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The Legacy Recognition Program, an important part of the �����Ƶ’s overall effort to address and reconcile our history regarding racism and inequality, highlights the contributions of scholars, researchers, writers, artists, business leaders, community leaders, and others whose accomplishments have been overlooked or undervalued due to their race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation.

The inaugural Legacy Recognition honorees for 2024:

Jane Addams 
Social worker; Reformer; Writer (essayist, nonfiction writer) 
(1860–1935)

Ruth Aiko Asawa 
Artist (sculptor) 
(1926–2013)

James Baldwin 
Writer (novelist, essayist); Advocate (civil rights) 
(1924–1987)

Benjamin Banneker 
Mathematician; Astronomer; Naturalist 
(1731–1806)

Derrick A. Bell, Jr. 
Lawyer; Legal Scholar; Advocate (civil rights) 
(1930–2011)

Gwendolyn Brooks 
Writer (poet, novelist); Poet laureate; Educator 
(1917–2000)

Carlos Bulosan 
Writer (novelist, poet) 
(1913–1956)

Rachel Carson 
Marine biologist; Writer (nonfiction); Conservationist 
(1907–1964)

George Washington Carver 
Agricultural scientist; Inventor 
(1864–1943)

Ella Cara Deloria, Aŋpétu Wašté Wiŋ (Beautiful Day Woman) 
Writer (novelist, nonfiction writer); Educator; Ethnographer; Linguist 
(1889–1971)

Frederick Douglass 
Social reformer; Abolitionist; Orator; Writer (essayist, nonfiction writer); Statesman 
(1818–1895)

Charles R. Drew 
Surgeon; Medical scientist 
(1904–1950)

W. E. B. Du Bois 
Sociologist; Historian; Advocate (civil rights) 
(1868–1963)

Katherine Dunham 
Dancer; Choreographer; Anthropologist; Advocate (civil rights) 
(1909–2006)

Charles Hamilton Houston 
Lawyer; Academic administrator 
(1895–1950)

Scott Joplin 
Composer; Musician (pianist) 
(1868–1917)

Barbara Jordan 
Lawyer; Member, U.S. House of Representatives; Government official (state legislator); Educator 
(1936–1996)

Edmonia Lewis 
Artist (sculptor) 
(1844–1907)

Alain Locke 
Philosopher; Writer (critic, nonfiction writer); Educator 
(1885–1954)

Thurgood Marshall 
Lawyer; Jurist (U.S. Supreme Court) 
(1908–1993)

Maria Montoya Martinez, Po’ve’ka (Water Lily) 
Artist (potter) 
(1887–1980)

Constance Baker Motley 
Lawyer; Jurist; Public official; Advocate (civil rights) 
(1921–2005)

Pauli Murray 
Legal scholar; Writer (nonfiction writer, memoirist, poet); Clergy member; Advocate (civil rights, women’s rights) 
(1910–1985)

Amalie Emmy Noether 
Mathematician 
(1882–1935)

Zelia Nuttall 
Archaeologist; Anthropologist 
(1857–1933)

Frances Perkins 
U.S. Secretary of Labor; Advocate (workers’ rights) 
(1880–1965)

Susan LaFlesche Picotte 
Physician; Advocate (Native American rights) 
(1865–1915)

Paul Robeson 
Musician (bass-baritone); Actor; Advocate (civil rights) 
(1898–1976)

Solomon Schechter 
Rabbi; Scholar; Educator 
(1847–1915)

Maria W. Stewart 
Abolitionist; Advocate (women’s rights); Educator; Journalist 
(1803–1879)

Maria Tallchief, Wa-Xthe-Thomba (Two Standards) 
Ballet dancer 
(1925–2013)

Sojourner Truth 
Advocate (civil rights, women’s rights, temperance); Abolitionist 
(1797–1883)

William “Willie” C. Velásquez 
Advocate (civil rights) 
(1944–1988)

Wassaja (Signaling), Carlos Montezuma 
Physician; Advocate (Native American rights) 
(1866–1923)

Ida B. Wells-Barnett 
Journalist; Educator; Advocate (civil rights) 
(1862–1931)

Phillis Wheatley 
Writer (poet) 
(1753–1784)

Daniel Hale Williams 
Surgeon; Hospital administrator 
(1856–1931)

Anna May Wong 
Actor 
(1905–1961)

Carter G. Woodson 
Writer (nonfiction); Editor; Publisher; Historian 
(1875–1950)

Zitkala-Ša (Red Bird), Gertrude Simmons Bonnin 
Advocate (Native American rights, women’s rights); Writer (essayist, nonfiction writer, librettist); Musician (violinist) 
(1876–1938)