in her wake came punk, grunge, riot grrrl, alternative rock and indie. So many of the key figures of those genres - from Siouxsie and the Banshees to Kurt Cobain, Bikini Kill, R.E.M., The Smiths - cite Smith as an influence and, in turn, their music has fed back into hers.

Smith's 1975 debut album Horses, which she once called "three-chord rock merged with the power of the word" was ahead of its time, foreseeing an explosion in DIY music-making and also the targeting of songs to the disenfranchised. Horses, Smith also said, was an attempt "to make a record that would make a certain type of person not feel alone. People who were like me, different..."

As well as being a musician, Smith is a poet, writer, visual artist, photographer and activist. Who else was going to introduce, and sing happy birthday to, the Dalai Lama at Glastonbury in 2015?

9. Sylvia Robinson

Sylvia Robinson was a true pioneer. The first hip hop hit - 1979's Rapper's Delight - was recorded by a group, The Sugarhill Gang, put together by Robinson and released on Sugar Hill Records, the label she founded with her husband, Joe. She went on to sign Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, who released The Message in 1982, a legendary track that introduced social commentary to hip hop, paving the way for groups like Public Enemy and N.W.A.

But there was far more to Robinson than just hip hop. Long before Rapper's Delight - in the late 60s - she was one of the few women producing records, and she was a killer songwriter, singer and performer herself. Check out Pillow Talk from 1973, a track Robinson penned for Al Green. He turned it down because it was too steamy, so she recorded it and had a hit - in the US, where it went to No. 3, and here. A Hollywood biopic is coming soon.

10. Björk

It felt like the announcement that Björk had won best International Female Solo Artist at the 2016 Brits was almost met with a shrug, like, "Of course Björk is the best, and she always has been." And we're finishing our list with her and not someone like Madonna or Taylor Swift - revolutionary in their own ways - because Björk is the consummate modern musician; the artist that, more than anyone else working in the pop field, sees the giant changes in technology and commerce over the last 20 or so years as an artistic opportunity, not a hindrance.

People now listen to music through tiny, computer speakers? Great, thought Björk, I'll make an album (2001's Vespertine) that sounds perfect at those sound frequencies. And after Wired magazine claimed in 2010 that The Web Is Dead. Long Live the Internet (predicting a future of "getting", not "searching" - apps, in short), she rose to the challenge again with her so-called 'app' album Biophilia, but it was far more than a gimmick. Conceived during the Icelandic financial crisis, it was a statement - of music and art, but also politics and economics. Here's an example of how Iceland could be run from now on, she was saying - by investing in small companies based around local cooperation, which is exactly what she did to make Biophilia.

Related links

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Are these the 10 most revolutionary women in music?

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Any list of revolutionary women in music can't help but fall spectacularly short, so take this one - published to celebrate International Women's Day - as just a suggestion, or an argument, and please tell us who you think we've missed. Nina Simone and Dolly Parton, perhaps? Taylor Swift?

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This work features plants and animals that are listed in Canada as threatened, endangered, or extinct, like the dwarf lake iris, the Karner blue butterfly, and the cerulean warbler. Belcourt hopes that through her work we will remember the interconnected nature of existence on this planet. She encourages us to abandon unsustainable paths in favor of an abiding relationship with Mother Earth, stating, "This wondrous planet, so full of mystery, is a paradise. All I want to do is give everything I have, my energy, my love, my labor-all of it in gratitude for what we are given."

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Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists

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This work features plants and animals that are listed in Canada as threatened, endangered, or extinct, like the dwarf lake iris, the Karner blue butterfly, and the cerulean warbler. Belcourt hopes that through her work we will remember the interconnected nature of existence on this planet.

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Representation matters. Who we see on screen and on stage, and who we hear on recordings, shapes our understanding of the world. The trailblazing women entertainers featured in the Smithsonian's collections shattered stereotypes and gender norms to redefine who could tell stories in America. Many entertainers used their celebrity to actively change society.

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Representation matters. Who we see on screen and on stage, and who we hear on recordings, shapes our understanding of the world. The trailblazing women entertainers featured in the Smithsonian's collections shattered stereotypes and gender norms to redefine who could tell stories in America. Many entertainers used their celebrity to actively change society.

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Great art and design can decorate, educate, advocate, inspire, and challenge. At its core, art is about expression. Women's creativity has impacted the art world, and the world at large, by challenging viewers to see the beauty and injustice of the world from their perspective.

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Great art and design can decorate, educate, advocate, inspire, and challenge. At its core, art is about expression. Women's creativity has impacted the art world, and the world at large, by challenging viewers to see the beauty and injustice of the world from their perspective.

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Founded in 1981 and opened in 1987, the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) is the only museum solely dedicated to celebrating the achievements of women in the visual, performing and literary arts. The museum's collection features 5,000 works from the 16th century to the present created by more than 1,000 artists, including Mary Cassatt, Frida Kahlo, Alma Thomas, Lee Krasner, Louise Bourgeois, Chakaia Booker, and Nan Goldin, along with special collections of 18th-century silver tableware, botanical prints, and artists' books.

NWMA brings recognition to the achievements of women artists of all periods and nationalities by exhibiting, preserving, acquiring, and researching art by women and by teaching the public about their accomplishments. To fulfill its mission, the museum cares for and displays its collection, presents special exhibitions, conducts education programs, maintains the Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center, publishes a member magazine and books on women artists, and supports a network of state and international committees. NMWA also serves as a center for the performing and literary arts and other creative disciplines. NMWA is located at 1250 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C., in a landmark building near the White House.

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National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C., United States - Google Arts & Culture

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Founded in 1981 and opened in 1987, the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) is the only museum solely dedicated to celebrating the achievements of women in the visual, performing and literary arts.

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Discover women writers who have made a mark on American history and culture. Learn about Phillis Wheatly, who in 1773 was the first African American to have a book published. Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), brought widespread attention to the issue of slavery. Rachel Carson's Silent Spring (1962) helped launch the environmental movement, while Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique (1963) helped launch a new wave of feminism.

Literary giant Zora Neale Hurston captured the rich voices and mythos of the African American oral storytelling tradition. Sandra Cisneros is regarded as a key Latina voice in American literature. Louise Erdrich, whose many works explore the psychology and world of Native Americans is considered a major voice in the American Indian renaissance. Women continue to expand literary forms and reveal issues of identity in the private and public spheres, adding to the rich tapestry of American identity and touching on our shared humanity.

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American Women Writers-and Readers | Smithsonian Institution

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Discover women writers who have made a mark on American history and culture. Learn about Phillis Wheatly, who in 1773 was the first African American to have a book published. Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), brought widespread attention to the issue of slavery.

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Pioneering Women of American Architecture

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Pioneering Women of American Architecture

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Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden | Smithsonian

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From WondaGurl to Ebonie Smith, Black women have produced award-winning pop hits. Yet they are not always household names like some of their counterparts. In Respect Her Crank!: Producing Sounds of Blackness, this changes. Award-winning producer J'Nae White facilitates multiple workshops designed to teach the art of music production, as inspired by Black women producers.

Register for a workshop, or several, today. No prior experience is needed.

This workshop will show you basic production fundamentals in a free Digital Audio Workstation (DAW). You will arrange melodies and drum patterns, use synthesizers and samplers, and ultimately create your own unique beat using FL Studio and BandLab. You'll walk away with the fundamentals in music production and resources to continue exploring music production on your own.

This workshop is all about music sampling, a technique used primarily in producing hip-hop music. You will learn how to identify music samples in contemporary songs and reconstruct a sample for a beat of your own while using FL Studio, Sampulator, and Sample Stitch. The best part is that your MIDI is the keyboard.

Mixing is the key to taking your beats to the next level. In this workshop, we will get to the nitty gritty of mixing. Using critical listening, Soundation and Sampulator, participants will make their own beats and practice mixing strategies.

Did you know that there is theory behind some of your favorite songs? This workshop introduces you to music theory for producers. Inspired by the award-winning record producers Nova Wav, you will learn standard beat composition from intro to outro on FL Studio, BandLab, and Incredibox and flourish into a dope music producer.

This final workshop is a comprehensive exploration of the tools, techniques, and workflow required to produce RnB and hip-hop music. Inspired by the famous Missy Elliot, you will have the opportunity to learn advanced skills and apply them using FL Studio, Soundation, and Sampulator.
This project received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative.

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Respect Her Crank!: Producing Sounds of Blackness - Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden | Smithsonian

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From WondaGurl to Ebonie Smith, Black women have produced award-winning pop hits. Yet they are not always household names like some of their counterparts. In Respect Her Crank!: Producing Sounds of Blackness, this changes. Award-winning producer J'Nae White facilitates multiple workshops designed to teach the art of music production, as inspired by Black women producers.

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The history of art is littered with the names of great men-Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, etc. But what about the women who have helped shape the world's visual history? As with many other fields, women were historically discouraged from pursuing a career in the arts, yet there are many incredible females who persevered. These famous female artists have more in common than their gender and career path, though-they are all trailblazers in their own right, with many breaking barriers in their personal and public life.

Of course, these women would most likely be displeased to be included in a list of female painters, preferring to be valued as artists outside of their gender. Unfortunately, as women continue to fight for equality in all fields, these exceptional artists are often still mentioned in terms of their gender. Luckily, more than ever, these women of distinction are being held up against their male peers and recognized positively for their contributions to art history. Organizations like Advancing Women Artists work to ensure that the female talent of the past doesn't get left out of the history books.

A look at some of the great female artists of the past is also a timeline of art history, as women have been leading figures in every artistic movement, from the Italian Renaissance to American Modernism and beyond. By weaving our way through art history-from a 16th-century court painter for King Philip II to the 20th-century icon that is Frida Kahlo-let's take a look at the strength, character, and talent of these exceptional women.

If you're an art lover, here are 10 famous female artists that you need to know.

Sofonisba Anguissola (1532 - 1625)

Painter Sofonisba Anguissola was a trailblazer during the Italian Renaissance. Born into a relatively poor noble family, her father made sure that she and her sisters had a well-rounded education that incorporated fine art. This included apprenticeships with respected local painters. This set a precedent for future female artists, who until that point typically only apprenticed if a family member had a workshop. Anguissola's talent caught the eye of Michelangelo, with whom she carried on an informal mentorship through the exchange of drawings.

Though, as a female artist, she was not allowed to study anatomy or practice drawing models due to its perceived vulgarity, she still managed to have a successful career. Much of her success was owed to her role as a painter in the court of King Philip II of Spain. Over the course of 14 years, she developed her skills for official court portraiture as well as more intimate portraits of nobility. Her paintings are known for capturing the spirit and vibrance of her sitters and can now be found in collections around the world.

Artemisia Gentileschi (1593 - 1653)

As the daughter of an accomplished painter, Artemisia Gentileschi was afforded access to the art world at a young age. Early on she was in her father's workshop mixing paints and he supported her career when he noted that she was exceptionally gifted. As a noted painter of the Italian Baroque period, Artemisia Gentileschi did not let her gender hold her back from her subject matter. She painted large-scale Biblical and mythological paintings, just like her male counterparts and was the first woman accepted to the prestigious Fine Art Academy in Florence.

Her legacy is sometimes overshadowed by her biography, with her bloody depictions of Judith and Holofernes often being interpreted through the lens of her rape at the hands of a fellow artist. However, her talent is undeniable and she continues to be recognized for her realistic depiction of the female form, the depth of her colors, and her striking use of light and shadow.

Judith Leyster (1609 - 1660)

Born in Haarlem, Judith Leyster was a leading artist during the Dutch Golden Age. Typical of Dutch artists during this period, Leyster specialized in genre paintings, still life, and portraits. The details behind her artistic training are unclear, but she was one of the first women admitted to the painter's guild in Haarlem. She later ran a successful workshop with several male apprentices and was known for the relaxed, informal nature of her portraits.

While she was quite successful during her lifetime, her reputation suffered after her death due to unfortunate circumstances. Her entire oeuvre was passed off as work either by her contemporary Frans Hals or by her husband. In many cases, her signature was covered by collectors looking to make a profit due to the high market value of Frans Hals' work. Only in the late 19th century were these errors discovered and scholars began to gain a renewed appreciation for Leyster's skill as an artist.

Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun (1755 - 1842)

French portrait artist Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun created an impressive body of work totaling nearly 1,000 portraits and landscape paintings. As the daughter of a painter, she received early instruction from her father and was painting portraits professionally by the time she was a teenager. Her big career break came when she was named as Marie Antoinette's portrait painter and she was later granted entry to numerous art academies.

Her paintings bridge the gap between the theatrical Rococo style and more restrained Neoclassical period. She enjoyed continued success in her career, even while in exile after the French Revolution, as she was a favorite painter of the aristocracy across Europe. Sitters enjoyed her ability to put them at ease, which led to portrait paintings that were lively and lacking stiffness. The natural, relaxed manner of her portraits was considered revolutionary at a time when portraiture often called for formal depictions of the upper classes.

Rosa Bonheur (1822 - 1899)

Like many female artists, Rosa Bonheur's father was a painter. The French Realist painter is considered one of the most famous female artists of the 19th century, known for her large-format paintings that featured animals. She exhibited regularly at the acclaimed Paris salon and found success abroad in both the United States and Britain. Bonheur spent a great amount of time sketching live animals in motion, accounting for her remarkable ability to capture their likeness on canvas.

Bonheur is also celebrated for breaking gender stereotypes. From the mid-1850s onward she wore men's dress, even obtaining police authorization to do so. Though she was often criticized for wearing trousers and loose blouses, she continued to don them throughout her life, citing their practicality when working with animals. She was also an open lesbian, first living with partner Nathalie Micas for over 40 years and then, after Micas' death, forging a relationship with American painter Anna Elizabeth Klumpke. By living her life openly in an era when lesbianism was disparaged by the government, Bonheur staked her claim as a groundbreaking individual both in her career and her personal life.

Berthe Morisot (1841 - 1895)

Considered one of the great female Impressionists, Berthe Morisot had art running through her veins. Born into an aristocratic French family, she was the great-niece of celebrated Rococo painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard. Initially, she exhibited her work at the respected Paris Salon before joining the first Impressionist exhibit with Monet, Cézanne, Renoir, and Degas. Morisot has a particularly close relationship with Édouard Manet, who painted several portraits of her, and she eventually married his brother.

Her art often focused on domestic scenes and she preferred working with pastels, watercolor, and charcoal. Working mainly in small scale, her light and airy work was often criticized as being too "feminine." Morisot wrote about her struggles to be taken seriously as a female artist in her journal, stating "I don't think there has ever been a man who treated a woman as an equal and that's all I would have asked for, for I know I'm worth as much as they."

Mary Cassatt (1844 - 1926)

American painter Mary Cassatt spent her adult life in France, where she became an integral part of the Impressionist group. Cassatt was born into an affluent family who first protested against her desire to become an artist. She eventually left art school after being frustrated by the separate treatment that the female students received-they couldn't use live models and were left drawing from casts.

Upon moving to Paris at age 22, Cassatt sought a private apprenticeship and spent her free time copying Old Master paintings in the Louvre. Cassatt's career was already taking off when she joined the Impressionists and forged a lifelong friendship with Degas. At the same time, she was outspoken in her dismay at the formal art system, which she felt required female artists to flirt or befriend male patrons in order to move ahead. She created her own career path with the Impressionists, mastering pastels to create soft, light work that often highlighted women acting as caretakers. Throughout her life, Cassatt continued to support equality for women, even participating in an exhibition in support of women's suffrage.

Georgia O'Keeffe (1887 - 1986)

As an artist at the forefront of American Modernism, Georgia O'Keeffe is one of the most celebrated female artists in history. Her early drawings and paintings led to bold experiments in abstraction, with her focus on painting to express her feelings ushering in an era of "Art for Art's Sake." During her lifetime, her career was intertwined with her husband, Alfred Stieglitz. While the renowned photographer espoused ideas that American art could equal that of Europe and that female painters could create art just as powerful as men, he also hindered interpretation of her work.

Stieglitz viewed creativity as an expression of sexuality and these thoughts, coupled with his intimate portraits of O'Keeffe, pushed forward an idea that her close up paintings of flowers were metaphors for female genitalia. It's a concept that the artist has always denied, though her work is undoubtedly sensual. O'Keeffe spent much of her career combatting her art's interpretation solely as a reflection of her gender. Throughout her life she refused to participate in all-female art exhibitions, wishing to be defined simply as an artist, free from gender.

Tamara de Lempicka (1898 - 1980)

Polish artist Tamara de Lempicka is known for her highly stylized portraits and nudes that exemplify the Art Deco era. De Lempicka spent much of her career in France and the United States, where her work was favored by aristocrats. One of her most famous paintings, Self-Portrait in a Green Bugatti, exemplifies the cool and detached nature of De Lempicka's figures. In the work, which was created for the cover of a German fashion magazine, De Lempicka exudes independence and inaccessible beauty.

Her paintings often contained narratives of desire, seduction, and modern sensuality, making them revolutionary for their time. De Lempicka enjoyed success until the outbreak of World War II, but there was a resurgence of interest in her work as Art Deco became popular again in the 1960s. Her immediately recognizable style makes her a particular favorite among fans of Art Deco painters and today her work is more popular than ever, with Madonna being a known collector of her paintings.

Frida Kahlo (1907 - 1954)

Currently, there's no other 20th-century female artist with a name as recognizable at Frida Kahlo. While the drama of her tragic accident as a young woman and her tumultuous relationship with husband Diego Rivera have sometimes overshadowed her artistic abilities, there is no denying the power of her painting. She is particularly known for her self-portraits, which deal with themes of identity, suffering, and the human body.

Though she was sometimes written about solely as "Diego Rivera's wife" during her lifetime, her artwork has only gained momentum since her death. The most famous Frida Kahlo paintings belong to important art museums around the world, while she has gained status as a champion of feminists, Chicanos, and the LGBT community.

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10 Famous Female Painters Every Art Lover Should Know

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The history of art is littered with the names of great men-Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, etc. But what about the women who have helped shape the world's visual history? As with many other fields, women were historically discouraged from pursuing a career in the arts, yet there are many incredible females who persevered.

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trailblazing women who have influenced art history thanks to their work as collectors, gallerists, patrons, and museum founders.
Though they come from different backgrounds, all the women on the list below were experts at spotting genius and allowing it to flourish. Thanks to their foresight, artists like Picasso, Pollock, and Dalí were able to have the stability needed to let their creativity loose. Some, like Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, Peggy Guggenheim, and Isabella Stewart Gardner, founded important museums based off their collections. In Whitney's case, she helped elevate the standing of American art in a time when it was seen as something that paled in comparison to European art. Others, like Betty Parsons and Ileana Sonnabend, used their galleries to foster and encourage the young talent that would grow into icons like Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns.

And today, women like Sheikha Al-Mayassa are still shaking up the art world. As the chair of Qatar Museums, Al-Mayassa's acquisitions are keeping the international art market on their toes as the world waits to see how the vast collection they are amassing will be displayed.

Here's our list of 9 bold, fearless women who have shaped the art world.

Isabella Stewart Gardner

American socialite and patron of the arts Isabella Stewart Gardner first visited Europe as a teenager in 1857, where she was exposed to Italian Renaissance art. Known for her intellectual curiosity, she surrounded herself with noted artists and writers like John Singer Sargent, James McNeill Whistler, and Henry James.

She was a provocative figure in her day, partially owed to her taste in fashion and eccentric behavior. Isabella and her husband Jack were avid travelers, and from the mid-1870s visited the Middle East, Europe, and Asia for long stretches. It was while in Europe they began amassing a large art collection, though Gardner also purchased work in Egypt and the Far East.

Gardner not only collected paintings, but also ceramics, silver, stained glass, and architectural elements like doors. After her husband's death in 1898, Gardner set about establishing a museum in Boston for their vast collection, which included several portraits of the socialite by John Singer Sargent. The museum opened in 1903 and is still hung to Gardner's specification. The eclectic collection includes everything from a Titian masterpiece to works by Matisse and Egyptian objects.

In 1990, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum was the subject of a high-profile robbery. Thirteen artworks were stolen, including a rare Vermeer and Rembrandt's only known seascape. One of the biggest unsolved art thefts in history, the works stolen are valued at $500 million.

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney

By being born a Vanderbilt and marrying into the wealthy Whitney family, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney used her status as an American socialite to advance the arts. She was also a sculptor, first working under an assumed name for fear that her social status would not allow her to be taken seriously. In fact, her family and husband did not support her artistic ambitions.

Still, she established studios in both New York and Paris and, by 1910, began showing her work under her own name. Her sculptures won several awards and were accepted at the Paris Salon of 1911. After the end of World War I, she focused on public memorials, many of which can still be seen across the United States.

Her wealth also allowed her to become a patron of the arts, and she was particularly keen to support fellow female artists. She used her influence to ensure that other women were included in group exhibitions and supported female-only shows. She also helped finance organizations that promoted artistic practice outside the academic norms and even underwrote the publication of The Arts magazine to prevent it from closing. In 1914, she established a club in New York where young artists could gather and chat, also providing housing stipends to help working artists make ends meet.

After the Metropolitan Museum of Art declined her offer to donate her collection of almost 700 works of modern American art (at the time they did not accept works from the United States), she decided to build her own museum. So, in 1931 she established the Whitney Museum, appointing a woman as its first director. The museum's embracing of modernism was a huge institutional shift in America, as American art had previously been seen as provincial.

Gertrude Stein

Novelist, poet, and playwright Gertrude Stein was born in Pittsburgh, but moved to Paris in 1903 and would spend the rest of her life in the French capital. She hosted a salon in Paris where Matisse, Picasso, Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and many more would meet. Together with her brother Leo, Stein created an impressive art collection. Between 1903 and 1914, they accumulated art by Gauguin, Cézanne, Renoir, Delacroix, and Toulouse-Lautrec, among others.

The siblings would split their collection after they ceased living together, but Gertrude's reputation in the art world only grew. At the time, art critic Henry McBride wrote that Gertrude "collected geniuses rather than masterpieces. She recognized them a long way off." Stein was especially appreciative of Pablo Picasso's work. He'd painted her portrait in 1906-it's now on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art-and she continued to support his work when it transitioned to Cubism.

Known as a genius in her own right for her own literary work, Stein's importance in the art world cannot be underestimated. Her support of post-Impressionist artists helped the careers of many-like Matisse and Picasso-who are now considered masters.

Gala Dalí

Gala Dalí was much more than Salvador Dalí 's wife. Not only was she Dalí's muse, featuring prominently in many of his artworks, she was also his business manager. She handled all negotiations with his patrons and galleries, ensuring that the artistic genius could focus on creative work.

It's said that she managed even the smallest details of his life, down to the paint brushes he used. Together, they built a lasting empire that still endures long after their deaths.

Even prior to meeting Dalí, Gala was fully entrenched in the Surrealist salons of 1920s Paris. Married at the time to poet Paul Éluard, one of the founders of the movement, she had a big presence in the group and counted painter Max Ernst as one of her lovers.

Peggy Guggenheim
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Socialite Peggy Guggenheim was born into the wealthy Guggenheim family of New York City. The niece of Solomon R. Guggenheim, who founded New York's Guggenheim Museum, she rose to prominence as an important collector of art. In 1912, when she turned 21, she inherited $2.5 million (valued at $35.3 million today) and moved to Paris, where she befriended Man Ray, Constantin Brancusi, and Marcel Duchamp.

In 1938, she established a modern art gallery in London and began seriously collecting art, focusing on Surrealist and abstract art. Through Duchamp, she created many connections in the art world and exhibited works by important modernists like Henry Moore, Alexander Calder, Pablo Picasso, Jean Arp, and Max Ernst. After one year, she decided to shutter the gallery and focus her efforts on creating a museum.

She settled in Venice in 1949 and established the Peggy Guggenheim Collection to showcase her impressive collection of modern art. Today it is still one of the biggest attractions in Venice and highlights Cubism, Surrealism, and Abstract Expressionism by both European and American artists.

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9 Bold & Powerful Women Who Shaped the Art World

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trailblazing women who have influenced art history thanks to their work as collectors, gallerists, patrons, and museum founders.Though they come from different backgrounds, all the women on the list below were experts at spotting genius and allowing it to flourish.

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Cardi B's rambunctious spirit and brave tongue garnered instant online popularity, rapidly increasing her fan base. She has evolved into an entertainer and actress and a renowned rapper in just a short time. Cardi has also risen to rap success and fame, releasing her debut studio album, the 3x platinum, GRAMMY ® Award winning, "Invasion Of Privacy" in 2018. Cardi B continues to be at the top of her game - she became the first woman with five simultaneous Top 10 hits on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart as well as the first female rapper with four Billboard Hot 100 #1s. Now a GRAMMY ® Award winning rap superstar, Cardi B released her 3x Platinum selling debut album "Invasion Of Privacy," which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart and won Best Rap Album at the 2019 GRAMMY Awards. "Invasion Of Privacy" - includes the 9x RIAA platinum certified classic, "Bodak Yellow," alongside the 3x platinum certified smash, "Bartier Cardi (feat. 21 Savage)," standout favorites like 3x platinum certified "Be Careful" and 8x platinum certified "I Like It," featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin, and a spectacular lineup of featured appearances from Chance The Rapper (Platinum certified "Best Life"), SZA (Platinum certified "I Do"), Kehlani (2x Platinum certified "Ring"), Migos, and YG. Additionally, all 13 tracks on "Invasion Of Privacy" have been RIAA certified Gold or higher - making Cardi the first female artist to achieve this feat. At the top of 2018, Cardi released her single, "Money," which is now certified 4x Platinum as well as her second collaboration with labelmate Bruno Mars, 3x platinum certified "Please Me." Most recently, Cardi released her Platinum certified smash single "Press," along with a Gold certified feature on Ed Sheeran's "South Of The Border (feat Camila Cabello)."

Breakout single, "Bodak Yellow," which is now certified 9x platinum, had an astronomical rise - earning the coveted #1 spot on Billboard's Hot 100 chart for five consecutive weeks, making Cardi B the first female rapper to reach #1 without any accompanying acts since Lauryn Hill in 1998.

Cardi B has been nominated for numerous prestigious awards including - 8 GRAMMY nominations, 9 AMAs, 8 BET Awards (2019 + 2020), 9 BET Hip-Hop Awards (2018), 10 VMAs, 7 Teen Choice Awards, 3 People's Choice Awards, 7 BET Awards (2018), 1 Kid's Choice Award, 2 BET Awards (2017). Cardi has graced the covers of Rolling Stone, Billboard, The New York Times Magazine, New York Magazine, Cosmopolitan, W Magazine, Harper's Bazaar, People En Espanol, CR Fashion Book, i-D Magazine, The Fader, Vogue, and ELLE. Additionally, Cardi B was named on Forbes "30 Under 30" list and was recently named Billboard's 2020 Woman Of The Year.

Since 2017, Cardi has made a seemingly unstoppable series of appearances and live events including Jimmy Kimmel Live in Brooklyn, the MTV VMA pre-show, BET Awards post show, BET Awards, BET Hip Hop Awards, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon - where she was the first ever co-host - the GRAMMY awards, The Ellen DeGeneres show, Saturday Night Live, the VMAS, and the AMAs to name a few.

Her recent release, "WAP (Feat. Megan Thee Stallion)" proved to be yet another record-breaking smash, debuting at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The blockbuster track, RIAA certified gold in its first week, has quickly broken multiple records including the highest streaming first week by a female artist, the highest streaming first week of 2020, and one of the top 3 hip-hop streaming debuts of all time. The record-breaking single extends Cardi B's own record as the female rapper with the most Hot 100 #1s, now four songs with the inclusion of "WAP (Feat. Megan Thee Stallion)." The track also makes Cardi the first female rapper to have a #1 on the Hot 100 in two different decades, and the 3rd female rapper to debut at #1 on the Hot 100 as a lead artist. "WAP (Feat. Megan Thee Stallion)" affirmed Cardi B as one of Apple Music's most popular artists of all time, earning the platform's highest ever debut by a female artist as well as the fastest song in Apple Music history by a female artist to peak at #1. The track's chart-topping success marks Cardi's seventh #1 track at Apple Music - the most by any female artist in the service's five-year history. What's more, the track makes Cardi the first female rapper to have two songs hit #1 on the global Spotify chart with DJ Snake's 3x Platinum "Taki Taki (with Selena Gomez, Ozuna, and Cardi B)" and "WAP (Feat. Megan Thee Stallion)."

Cardi B now returns with her most recent release: "Up," produced by DJ SwanQo & Young Dza.

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Celebrating Women In Music - iHeartRadio's See Her, Hear Her!

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Cardi B's rambunctious spirit and brave tongue garnered instant online popularity, rapidly increasing her fan base. She has evolved into an entertainer and actress and a renowned rapper in just a short time. Cardi has also risen to rap success and fame, releasing her debut studio album, the 3x platinum, GRAMMY ® Award winning, "Invasion Of Privacy" in 2018.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Cardi B's rambunctious spirit and brave tongue garnered instant online popularity, rapidly increasing her fan base. She has evolved into an entertainer and actress and a renowned rapper in just a short time. Cardi has also risen to rap success and fame, releasing her debut studio album, the 3x platinum, GRAMMY ® Award winning, "Invasion Of Privacy" in 2018. Cardi B continues to be at the top of her game - she became the first woman with five simultaneous Top 10 hits on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart as well as the first female rapper with four Billboard Hot 100 #1s. Now a GRAMMY ® Award winning rap superstar, Cardi B released her 3x Platinum selling debut album "Invasion Of Privacy," which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart and won Best Rap Album at the 2019 GRAMMY Awards. "Invasion Of Privacy" - includes the 9x RIAA platinum certified classic, "Bodak Yellow," alongside the 3x platinum certified smash, "Bartier Cardi (feat. 21 Savage)," standout favorites like 3x platinum certified "Be Careful" and 8x platinum certified "I Like It," featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin, and a spectacular lineup of featured appearances from Chance The Rapper (Platinum certified "Best Life"), SZA (Platinum certified "I Do"), Kehlani (2x Platinum certified "Ring"), Migos, and YG. Additionally, all 13 tracks on "Invasion Of Privacy" have been RIAA certified Gold or higher - making Cardi the first female artist to achieve this feat. At the top of 2018, Cardi released her single, "Money," which is now certified 4x Platinum as well as her second collaboration with labelmate Bruno Mars, 3x platinum certified "Please Me." Most recently, Cardi released her Platinum certified smash single "Press," along with a Gold certified feature on Ed Sheeran's "South Of The Border (feat Camila Cabello)."

Breakout single, "Bodak Yellow," which is now certified 9x platinum, had an astronomical rise - earning the coveted #1 spot on Billboard's Hot 100 chart for five consecutive weeks, making Cardi B the first female rapper to reach #1 without any accompanying acts since Lauryn Hill in 1998.

Cardi B has been nominated for numerous prestigious awards including - 8 GRAMMY nominations, 9 AMAs, 8 BET Awards (2019 + 2020), 9 BET Hip-Hop Awards (2018), 10 VMAs, 7 Teen Choice Awards, 3 People's Choice Awards, 7 BET Awards (2018), 1 Kid's Choice Award, 2 BET Awards (2017). Cardi has graced the covers of Rolling Stone, Billboard, The New York Times Magazine, New York Magazine, Cosmopolitan, W Magazine, Harper's Bazaar, People En Espanol, CR Fashion Book, i-D Magazine, The Fader, Vogue, and ELLE. Additionally, Cardi B was named on Forbes "30 Under 30" list and was recently named Billboard's 2020 Woman Of The Year.

Since 2017, Cardi has made a seemingly unstoppable series of appearances and live events including Jimmy Kimmel Live in Brooklyn, the MTV VMA pre-show, BET Awards post show, BET Awards, BET Hip Hop Awards, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon - where she was the first ever co-host - the GRAMMY awards, The Ellen DeGeneres show, Saturday Night Live, the VMAS, and the AMAs to name a few.

Her recent release, "WAP (Feat. Megan Thee Stallion)" proved to be yet another record-breaking smash, debuting at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The blockbuster track, RIAA certified gold in its first week, has quickly broken multiple records including the highest streaming first week by a female artist, the highest streaming first week of 2020, and one of the top 3 hip-hop streaming debuts of all time. The record-breaking single extends Cardi B's own record as the female rapper with the most Hot 100 #1s, now four songs with the inclusion of "WAP (Feat. Megan Thee Stallion)." The track also makes Cardi the first female rapper to have a #1 on the Hot 100 in two different decades, and the 3rd female rapper to debut at #1 on the Hot 100 as a lead artist. "WAP (Feat. Megan Thee Stallion)" affirmed Cardi B as one of Apple Music's most popular artists of all time, earning the platform's highest ever debut by a female artist as well as the fastest song in Apple Music history by a female artist to peak at #1. The track's chart-topping success marks Cardi's seventh #1 track at Apple Music - the most by any female artist in the service's five-year history. What's more, the track makes Cardi the first female rapper to have two songs hit #1 on the global Spotify chart with DJ Snake's 3x Platinum "Taki Taki (with Selena Gomez, Ozuna, and Cardi B)" and "WAP (Feat. Megan Thee Stallion)."

Cardi B now returns with her most recent release: "Up," produced by DJ SwanQo & Young Dza.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Celebrating Women In Music - iHeartRadio's See Her, Hear Her!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Cardi B's rambunctious spirit and brave tongue garnered instant online popularity, rapidly increasing her fan base. She has evolved into an entertainer and actress and a renowned rapper in just a short time. Cardi has also risen to rap success and fame, releasing her debut studio album, the 3x platinum, GRAMMY ® Award winning, "Invasion Of Privacy" in 2018.