Bella Abzug was a leading liberal activist and politician in the 1960s and 1970s, especially known for her work for women’s rights.
1920-1998
Jane Addams co-founded one of the first settlements in the United States, the Hull House in Chicago, Illinois, and was named a co-winner of the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize.
1860-1935
1944-
Joan Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter and activist who is best known for her distinctive voice and for her role in popularizing the music of Bob Dylan.
1941-
Roger Baldwin was an American civil rights activist who co-founded the American Civil Liberties Union.
1884-1981
Robert Benchley was an American humorist, drama critic and film actor who is best known for his small roles in over 40 films, including How To Sleep.
1889-1945
American poet and activist Robert Bly is best known for writing Iron John: A Book About Men which is credited for starting the Mythopoetic men's movement.
1926-
Irish actor Pierce Brosnan is best known for his recurring role as British spy James Bond in the popular James Bond film series.
1953-
Jackson Browne is a folk singer-songwriter who released numerous hit records in the 1970s and '80s, including Late for the Sky. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.
1948-
French jurist and lawyer René Cassin is best known for his involvement in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
1887-1976
Famed scholar Noam Chomsky is known for both his groundbreaking contributions to linguistics and his penetrating critiques of political systems.
1928-
Dorothy Day was an activist who worked for such social causes as pacifism and women’s suffrage through the prism of the Catholic Church.
1897-1980
Steve Earle is a Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter whose albums seamlessly blend rock, folk and country. He has also appeared on the HBO series The Wire and Treme.
1955-
Daniel Ellsberg strengthened public opposition to the Vietnam War in 1971 when he leaked the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times.
1931-
1950-
Mahatmas Gandhi was the primary leader of India's independence movement and also the architect of a form of civil disobedience that would influence the world.
1869-1948
Richard Gere is an American actor best known for his status as an American sex symbol and his leading film roles, including in Report to the Commissioner, American Gigolo, An Officer and A Gentleman, Pretty Woman and Chicago.
1949-
Leon Golub was an American painter who was both horrified and inspired by the Vietnam War.
1922-2004
Mike Gravel is a former U.S. senator from Alaska, known for his efforts to end the draft during the Vietnam War and for releasing the Pentagon Papers.
1930-
Tom Hayden is a political activist and writer who served in the California State Assembly and State Senate. He is also the former husband of actress Jane Fonda.
1939-
Based on his experience, novelist Joseph Heller wrote the satirical novel Catch-22, considered one of the most significant works of postwar protest literature.
1923-1999
1936-1989
Maxine Hong Kingston is a Chinese American author of memoirs and fiction. Her best known work is The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among the Ghosts.
1940-
Coretta Scott King was an American civil rights activist and the wife of 1960s civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
1927-2006
Vietnam War veteran and anti-war activist Ron Kovic wrote the autobiography Born on the Fourth of July, the basis of the Oliver Stone film starring Tom Cruise.
1946-
1855-1925
1923-1997
1917-1977
Heather Mills is best known as the ex-wife of musician Paul McCartney as well as for her activism and philanthropy.
1968-
1954-
1932-2010
Attorney Ralph Nader is an auto-safety reformer and consumer advocate. He’s run for president several times, having been both a Democrat and Green Party member.
1934-
1932-
1940-1976
Yoko Ono is a multimedia artist who became known worldwide in the 1960s when she married Beatles front man John Lennon.
1933-
1922-2007
1872-1970
Cyrus S. Eaton was a Canadian industrialist and formed the third largest steel company in the United States.
1883-1979
American folk singer Pete Seeger is an iconic figure in the mid-20th century, and is best known for his contributions to the American folk music revival.
1919-
Emmy Award–winning television and film writer Rod Serling created and hosted the sci-fi fantasy series The Twilight Zone and co-wrote Planet of the Apes.
1924-1975
Peter Singer is an Australian philosopher whose work in applied ethics has led to controversial views on abortion, animal liberation and infanticide.
1946-
Susan Sontag was a critical essayist, cultural analyst, novelist and filmmaker. She wrote On Photography, Illness as Metaphor, The Volcano Lover and In America.
1933-2004
1936-2009
1905-1976
Liberian soccer star George Weah was named African, European and World Player of the Year in 1995 and has since become a prominent humanitarian and politician.
1966-
Max Weber was a 19th century German sociologist and one of the founders of modern sociology. He wrote The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism in 1905.
1864-1920
Simone Weil was a French intellectual, activist and Christian Mystic.
1909-1943