Marie A. Nelson
Committed to social justice through music, Marie A. Nelson (1937-2020) was Director of Music Education at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (UMD) for 27 years.
Ruth S. Atkinson
Devoted to sailing and the arts, Ruth Showalter Atkinson (1920-2013) appreciated the beauty of the South Coast.
Alberta Simmons Brownell
Alberta Simmons Brownell (1882-1918) used book knowledge and personal experience to write articles on the social problems of the day.
Ora Inge Maxim
Born in Lynchburg, Virginia on April 22, 1895, Ora Inge Maxim (1895-1982) began her serious study of art in New Bedford at the Swain Free School of Design in 1926.
Cordelia Vien
At the peak of her career as a local businesswoman, Cordelia Dragon Vien (1853 -1928) owned property valued at $250,000, equivalent to nearly $6.5 million today, in New Bedford’s North End.
Mary Ricketson Bullard
Accomplished historian and author Mary Ricketson Bullard (1926-2014) wrote scholarly articles, books and even a libretto as part of an opera based on the life of Elizabeth “Zabette” Bernardey, the biracial common law wife of Cumberland Island, Georgia plantation owner Robert Stafford.
Rebecca L. H. Taber
Artist, philanthropist, and anti-suffragist Rebecca L. H. Taber (1854-1940) was born in Fairhaven to whaling ship master John S. Taber and Mary Ann (Spooner) Taber.
Mary Hall Leonard
Rochester’s Mary Hall Leonard (1847-1921) graduated from Bridgewater Normal School in 1867 and was soon hired as an instructor there, where she trained students to be teachers.
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.