Emily Langer

The Caldecott winner sketched his first drawings as a young Polish Jew fleeing the Nazis and grew up to become an acclaimed children’s author and illustrator.

Vaulted to Congress when she was elected in 1978 to succeed her late husband, she quickly established herself as a House member in her own right.

After each losing a son to AIDS, the two women took on Sen. Jesse Helms, an archconservative foe of gay rights, emerging as powerful advocates for their cause.

She swam at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, flew with the WASPs in World War II and trained pilots at a time when few women were able to take to the skies.

After beginning his career as a civil rights lawyer, he helped usher in an era of African American leadership in the former capital of the Confederacy.

He lived for three decades on a small island off the coast of Sardinia, inspiring international fascination with his real-life adventure story.

A champion of women’s health, she stepped down to protest the agency’s decision to delay expanding access to emergency contraception.

A self-described housewife turned feminist activist, she helped lead the women’s health movement in the 1970s.

During 35 years under eight presidents, she was entrusted with the conservation and care of thousands of artistic and decorative artifacts in the White House.

He was a 22-year-old Navy radioman aboard the USS Utah when Japan launched the attack that catapulted the United States into World War II.