Marta Magdalena Abakanowicz was born in Falenty, Poland to a noble landowner family. When she was 9 years old, Nazi Germany occupied Poland, and the family moved to Warsaw and became involved in the Polish resistance. At 19, Abakanowicz began her art education. At the time, Poland was under Soviet control, which outlawed and censored every form of art except Socialist realism, characterized by depicting the utopianism of communism using images of nature, industry, and the human body. She was required to learn textile design, fiber design, screen printing. Techniques she will use later in her career. In 1954, after receiving her degree at 24, Abakanowicz began to work on her art while supporting herself by designing material for ties at a silk factory. In the late 1950s, she created her first series of large watercolors and gouaches obliged to the Communist standard of art. During this period, Poland had a social and cultural change that liberated the soviet form of art and exposed Abakanowicz to western art. Influenced by Constructivism, her work became more structured and geometric. Exploring her own artistic language, Abakanowicz started weaving as an art form. In 1960, at the age of 30, she had her first solo exhibit presenting a series of weaving alongside a collection of watercolors and gouaches works. The Polish textile and fiber design movement have embraced Abakanowicz, and she was included in the first Biennale Internationale de la Tapisserie in Switzerland. By the end of the 1960s, Abakanowicz has developed her own weaving technique, expressed in her work series, Abakans – a three-dimensional fiber work. In the following decade, she created huge figurative textile sculptures of headless human figures made with sackcloth sewed together with synthetic resins. Afterward, she received various public commissions and expanded her material use, working with metals, stone, wood, and clay. In 1989, at the age of 59, Abakanowicz presented her most political work – War Games, a series of tree trunks placed on metal frames, bandaged with rags, and trapped in steel hoops. At 76, she installed her final piece, Agora, located in Chicago’s Grant Park. The installation consists of more than 100 nine feet tall iron headless figures. Abakanowicz’s art has been autobiographical, influenced by her experiences growing up during WW2 and under the Soviet regime. Her ambiguous sculptures are reflecting various conditions of humanity from a specific historical perspective. Throughout her career, she had more than 40 solo exhibitions worldwide, including at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, and the Museum Sonje in Korea. Abakanowicz died at the age of 86. Read more...

Elizabeth Marie Tall Chief was born in the Osage reservation in Fairfax, Oklahoma. Her father was a member of the Osage Nation, and her mother was of Scottish-Irish descent. Her mother grew up in poverty and had to give up her dream to be a dancer, so she encouraged her two daughters to study ballet since they were young. At the age of 8, the family moved to Los Angeles, CA, to get her and her siblings into Hollywood musicals. There, she continued to learn ballet, as well as Spanish dancing, tap, and acrobatics. At the age of 12, she got accepted to Bronislava Nijinska’s studio, where she decided to become a professional ballerina. After graduating high school, Tallchief wanted to go to college, but her father refused to pay for it, stating that its time to find a job in dancing. She landed minor dancing roles in numerous movies, such as Presenting Lily Mars, starring Judy Garland. But this was not enough for her, so she moved to NYC. She applied to every dancing company in the city, rejected over and over again because of her Native American ancestry. Finally, she was accepted as an apprentice at Serge Denham’s company, not because of her skill but because of her passport allowing her to travel abroad. After a few months, she was promoted to a member dancer, replacing a dancer who left the company. On her first day as a company member, her former chronograph from LA who arrived in NYC to work with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo called to cast her as the first understudy for the lead role at Chopin Concerto. Soon, Tallchief received more and more parts, and within a year, she got promoted to the lead role. In her second year with the company, she received a solo in Le Beau Danube and was cast as the lead in Ancient Russia. Between tours, Tallchief took classes at the School of American Ballet, and on tours she studied from her experienced colleagues, practicing whenever she could, earning a name as a hard and dedicated worker. In 1944, the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo hired the renowned choreographer George Balanchine for the company’s production of the Song of Norway, in which 19 years old Tallchief received a solo and was appointed as the understudy of the company’s Prima Ballerina. Recognizing her rare talent, Balanchine cast her in larger roles, such as part of a pas de trois (a three dancers act) in numerous productions, including Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme and Danses Concertantes. Under Balanchine’s leadership, Tallchief became a featured soloist, and she created and performed the Coquette in Night Shadow, the most technically challenging of the ballet. The relationship between Tallchief and her choreographer was strictly professional, and over time they became friends. In 1946 Balanchine surprised Tallchief with a marriage proposal, and the couple got married, she was 21, and he was 42. Though their marriage lasted only five years, the duo continued to work together for ten more years. In 1947, at the age of 22, Tallchief left Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and joined Balanchine in his new production for the Paris Opera Ballet in France. There, she was cast in the lead roles in Le Baiser de la fée and Apollo and made history as the first American to perform with the prestigious French company. On their return to NYC, Tallchief was named first prima ballerina of the newly formed New York City Ballet, a title she held for 13 years. During this period, Balanchine created roles specifically for her, such as the Swan Queen Swan Lake and the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, in which her performance established the ballet as the Christmas classic it is today. Tallchief’s dance style was revolutionary at the time and was characterized by technical abilities, athleticism, and precise footwork. She became known for dazzling the audience with her “electrifying passion.” As the first major Prima ballerina in the US, ballet companies from all around the world wanted to work with her. And in addition to the New York City Ballet, Tallchief performed with other notable companies, including the San Francisco Ballet, the Chicago Opera Ballet, the Hamburg Ballet, and the Royal Danish Ballet. In 1960, at the age of 35, Tallchief left the New York City Ballet and joined the American Ballet Theatre as a prima ballerina. In that same year, she became the first American dancer to perform at the famed Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. She continued to perform throughout the world and made guest appearances with various symphony orchestras. In 1966, at 41, she retired from dancing and moved to Chicago. There, she worked as a ballet instructor, served as artistic director for the Lyric Opera Ballet, and founded its ballet school. In 1981, Tallchief and her sister founded the Chicago City Ballet, where she served as the company’s co-artistic director (in 1987 the ballet was closed due to financial issues). Throughout her life, Tallchief frequently spoke against discrimination and stereotypes toward Native Americans. She served as director of the Indian Council Fire Achievement Award and was actively involved with America for Indian Opportunity. Tallchief died at the age of 88 from complications of a hip injury. Read more...

Florence Beatrice Price was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, to a mixed-race family. Her mother, who was a music teacher, gave her musical training from an early age. By the age of 4, she had her first piano performance, and at 11, she published her first composition. She attended Capitol Hill School in Little Rock, graduating as valedictorian at 14. Afterward, she studied composition and counterpoint at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, where she wrote her first string trio and her first symphony. At 19, Price received an artist diploma in organ and a teaching certificate. She began teaching music, first at Shorter College in North Little Rock, Arkansas, and then at Clark University in Atlanta, Georgia, where she was appointed head of the music department. In 1912, at the age of 25, she married Thomas J. Price and returned to Little Rock. There, she opened a music studio and wrote pieces for the piano. She tried to become a member of the Arkansas State Music Teachers Association but got denied due to her race. In 1927, after a series of racial incidents in Little Rock, supported by Jim Crow Laws, Price and her family moved to Chicago, where she continued teaching music. She further her musical education, studying organ, composition, orchestration, languages, and liberal arts. In 1928, at the age of 40, Price published four pieces for piano. Three years later, she got divorced. As a single mother of two, she moved in with her friend, the pianist, and composer Margaret Bonds, working as a radio ads composer and an organist for silent film screenings. In 1932, Price submitted some of her compositions to the Wanamaker Foundation Awards, winning first place for her Symphony in E minor and third for her Piano Sonata. In the following year, Price’s symphony was performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, making her the first African-American woman composer to have a composition played by a major orchestra. She gained international fame, and her pieces were performed by orchestras all around the world. During the 1940s and the 1950s, Price composed pieces for a wide range of vocals and instruments, and her music was performed regularly by her friend Marian Anderson. She was an active member of the local chapters of the National Federation of Music Clubs and the National Association for Negro Musicians (NANM). Price’s music style was a combination of classical music with African-American rhythms and melodies. She was inspired by juba dance, blues, and church music. This mixture of tradition and modernism, classic training, and African-American heritage reflected the contemporary culture of African-Americans in the large cities. Throughout her career, Price composed more than 300 pieces, including four symphonies, four concertos, dozens of Choral, solo vocals, Instrumental Chamber Music, works of piano and organ, works for violin, as well as music for the radio. She died from a stroke at age 66. Following her death, many of her pieces were forgotten, and much of them got lost. However, in 2009, a collection of her work was found in an abandoned house in Illinois. Since then, her music had revived and received the recognition it deserves, performed by various artists and orchestras. Read more...

Natalie de Blois was born in Paterson, New Jersey, her father was a civil engineer, and her mother was a teacher. From an early age, she had an interest in buildings, and by the age of 10, she decided to become an architect. In junior high school, she refused to participate in a cooking and sewing class mandatory for girls. instead, with her parents’ support, she took mechanical drawing classes, the only girl in the class. After high school, she attended the Western College for Women for a year, which allowed her to enroll in architecture studies at Columbia University. To pay for her tuition, she worked as a draftsperson and taught drafting to fellow students. At 23, de Blois moved to NYC and began working at Ketchum, Gina, and Sharpe, but was fired nine months later because she rejected one of her male colleagues’ courting. She then joined Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill (SOM), where she started at the technical lettering and later became the first woman at the firm to hold the senior designer position. Her first lead project was the Terrace Plaza Hotel in Cincinnati, which received national publicity for its modernism. Afterward, she was assigned to various major projects, including the Union Carbide Building, the Pepsi building, and the Connecticut General campus. Although she had great success and gain respect from other architects, she still suffered from harsh sexism, been excluded from office lunches, and even once asked not to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony because “she looked pregnant.” At 42, de Blois got divorced and moved with her four sons to Chicago to work at the local branch of SOM. Within two years, she was named an associate partner. As a woman surrounded by men, as well as a single mother, de Blois was well aware of the bias against female architects, and in 1973 she co-founded the Chicago Women in Architecture – an organization that advances the status of women in the profession. Throughout her career, she spoke out of the importance of recognizing women as just architects, rather than “female architects,” and she promoted an initiative for the American Institute of Architects to interview female students across the country. At the age of 54, she moved to Houston, Texas, where she joined Neuhaus & Taylor firm. Her largest project there was the Fifth Avenue Plaza in downtown Seattle, which at the time was the tallest private office building in the city. A few years later, she began teaching at the University of Texas School of Architecture as a faculty member. In 1993, at the age of 72, she retired from teaching. A year later, she also gave up the practice and returned to Chicago. She passed away when she was 92 years old. Read more...

Annie Swan Coburn was born in Fremont, Illinois, and by the age of 15, she moved with her family to Chicago. At 24, she married Larned Coburn, a patent lawyer and the co-founder of the Union League Club of Chicago. When her husband died in 1910, Coburn moved to an apartment in the Blackstone Hotel, where she lived for more than 20 years. At that time, she began collecting art, especially by French Impressionist painters such as Renoir, Monet, and van Gogh. She exhibited her collection in her hotel suite, in every available space she had. She had drawers loaded with fine art, masterpieces stacked on the chairs, and famous artwork leaning against the walls. Curators and reporters from all over the world came to the hotel to see her art collection. Upon her death, she donated her fortune of $500,000 and hundreds of artworks to various art institutes, including the Fogg Museum at Harvard University, Smith College, and the Art Institute of Chicago, where her contribution became the core of its Impressionist painting collection. Read more...

Bessie Coleman was born in Atlanta, Texas. Her father was of Cherokee descent, and her mother was African-American. When she was 2 years old, her family moved to Waxahachie, Texas, where her parents worked as sharecroppers. At the age of 6, she started to attend segregated, one-room school, walking 4 miles every day. At the age of 9, her father left home, and in addition to attending school, she helped to support the family by harvesting cotton and washing laundry. At 12, Coleman was granted a scholarship to the Missionary Baptist Church School, which later allowed her to enroll in the Oklahoma Colored Agricultural and Normal University in Langston, Oklahoma. After a semester, her money ran out, and she had to leave and return home. At the age of 23, Coleman moved to Chicago to live with her brothers. She attended Burnham School of Beauty Culture and worked as a manicurist. Her brothers, who served in WW1, told stories from their France experiences, where women fly airplanes. Inspired by their stories, Coleman took a second job and received sponsorship from the newspaper editor Robert S. Abbott and the banker Jesse Binga, to have enough money for aviation classes. No school in the US would receive her application, both because of her race and gender, so she learned French and moved to Paris, where she studied at the Caudron Brothers’ School of Aviation. After seven months, 29 years old Coleman became the first African-American woman and first Native- American to earn a pilot’s license as well as the first black person and first Native-America to earn an international aviation license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.   On her return to the US, Coleman received media attention but realized that she would have to become a stunt flier to earn money. Once again, she did not find any school to accept her, so she traveled to Europe, learning stunts flying and parachuting in France, the Netherland, and Germany. When she came back to the US, her popularity grew, and she became known as “Queen Bess.” She flew Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” biplanes, performing daredevil maneuvers such as loops, eights figures, and near-ground dips. Her goal was to encourage people to pursue their dreams, while her dream was to own a plane and open a flight school for African-Americans. She gave speeches throughout the country, presenting films of her tricks, and promoting aviation within the community. She refused to speak or to perform in segregated events. During a speaking tour in Orlando, Florida, she met community activists Rev. Hezakiah and Viola Hill, who invited her to live with them. She moved in and opened a beauty shop to earn enough money to buy a plane. On April 30th, 1926, Coleman took a test flight with her mechanic, William Wills. She sat in the passenger seat while he was piloting the plane. Ten minutes into the flight, it went into an unexpected dive and a spin at 3,000 feet. Coleman, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was thrown out of the plane and died immediately when hitting the ground. The plane crashed right next to her. More than 10,000 mourners attended her funeral ceremonies, led by Ida B. Wells. Although she did not achieve her dream to establish her aviation school, her pioneering achievements were the inspiration for a generation of African-Americans to become pilots. Read more...

Kate Warne was born in Erin, Chemung County, New York, to a family of modest means. Growing up, she wanted to be an actress, but her family opposed the idea, so she became the next best thing – a spy. In 1856, 23 years old Warne, who presented herself as a widow, walked into the Pinkerton Detective Agency in Chicago, responding to an advertisement she saw in the local newspaper. At the time, female detectives were unheard of, and Allan Pinkerton, the head of the agency, was surprised to learn that she did not come to apply for the secretary position. Warne raised some reasonable arguments to get the job – women can go undercover, gain access to places men cannot, they have an eye for details, and they can befriend girlfriends and wives of the suspects. Though he was reluctant at first, she was able to convince him to hire her, the first female detective in his agency and the US.   For the next 12 years, she was involved in various high-profile investigations, serving as Pinkerton’s right hand. In 1858, she became a close friend of a wife of a prime suspect of Adams Express Company embezzlements, providing evidence for his convection. Three years later, she was a key figure in uncovering an assassination plot against the president-elect Abraham Lincoln. As part of her assignment, she escorted Lincoln on the train to Washington, DC, on the way to his inauguration. He posed as an invalid passenger, she went undercover as his sister and caregiver, staying up all night to make sure he remained undirected while passing through Baltimore, where the assassination meant to happen and bringing Lincoln safely to DC. During the Civil War, she worked as a spy, posing as Pinkerton’s wife while collecting military intelligence for the Union Army. After the war, she continued to work undercover in numerous cases, as well as serving as Supervisor of Women Agents, coordinating the activities of other female detectives that joined the agency after her. She died at the age of 35 from pneumonia and was buried in the Pinkerton Family Plot alongside several other Pinkerton agents at Graceland Cemetery, Chicago. Read more...

Louise DeKoven was born in Chicago, IL, as an only child to an elite family. Although she had a privileged and wealthy life, she grew up with social conscience, dedicating herself to the community. At 16, after graduating from Dearborn Seminary, she taught Sunday school at St. James Episcopal Church, working with unprivileged boys and establishing a boy’s club for them. There, she became frustrated with the church’s boundaries for women. At 27, she married Joseph Tilton Bowen, and their mansion at Astor St. became a gathering place for social and political meetings. At the age of 35, she started working at the Hull House settlement house, where she led its Women’s Club and eventually served as its trustee and treasurer, a position she held for 53 years. She was the organizations’ primary donor, and in 1912, after her husband had died, she founded a summer camp for the children of Hull-House and donated 72 acres for its establishment. When Jane Addams died, she became the president of the Hall House. She used her status and connections to influence politicians and to raise money for various social causes. She was one of the most influential people to advocate for a juvenile court in Chicago. When it opened in 1899, it became the first juvenile court in the US, and she immediately became a member of its committee, then its top officer, and when it reorganized into the Juvenile Protective Association, she was appointed as its first president. In the 35 years she held this position, she examined various issues, including racial prejudice, working conditions, and prostitution. She was also a women’s rights activist, serving in numerous organizations in key positions, including president of the Chicago Equal Suffrage Association, auditor of the National Woman’s Suffrage Association, vice president of the Illinois Suffrage Association, and president of the Chicago Woman’s Club. During WW1, she was the only woman appointed to the Illinois Council of Defense, in which she coordinated women throughout the state to support the war effort. In 1916, amid a rainstorm, she led a march of 5000 women to the Republican National Convention in Chicago. This parade of women demanding their civil right to vote marked a shift in the approach toward the cause and the movement. After the ratification of the 19th amendment, she worked tirelessly, convincing women to register to vote and encouraging them to run to public office. She remained active until she died at the age of 94. Read more...

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, to a free African-American blacksmith. At age 21, she met her future husband, John Jones, who came to the city to be a tailor’s apprentice. Soon after, she moved with her family to Alton, Illinois, and the couple had to separate. Three years later, after completing his apprenticeship requirements, he followed her to Alton, and they got married. The following year, after giving birth to her daughter Lavinia, they wanted to move to Chicago, but to do so, they had to post a $1000 bond for their certificate of freedom, which allowed them to travel as free people. They were among the only 140 black people in the city. Shortly after they settled in, her husband opened a small tailoring shop – the first establishment owned by an African-American. Over time, the business grew and served many of the city’s elite. The Joneses dedicated their lives to fight for freedom, equality, and justice, and together they became leading figures in the abolitionist movement. Their home in 116 Edinah street was a gathering place as well as the second stop of the underground railroad, helping hundreds of escaped slaves on their way to Canada. The couple was among the founders of Olivet Baptists church – the second oldest church in Chicago. They donated money for various causes and land to build a school for their community. After the Civil War, she joined the suffrage movement, one of the first African-American women to advocate for their right to vote. She died at the age of 89. Her gravestone reads ‘Grandma Jones’ – a commemoration of her status within the community.   Read about more inspiring African-American women: Read more...

Marion Mahony was Born in Chicago, Illinois, the youngest of five children. At the age of 3, two years after the Great Chicago Fire, the family moved to Winnetka, where she witnessed the quick development of the city when suburban homes replaced the natural landscape. When she was 11 years old, her father had died, and not long after, their house caught fire, and the family returned to Chicago. Back in the city, her mother joined the Chicago Women’s Club and became a school principal. Growing up, she inspired by her cousin, who studied architecture, and after graduating high school, she attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. At 23, she became the second woman to graduate from MIT and the first woman to have an architecture license in the US. For the next couple of years, she worked at her cousin firm, and at the age of 24, she was one of the first employees to be hired by Frank Lloyd Wright at Oak Park studio. Her architectural renderings of buildings, landscapes, furniture, and stained-glass windows became the signature of Wright’s designing style, though she never received any credit. During the 15 years she worked in the firm, she completed various independent projects, including All Souls Unitarian Church in Evanston. She had a significant contribution to the development of the American Prairie School of architecture. When Wright left the country, she declined his offer to take over the firm, but she stayed there under the leadership of Hermann con Holst, only after he assured her that she would fully control the design. At the age of 40, she married fellow architect Walter Burley Griffin. Together, they worked on the Rock Crest – Rock Glen district in Mason City, Iowa – the largest collection of Prairie Style houses, which today registered as a national historic site. The couple worked together on hundreds of projects before moving to Australia to manage the construction of their wining plan of Canberra – the new Australian capital city. They lived in Australia for 21 years, designing houses, theaters, restaurants, and colleges, creating new towns and communities. In 1935, her husband was invited to India to design a library for the University of Lucknow, and in the following year, she joined him to take charge of the office and work on other projects. After a few months, her husband died, and she returned to Australia for a short time and then back to the US. She was 67 years old when she retired from architecture and dedicated the next 20 years to work on a biography of her and her husband’s life and work, titled “The Magic of America.” Even though she never published the book, it was later digitized, and today is available online. Despite a 60 years career, and a significant impact on the development of cities in three continents, she died in poverty at the age of 90. Read more...