Members of the 51²è¹Ýapp College community nominated these individuals for consideration as part of the Inscriptions for the Future selection process. The nominees range from scholars, musicians, and artists to activists and public servants. Each in their own way, their work transformed the world, even if dominant segments of society overlooked their value(s) during their lifetime.
- , economist, and professor (United States, 1851–1921)
- , activist, social worker, sociologist, public administrator, and author (United States, 1860–1935)
- , Persian polymath (Iraq, 780 AD–850 AD)
- , jurist, economist, and social reformer (India, 1891–1956)
- , poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist (United States, 1928–2014)
- Gloria Anzaldúa, scholar (United States, 1942–2004)
- , political philosopher, author, Holocaust survivor (Germany, United States, 1906–1975)
- , American trumpeter, composer, vocalist, and actor (United States, 1901–1971)
- , novelist, playwright, essayist, poet, and activist (United States, 1924–1987)
- , scholar, and explorer (Morocco, 1304–)
- , anti-apartheid activist (South Africa, 1946–1977)
- , author, social activist, philosopher, and feminist (United States, 1915–2015)
- , writer, and activist (United States, 1954–2013)
- , speculative fiction author (United States, 1947–2006)
- , labor activist (United States,1933–2012)
- , comedian, actor, social critic, and author (United States, 1937–2008)
- Rachel Carson, marine biologist, author, and conservationist (United States, 1907–1964)
- , poet, writer, and educator (United States, 1936–2010)
- , lawyer (United States, 1869–1946)
- , activist (United States, 1930–2002)
- , gospel musician and composer (United States, 1899–1993)
- , philosopher, and mathematician (France, 1706–1749)
- , psychiatrist, and philosopher (France, United States, 1925–1961)
- , anthropologist, journalist, and politician (Haiti, 1850–1911)
- , diarist (Germany, 1929–1945)
- , chemist (United Kingdom, 1920–1958)
- , educator, and philosopher (Brazil, 1921–1997)
- , singer, songwriter, and record producer (United States, 1939–1984)
- , painter (Italy, 1593–1653)
- , associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, gender rights advocate (United States, 1933–2020)
- , composer, pianist, and the first female conductor in Brazil (Brazil, 1847–1935)
- , abolitionist (United States, 1792–1873)
- 51²è¹Ýappian, 1846
- , women’s rights activist, community organizer, and civil rights leader (United States, 1917–1977)
- , activist (United States, 1948–1969)
- , musician, singer, and songwriter (United States, 1942–1970)
- , rabbi, and scholar (Poland, United States; 1907–1972)
- , computer scientist, and United States Navy rear admiral (United States, 1906–1992)
- , poet, novelist, fiction writer, and playwright (United States, 1901–1967)
- , labor organizer (Philippines, United States, 1913–1977)
- , pioneering mathematician (United States, 1918– 2020)
- , gay liberation activist (United States, 1945–1992)
- , artist, painter, political activist (Mexico, 1907–1954)
- , Byzantine princess, physician, and scholar (1083–1153)
- , mathematician (Russia, Sweden, 1850–1891)
- , painter (United States, 1917-2000)
- , singer, songwriter, and peace activist (United Kingdom, 1940–1980)
- , author, philosopher, ecologist, and environmental advocate (United States, 1887–1948)
- , American statesman, and civil rights activist (United States, 1940–2020)
- , pioneering economist (St. Lucia, 1915–1991)
- , writer, feminist, womanist, librarian, and civil rights activist (United States, 1934–1992)
- , military commander, leader of the Haitian revolution (Saint Dominigue/Haiti, 1743–1803)
- , Polish Marxist economist, anti-war activist, philosopher, and revolutionary socialist (Poland, Germany, 1871–1919)
- , activist, social worker, community developer, and the first woman elected to serve as principal chief of the Cherokee Nation (United States, 1945–2010)
- , philosopher, theorist, journalist, and socialist revolutionary (Prussia/Germany, 1818–1883)
- , antiwar activist (United States, 1917–2009)
- , revolutionary (United States, 1942–1989)
- , mathematician (Germany, 1882–1935)
- , political economist (United States, 1933–2012)
- , pioneering mathematician (Madras/British India, 1887–1920)
- , psychologist, humanist, and author (United States, 1902–1987)
- , television host, author, producer, and Presbyterian minister (United States, 1928–2003)
- , astronomer (United States, 1928–2016)
- , professor of literature, public intellectual, and founder of the academic field of postcolonial studies (Palestine, United States, 1935–2003)
- , poet (Greece, c. 630 – c. 570 B.C.E.)
- , vocalist, classical pianist, and civil rights activist (United States, France, 1933–2003)
- , Hunkpapa Lakota leader (United States, 1831–1890)
- , activist, educator, author, and poet (United States, 1949–2021)
- , mathematician, computer scientist, philosopher, and theoretical biologist (United Kingdom, 1912–1954)
- , lawyer, jurist, journalist, and writer (Germany, Italy, 1825–1895)
- , writer, philosopher, and advocate of women’s rights (United Kingdom. 1759–1797)
- , Muslim leader, activist (United States, 1925–1965)
- (a.k.a. Zhuang Zhou), philosopher, writer, and humorist (China, fourth century B.C.E.)