This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(October 2019)
Overlooked No More is a recurring feature in the
obituary section of The New York Times, which honors "remarkable people" whose deaths had been overlooked by editors of that section since its creation in 1851. The feature was introduced on March 8, 2018, for
International Women's Day, when the Times published fifteen obituaries of such "overlooked" women, and has since become a weekly feature in the paper.
The project was created by
Amisha Padnani, the digital editor of the obituaries desk,[1] and
Jessica Bennett, the paper's gender editor. In its introduction, it was admitted that the paper's obituaries had been "dominated by white men", and that the project was intended to help "address these inequities of our time".[2][3][4][5]
During February 2019, in honor of
Black History Month, the paper published obituaries for "a prominent group of black men and women" who were not examined at the time of their deaths.[11] Padnani wrote that readers' suggestions of whom to write about "have yielded some of the most-read obituaries".[12]
Gladys Bentley, (1907–1960), "a gender bending blues performer who became 1920s Harlem royalty".
Scott Joplin, (1867–1917), "a pianist and ragtime master who wrote 'The Entertainer' and the groundbreaking opera 'Treemonisha'.
Margaret Garner, (1833–1858), "who killed her own daughter rather than return her to the horrors of slavery".
Major Taylor, (1878–1932), "a world champion bicycle racer whose fame was undermined by prejudice".
Zelda Wynn Valdes, (1905–2001), "a fashion designer who outfitted the glittery stars of screen and stage".
Alfred Hair, (1941–1970), "a charismatic businessman who created a movement for Florida's black artists".
Nina Mae McKinney, (1912–1957), "an actress who defied the barrier of race to find stardom in Europe".
Granville T. Woods, (1856–1910), "an inventor known as the 'Black Edison'".
Oscar Micheaux, (1884–1951), "a pioneering filmmaker prefiguring independent directors like Spike Lee and Tyler Perry".
Mary Ellen Pleasant, (1814–1907), "born into slavery, she became a Gold Rush-era millionaire and a powerful abolitionist".
Elizabeth Jennings Graham, (1827–1901), "Life experiences primed her to fight for racial equality. Her moment came on a streetcar ride to church."
Philip A. Payton Jr., (1876–1917), "a real estate magnate who turned Harlem into a black mecca".
Moses Fleetwood Walker, (1857–1924), "the first black baseball player in the big leagues, even before Jackie Robinson".
Other honorees
Ángela Ruiz Robles Spanish teacher, writer, inventor of the mechanical precursor to the electronic book, published November 2023[13]
Lily Parr, British soccer player, published July 21, 2023
Maria Orosa, food scientist and Filipino nationalist, inventor of banana ketchup, published September 29, 2022 [14]
Elizabeth Wagner Reed, geneticist "who resurrected legacies of women in science", published April 22, 2023[15]
Lilian Lindsay, "the first certified female dentist in Britain", published March 21, 2023[16]
Emma Gatewood, "first woman to conquer the Appalachian trail alone", published June 27, 2018
Amrita Sher-Gil, "a pioneer of Indian art", published June 21, 2018
Fannie Farmer, "modern cookery's pioneer", published June 14, 2018
Mary Ann Shadd, "shook up the abolitionist movement", published June 7, 2018
Sophia Perovskaya, "the Russian icon who was hanged for killing a czar", published May 31, 2018
Esther Hobart Morris, "she followed a trail to Wyoming. Then she blazed one.", published May 24, 2018
Margarita Xirgu, "theater radical who staged Lorca's plays", published May 17, 2018
Leticia Ramos-Shahani, "a Philippine women's rights pioneer", published May 10, 2018
Julia de Burgos, "a poet who helped shape Puerto Rico's identity", published May 3, 2018
Maria Bochkareva, "led women into battle in WWI", published April 26, 2018
Harriot Daley, "the Capitol's first telephone operator", published April 17, 2018
Lin Huiyin and
Liang Sicheng, "chroniclers of Chinese architecture", published April 11, 2018
Bessie Stringfield, "the motorcycle queen of Miami", published April 4, 2018
Yu Gwan-Sun, "a Korean independence activist who defied Japanese rule", published March 29, 2018
Ruth Wakefield, "invented the chocolate chip cookie", published March 22, 2018
Alison Hargreaves, "conquered Everest solo and without bottled oxygen", published March 15, 2018
Series
In April 2019,
Netflix and Higher Ground Productions (the production company founded by
Barack Obama and
Michelle Obama) announced that they would be adapting Overlooked into a scripted anthology series. The series would be produced by Liza Chasin of 3dot Productions and
Joy Gorman Wettels of Anonymous Content.[35]
Musical
In May 2019,
The Waa-Mu Show at
Northwestern University presented a new, student-written musical based on Amisha Padnani and the Overlooked series, entitled For the Record.[36]
This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(October 2019)
Overlooked No More is a recurring feature in the
obituary section of The New York Times, which honors "remarkable people" whose deaths had been overlooked by editors of that section since its creation in 1851. The feature was introduced on March 8, 2018, for
International Women's Day, when the Times published fifteen obituaries of such "overlooked" women, and has since become a weekly feature in the paper.
The project was created by
Amisha Padnani, the digital editor of the obituaries desk,[1] and
Jessica Bennett, the paper's gender editor. In its introduction, it was admitted that the paper's obituaries had been "dominated by white men", and that the project was intended to help "address these inequities of our time".[2][3][4][5]
During February 2019, in honor of
Black History Month, the paper published obituaries for "a prominent group of black men and women" who were not examined at the time of their deaths.[11] Padnani wrote that readers' suggestions of whom to write about "have yielded some of the most-read obituaries".[12]
Gladys Bentley, (1907–1960), "a gender bending blues performer who became 1920s Harlem royalty".
Scott Joplin, (1867–1917), "a pianist and ragtime master who wrote 'The Entertainer' and the groundbreaking opera 'Treemonisha'.
Margaret Garner, (1833–1858), "who killed her own daughter rather than return her to the horrors of slavery".
Major Taylor, (1878–1932), "a world champion bicycle racer whose fame was undermined by prejudice".
Zelda Wynn Valdes, (1905–2001), "a fashion designer who outfitted the glittery stars of screen and stage".
Alfred Hair, (1941–1970), "a charismatic businessman who created a movement for Florida's black artists".
Nina Mae McKinney, (1912–1957), "an actress who defied the barrier of race to find stardom in Europe".
Granville T. Woods, (1856–1910), "an inventor known as the 'Black Edison'".
Oscar Micheaux, (1884–1951), "a pioneering filmmaker prefiguring independent directors like Spike Lee and Tyler Perry".
Mary Ellen Pleasant, (1814–1907), "born into slavery, she became a Gold Rush-era millionaire and a powerful abolitionist".
Elizabeth Jennings Graham, (1827–1901), "Life experiences primed her to fight for racial equality. Her moment came on a streetcar ride to church."
Philip A. Payton Jr., (1876–1917), "a real estate magnate who turned Harlem into a black mecca".
Moses Fleetwood Walker, (1857–1924), "the first black baseball player in the big leagues, even before Jackie Robinson".
Other honorees
Ángela Ruiz Robles Spanish teacher, writer, inventor of the mechanical precursor to the electronic book, published November 2023[13]
Lily Parr, British soccer player, published July 21, 2023
Maria Orosa, food scientist and Filipino nationalist, inventor of banana ketchup, published September 29, 2022 [14]
Elizabeth Wagner Reed, geneticist "who resurrected legacies of women in science", published April 22, 2023[15]
Lilian Lindsay, "the first certified female dentist in Britain", published March 21, 2023[16]
Emma Gatewood, "first woman to conquer the Appalachian trail alone", published June 27, 2018
Amrita Sher-Gil, "a pioneer of Indian art", published June 21, 2018
Fannie Farmer, "modern cookery's pioneer", published June 14, 2018
Mary Ann Shadd, "shook up the abolitionist movement", published June 7, 2018
Sophia Perovskaya, "the Russian icon who was hanged for killing a czar", published May 31, 2018
Esther Hobart Morris, "she followed a trail to Wyoming. Then she blazed one.", published May 24, 2018
Margarita Xirgu, "theater radical who staged Lorca's plays", published May 17, 2018
Leticia Ramos-Shahani, "a Philippine women's rights pioneer", published May 10, 2018
Julia de Burgos, "a poet who helped shape Puerto Rico's identity", published May 3, 2018
Maria Bochkareva, "led women into battle in WWI", published April 26, 2018
Harriot Daley, "the Capitol's first telephone operator", published April 17, 2018
Lin Huiyin and
Liang Sicheng, "chroniclers of Chinese architecture", published April 11, 2018
Bessie Stringfield, "the motorcycle queen of Miami", published April 4, 2018
Yu Gwan-Sun, "a Korean independence activist who defied Japanese rule", published March 29, 2018
Ruth Wakefield, "invented the chocolate chip cookie", published March 22, 2018
Alison Hargreaves, "conquered Everest solo and without bottled oxygen", published March 15, 2018
Series
In April 2019,
Netflix and Higher Ground Productions (the production company founded by
Barack Obama and
Michelle Obama) announced that they would be adapting Overlooked into a scripted anthology series. The series would be produced by Liza Chasin of 3dot Productions and
Joy Gorman Wettels of Anonymous Content.[35]
Musical
In May 2019,
The Waa-Mu Show at
Northwestern University presented a new, student-written musical based on Amisha Padnani and the Overlooked series, entitled For the Record.[36]