Sarah Rotch Arnold
Nineteenth-century New Bedford’s Sarah Rotch Arnold (1786-1860) was dedicated to her community, social reform, religious tolerance, and horticultural beauty.
Theresa Dougall
In a career that spanned 44 years at Bishop Stang High School, Theresa E. Perry Dougall (1946-2016) was known as a distinguished teacher, department head, coach, and administrator.
Elizabeth Piper Ensley
Born in New Bedford to parents who had been enslaved, educator Elizabeth Piper Ensley (1847-1919) was an active leader in African American women’s clubs and the women’s suffrage movement in Colorado.
Elizabeth Payson Prentiss
Faith in suffering was the life theme of author Elizabeth Payson Prentiss (1818-1878). Elizabeth lived in New Bedford for over five years as a compassionate pastor’s wife who gave comfort to those in need.
Tryne Costa
New Bedford social worker Tryne G. Costa (1922-2018) lived by a poem that she learned as a young girl, “Let me live in my house by the side of the road / And be a friend to man.”
Lillian Ross
How can a teacher ensure that her students learn skills to build a more peaceful world? For New Bedford educator Lillian Ross (1904?-2003), the answer was to develop active global citizens through educational and cross-cultural exchanges of the American Field Service (AFS).
Clementina “Tina” Ponte
Union leader. Political activist. University trustee. In these roles, Clementina “Tina” Rodrigues Ponte (1922-2013) worked to make the South Coast a better place.
Dora Bastarache
A stitcher in various New Bedford shops, Dora Bastarache (1915-1988) was a true rank-and-file leader in the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union in southeastern Massachusetts, where she served as president of that union’s Local 361.
Carrie Lee
Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts accepted New Bedford High School graduate Carrie Evelina S. Lee (1895-1979) for admission in 1913. Upon arrival, rejection from her assigned dormitory became the impetus for a cornerstone in the founding of what would become Smith College’s Black Student Alliance.
Margaret Xifaras
Hailed as “the first woman of South Coast politics,” Margaret “MarDee” Xifaras (1945-2019), New Bedford lawyer and stalwart Democrat, was a driving force behind creation of the state’s first public law school, the University of Massachusetts School of Law in Dartmouth.