#beginningwriters

Lorraine Hansberry speaking to an audience     Women and Adversity: Lorraine Hansberry, Lesbian             Playwright     Civil Rights Activist  My second post for Pride Month is another Chicagoan, playwright and civil rights activist Lorraine Hansberry. Her most popular play is 1959’s A Raisin in the Sun,  about racial discrimination against African Americans in Chicago. She garnered several…

Mariska Hargitay Founder, Joyful Heart Foundation, Actress (Wikimedia Commons) Mariska Hargitay Founder of Joyful Heart Foundation Actress, Producer, Director Almost all of Americans have heard of Mariska Hargitay, the actress who plays Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. I’m not sure how many people know that in 2004 she founded the Joyful heart Foundation, which helps survivors…

Virginia Apgar, M.D. Obstetrician, Anesthesiologist (https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Virginia_Apgar) Women and Adversity: Virginia Apgar Obstetrician, Anesthesiologist Invented Apgar Score Method to Assess Newborn’s Health Virginia Apgar has saved millions of lives. She developed the Apgar Score in 1952, a method that has been accepted as the global standard for assessing a newborn’s health. At…

                        Cherie DeVaux                         First Woman Trainer to win the Kentucky Derby Cherie DeVaux, First woman trainer to win Kentucky Derby (commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cherie_DeVaux_2026.png)   Cherie DeVaux (pronounced Sheh REE⸍ Deh VOH⸍)  grew up in a family of ten children. She is not the oldest or the youngest sibling, but her parents, Janet and Adrian “Butch”…

Lyda Hill, “Philanthropreneur” IF/THEN Initiative (Wikipedia.com) Lyda Hill Founder: IF/THEN Initiative To Advance Women in STEM Texas residents are probably aware of Lyda Hill’s philanthropy, but I had never heard the name although I had heard of H.L. Hunt, the Texas oilman who was once the richest man in America. Lyda is his granddaughter. Her resume goes beyond the limits of this blog, but…

Women and Adversity: Mary Jane Owen Advocate for Disabled Rights March is Women’s History Month Mary Jane Owen, Advocate, Disabled Rights (httpsmn.govmnddcindex.html.jpeg) People in the U.S. are accustomed to seeing “Handicapped” parking spaces and the accompanying symbol, ramps for easy access and restrooms with grip bars in the stalls wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs. They can thank Mary…

Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO, Feeding America (feedingamerica.org) Women and Adversity: Claire Babineaux-Fontenot Chief Executive Officer Feeding America February is Black History Month Claire Babineaux-Fontenot (Bab⸍ ih no-Font⸍ ih no) became chief executive officer of the Feeding America board of directors in 2018, and in 2020, Time magazine named her among the 100 most influential people in…

Alexandria “Alex” Stapleton Documentary Filmmaker (IMDb)     Women and Adversity: Alexandria Stapleton  Documentary Filmmaker  February is      Black History Month Alexandria “Alex” Stapleton has a host of award-winning and high-rated documentaries, the most recent of which is the December 2025 release of  Netflix’s Sean Coombs: The Reckoning that she directed. She came to New York to interview…