Nazik al-Mala’ika, a ground-breaking Iraqi poet and women’s rights advocate, was one of the first Arab poets to work in free verse instead of the classical rhyme form.

Lucinda Gordon was a civil rights activist who founded an alternative school for teen mothers and advocated for Black art in Milwaukee.

Edna Ferber was a short story writer, playwright, and Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist who portrayed strong women characters.

The first book in author Laura Ingalls Wilder’s popular LITTLE HOUSE series is about Wilder’s childhood in Wisconsin.

Helen Van Vechten co-owned the Philosopher Press in Wausau and became an expert in hand-printing books.

Lorine Niedecker, an important 20th century poet, was highly regarded for the poems she wrote about her Wisconsin surroundings.

A major American artist of the 20th century, Georgia O’Keeffe developed a unique approach to abstract painting that reflected the landscapes around her.

Helen Farnsworth Mears's statue of Frances Willard was the first sculpture of a woman to be placed in National Statuary Hall.

Ellen Kort was Wisconsin’s first poet laureate.

Lorraine Hansberry's first Broadway play, A Raisin in the Sun, changed how Black people's lives were shown in American theater.