The Legacy Recognition Program, an important part of the Academy’s overall effort to address and reconcile our history regarding racism and inequality, highlights the contributions of scholars, researchers, writers, artists, business leaders, community leaders, and others whose accomplishments have been overlooked or undervalued due to their race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation.
The inaugural Legacy Recognition honorees for 2024:
Jane Addams
Social worker; Reformer; Writer (essayist, nonfiction writer)
(1860–1935)
Ruth Aiko Asawa
Artist (sculptor)
(1926–2013)
James Baldwin
Writer (novelist, essayist); Advocate (civil rights)
(1924–1987)
Benjamin Banneker
Mathematician; Astronomer; Naturalist
(1731–1806)
Derrick A. Bell, Jr.
Lawyer; Legal Scholar; Advocate (civil rights)
(1930–2011)
Gwendolyn Brooks
Writer (poet, novelist); Poet laureate; Educator
(1917–2000)
Carlos Bulosan
Writer (novelist, poet)
(1913–1956)
Rachel Carson
Marine biologist; Writer (nonfiction); Conservationist
(1907–1964)
George Washington Carver
Agricultural scientist; Inventor
(1864–1943)
Ella Cara Deloria, Aŋpétu Wašté Wiŋ (Beautiful Day Woman)
Writer (novelist, nonfiction writer); Educator; Ethnographer; Linguist
(1889–1971)
Frederick Douglass
Social reformer; Abolitionist; Orator; Writer (essayist, nonfiction writer); Statesman
(1818–1895)
Charles R. Drew
Surgeon; Medical scientist
(1904–1950)
W. E. B. Du Bois
Sociologist; Historian; Advocate (civil rights)
(1868–1963)
Katherine Dunham
Dancer; Choreographer; Anthropologist; Advocate (civil rights)
(1909–2006)
Charles Hamilton Houston
Lawyer; Academic administrator
(1895–1950)
Scott Joplin
Composer; Musician (pianist)
(1868–1917)
Barbara Jordan
Lawyer; Member, U.S. House of Representatives; Government official (state legislator); Educator
(1936–1996)
Edmonia Lewis
Artist (sculptor)
(1844–1907)
Alain Locke
Philosopher; Writer (critic, nonfiction writer); Educator
(1885–1954)
Thurgood Marshall
Lawyer; Jurist (U.S. Supreme Court)
(1908–1993)
Maria Montoya Martinez, Po’ve’ka (Water Lily)
Artist (potter)
(1887–1980)
Constance Baker Motley
Lawyer; Jurist; Public official; Advocate (civil rights)
(1921–2005)
Pauli Murray
Legal scholar; Writer (nonfiction writer, memoirist, poet); Clergy member; Advocate (civil rights, women’s rights)
(1910–1985)
Amalie Emmy Noether
Mathematician
(1882–1935)
Zelia Nuttall
Archaeologist; Anthropologist
(1857–1933)
Frances Perkins
U.S. Secretary of Labor; Advocate (workers’ rights)
(1880–1965)
Susan LaFlesche Picotte
Physician; Advocate (Native American rights)
(1865–1915)
Paul Robeson
Musician (bass-baritone); Actor; Advocate (civil rights)
(1898–1976)
Solomon Schechter
Rabbi; Scholar; Educator
(1847–1915)
Maria W. Stewart
Abolitionist; Advocate (women’s rights); Educator; Journalist
(1803–1879)
Maria Tallchief, Wa-Xthe-Thomba (Two Standards)
Ballet dancer
(1925–2013)
Sojourner Truth
Advocate (civil rights, women’s rights, temperance); Abolitionist
(1797–1883)
William “Willie” C. Velásquez
Advocate (civil rights)
(1944–1988)
Wassaja (Signaling), Carlos Montezuma
Physician; Advocate (Native American rights)
(1866–1923)
Ida B. Wells-Barnett
Journalist; Educator; Advocate (civil rights)
(1862–1931)
Phillis Wheatley
Writer (poet)
(1753–1784)
Daniel Hale Williams
Surgeon; Hospital administrator
(1856–1931)
Anna May Wong
Actor
(1905–1961)
Carter G. Woodson
Writer (nonfiction); Editor; Publisher; Historian
(1875–1950)
Zitkala-Ša (Red Bird), Gertrude Simmons Bonnin
Advocate (Native American rights, women’s rights); Writer (essayist, nonfiction writer, librettist); Musician (violinist)
(1876–1938)