wing of the archive
The Modern Era
The industrial and imperial centuries: inventors, statesmen, artists, and the makers of the modern world.
Modern era
Marcus Garvey
August 17, 1887 – June 10, 1940
Jamaica-born British political activist, Pan-Africanist, orator, and entrepreneur (1887-1940)
Modern era
Medgar Evers
July 2, 1925 – June 12, 1963
African-American civil rights activist (1925-1963)
Modern era
Emmett Till
July 25, 1941 – August 28, 1955
African-American lynching victim (1941–1955)
Modern era
Fannie Lou Hamer
October 6, 1917 – March 14, 1977
American civil rights activist (1917–1977)
Modern era
Bayard Rustin
March 17, 1912 – August 24, 1987
American civil rights activist (1912–1987)
Modern era
Cesar Chavez
March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993
Mexican-American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist (1927–1993)
Modern era
Dolores Huerta
b. April 10, 1930
American labor leader
Modern era
Mother Jones
May 1, 1830 – November 30, 1930
Irish-born American labor and community organizer (1837–1930)
Modern era
Jane Addams
September 6, 1860 – June 21, 1935
American feminist social activist, reformer, social worker, sociologist, philosopher, and writer (1860–1935)
Modern era
Clara Barton
December 25, 1821 – April 12, 1912
American Civil War nurse (1821–1912)
Modern era
Raoul Wallenberg
August 4, 1912 – January 1, 1947
Swedish architect, businessman, diplomat and humanitarian (1912-1947)
Modern era
Oskar Schindler
April 28, 1908 – October 9, 1974
German industrialist and Holocaust rescuer (1908–1974)
Modern era
Irena Sendler
October 20, 1910 – May 12, 2008
Polish resistance fighter and Holocaust rescuer (1910-2008)
Modern era
Chiune Sugihara
January 1, 1900 – July 31, 1986
Japanese diplomat, Righteous Among the Nations (1900-1986)
Modern era
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
February 4, 1906 – April 9, 1945
German Lutheran pastor, theologian, anti-Nazi dissident (1906–1945)
Modern era
Sophie Scholl
May 9, 1921 – February 22, 1943
German resistance fighter during the Nazi regime, member of the White Rose (1921-1943)
Modern era
Simon Wiesenthal
December 31, 1908 – September 20, 2005
Jewish Austrian Holocaust survivor and Nazi hunter (1908–2005)
Modern era
Elie Wiesel
September 30, 1928 – July 2, 2016
Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
Modern era
Primo Levi
July 31, 1918 – April 11, 1987
Italian chemist, partisan, Holocaust survivor, and writer (1919–1987)
Modern era
Viktor Frankl
March 26, 1905 – September 2, 1997
Austrian Holocaust survivor, psychiatrist, philosopher and author (1905–1997)
Modern era
Anne Frank
June 12, 1929 – 1945
German-born Dutch Jewish diarist and Holocaust victim (1929–1945)
Modern era
Helen Keller
June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968
American deafblind author, political activist, lecturer, scholar (1880-1968)
Modern era
Nellie Bly
May 5, 1864 – January 27, 1922
American journalist
Modern era
Wangari Maathai
April 1, 1940 – September 25, 2011
Kenyan environmentalist and politician who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 (1940–2011)
Modern era
Harvey Milk
May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978
American politician and gay rights activist (1930–1978)
Modern era
Charlie Chaplin
April 16, 1889 – December 25, 1977
Silent-film genius whose Tramp became cinema's first icon
Modern era
Buster Keaton
October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966
American motion picture director, motion picture producer, motion picture producers and director, comedian, actor
Modern era
Walt Disney
December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966
Animator and showman who industrialized imagination
Modern era
Alfred Hitchcock
August 13, 1899 – April 29, 1980
British filmmaker (1899–1980)
Modern era
Orson Welles
May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985
American actor and filmmaker (1915–1985)
Modern era
Stanley Kubrick
July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999
American filmmaker and photographer (1928–1999)
Modern era
Akira Kurosawa
March 23, 1910 – September 6, 1998
Japanese filmmaker (1910–1998)
Modern era
Federico Fellini
January 20, 1920 – October 31, 1993
Italian filmmaker (1920–1993)
Modern era
Ingmar Bergman
July 14, 1918 – July 30, 2007
Swedish director and screenwriter (1918–2007)
Modern era
Satyajit Ray
May 2, 1921 – April 23, 1992
Indian filmmaker and writer (1921–1992)
Modern era
Martin Scorsese
b. November 17, 1942
American filmmaker (born 1942)
Modern era
Francis Ford Coppola
b. April 7, 1939
American filmmaker (born 1939)
Modern era
Hayao Miyazaki
b. January 5, 1941
Japanese animator, film director, and mangaka (born 1941)
Modern era
Greta Garbo
September 18, 1905 – April 15, 1990
Swedish-American actress (1905–1990)
Modern era
Humphrey Bogart
December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957
American actor (1899–1957)
Modern era
Ingrid Bergman
August 29, 1915 – August 29, 1982
Swedish actress (1915–1982)
Modern era
Katharine Hepburn
May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003
American actress (1907–2003)
Modern era
Audrey Hepburn
May 4, 1929 – January 20, 1993
British actress (1929–1993)
Modern era
Grace Kelly
November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982
American actress and Princess consort of Monaco (1929–1982)
Modern era
Marilyn Monroe
June 1, 1926 – August 4, 1962
American actress and model (1926–1962)
Modern era
Judy Garland
June 10, 1922 – June 22, 1969
American actress, singer, dancer and vaudevillian (1922–1969)
Modern era
Fred Astaire
May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987
American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer (1899–1987)
Modern era
Clark Gable
February 1, 1901 – November 16, 1960
American actor (1901–1960)
Modern era
Cary Grant
January 18, 1904 – November 29, 1986
British-American actor (1904–1986)
Modern era
John Wayne
May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979
American actor (1907–1979)
Modern era
Laurence Olivier
May 22, 1907 – July 11, 1989
English actor and director (1907–1989)
Modern era
James Dean
February 8, 1931 – September 30, 1955
American actor (1931–1955)
Modern era
Marlon Brando
April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004
American actor (1924–2004)
Modern era
Elizabeth Taylor
February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011
British-American actress (1932–2011)
Modern era
Sophia Loren
b. September 20, 1934
Italian actress (born 1934)
Modern era
Paul Newman
January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008
American actor (1925–2008)
Modern era
Clint Eastwood
b. May 31, 1930
American actor and film director (born 1930)
Modern era
Sidney Poitier
February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022
Bahamian and American actor and diplomat (1927–2022)
Modern era
Sean Connery
August 25, 1930 – October 31, 2020
Scottish actor (1930–2020)
Modern era
Robert De Niro
b. August 17, 1943
American actor (born 1943)