Overlooked (obituary feature)

Overlooked is a recurring feature in the obituary section of The New York Times, which contains posthumous obituaries honoring "remarkable people" whose deaths had been overlooked by editors of that section since its creation in 1851. The feature was first introduced on March 8, 2018 for International Women's Day, where 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]

In May 2018, it was reported that the Times had partnered with Anonymous Content and Paramount Television to develop a drama anthology franchise based on the feature, with each season chronicling a notable woman.[6]

List of honorees

International Women's Day (March 8, 2018)

1. Ida B. Wells, (1862 - 1931), "took on racism in the deep south with powerful reporting on lynchings"[7]
2. Qiu Jin, (1875 - 1907), "beheaded by imperial forces, was 'China's Joan of Arc'"[8]
3. Mary Ewing Outerbridge, (1852 - 1886), "helped bring tennis to the United States"[9]
4. Diane Arbus, (1923 - 1971), "a photographer, whose portraits have compelled or repelled generations of viewers"[10]
5. Marsha P. Johnson, (1945 - 2002), "a transgender pioneer and activist"
6. Sylvia Plath, (1932 - 1963), "a postwar poet unafraid to confront her despair"
7. Henrietta Lacks, (1920 - 1951), "whose cells lead to a medical revolution"
8. Madhubala, (1933 - 1969), "a Bollywood legend whose tragic life mirrored Marilyn Monroe's"
9. Emily Warren Roebling, (1843 - 1903), "the woman behind the man who built the Brooklyn Bridge"
10. Nella Larsen, (1891 - 1964), "wrestled with race and sexuality in the Harlem renaissance"
11. Ada Lovelace, (1815 - 1852), "mathematician who wrote the first computer program"
12. Margaret Abbott, (1878 - 1955), "an unwitting olympic trailblazer"
13. Belkis Ayón, (1967 - 1999), "a Cuban printmaker inspired by a secret male society"
14. Charlotte Brontë, (1816 - 1855), "Novelist known for Jane Eyre"
15. Lillias Campbell Davidson, (1853 - 1934), "an early advocate for women's cycling"

Black History Month (February 2019)

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 about whom to write "have yielded some of the most-read obituaries".[12]

1. Gladys Bentley, (1907 - 1960), "a gender bending blues performer who became 1920s Harlem royalty".
2. Scott Joplin, (1867 - 1917), "a pianist and ragtime master who wrote 'The Entertainer' and the groundbreaking opera 'Treemonisha'.
3. Margaret Garner, (1833 - 1858), "who killed her own daughter rather than return her to the horrors of slavery".
4. Major Taylor, (1878 - 1932), "a world champion bicycle racer whose fame was undermined by prejudice".
5. Zelda Wynn Valdes, (1905 - 2001), "a fashion designer who outfitted the glittery stars of screen and stage".
6. Alfred Hair, (1941 - 1970), "a charismatic businessman who created a movement for Florida’s black artists".
7. Nina Mae McKinney, (1912 - 1957), "an actress who defied the barrier of race to find stardom in Europe".
8. Granville T. Woods, (1856 - 1910), "an inventor known as the 'Black Edison'".
9. Oscar Micheaux, (1884 - 1951), "a pioneering filmmaker prefiguring independent directors like Spike Lee and Tyler Perry".
10. Mary Ellen Pleasant, (1814 - 1907), "born into slavery, she became a Gold Rush-era millionaire and a powerful abolitionist".
11. Elizabeth Jennings Graham, (1827 - 1901), "Life experiences primed her to fight for racial equality. Her moment came on a streetcar ride to church."
12. Philip A. Payton Jr., (1876 - 1917), "a real estate magnate who turned Harlem into a black mecca".
13. Moses Fleetwood Walker, (1857 - 1924), "the first black baseball player in the big leagues, even before Jackie Robinson".

Other honorees

• Brad Lomax, "a bridge between civil rights movements," published July 8, 2020[13]
• Earl Tucker, "a dancer known as 'Snakehips,'" published December 18, 2019
• Bessie Coleman, "pioneering African-American aviatrix", published December 11, 2019[14]
• Rose Mackenberg, "Houdini's secret 'ghost-buster,'" published December 6, 2019
• Lillian Harris Dean, "culinary entrepreneur known as 'Pig Foot Mary,'" published November 27, 2019
• Pauline Boty, "rebellious Pop artist", published November 20, 2019[15]
• Annie Londonderry, "who traveled the world by bicycle," published November 11, 2019[16]
• Olive Morris, "fought for black women's rights in Britain," published October 30, 2019
• Sanmao, "'wandering writer' who found her voice in the desert," published October 23, 2019[17]
• Lotte Reiniger, "animator who created magic with scissors and paper," published October 16, 2019
• Mitsuye Endo, "a name linked to justice for Japanese-Americans," published October 9, 2019
• Robert Johnson, "bluesman whose life was a riddle," published September 25, 2019
• Elizabeth A. Gloucester, "'richest' black woman and ally of John Brown," published September 18, 2019
• Mihri Rassim, "feminist artist in the Ottoman Empire," published September 12, 2019
• Alice Guy Blaché, "the world's first female filmmaker," published September 6, 2019[18]
• Elizabeth Rona, "pioneering scientist amid dangers of war," published August 28, 2019
• Lau Sing Kee, "war hero jailed for helping immigrants," published August 21, 2019
• Rani of Jhansi, "India's warrior queen who fought the British," published August 14, 2019
• William Byron Rumford, "a civil rights champion in California," published August 7, 2019
• Georgia Gilmore, "who fed and funded the Montgomery bus boycott," published July 31, 2019
• Gertrude Benham, "who climbed the world one mountain at a time," published July 24, 2019
• Florence Merriam Bailey, "who defined modern bird-watching," published July 17, 2019
• Else Ury, "[her] stories survived World War II. She did not," published July 10, 2019
• Ralph Lazo, "who voluntarily lived in an internment camp," published July 3, 2019
• Bill Larson, "who became a symbol of gay loss in New Orleans," published June 26, 2019
• Claude Cahun, "whose photographs explored gender and sexuality," published June 19, 2019
• Ma Rainey, "the 'Mother of the Blues,'" published June 12, 2019
• Alan Turing, "condemned code breaker and computer visionary," published June 5, 2019[19]
• Emma Stebbins, "who sculpted an angel of New York," published May 29, 2019
• Debra Hill, "producer who parlayed 'Halloween' into a cult classic," published May 22, 2019
• Grace Banker, "whose 'Hello Girls' decoded calls in World War I," published May 15, 2019
• Barbara Rose Johns, "who defied segregation in schools," published May 8, 2019
• Annie Edson Taylor, "who tumbled down Niagara Falls into fame," published May 1, 2019
• Martin Sostre, "who reformed America's prisons from his cell," published April 24, 2019
• Aloha Wanderwell, "explorer and filmmaker," published April 17, 2019
• Rose Morgan, "a pioneer in hairdressing and Harlem," published April 10, 2019
• S. N. Goenka, "who brought mindfulness to the West," published April 3, 2019
• Bessie Blount, "wartime inventor and handwriting expert," published March 27, 2019
• Elizabeth Peratrovich, "rights advocate for Alaska Natives," published March 20, 2019
• Isabella Goodwin, "New York City's first female police detective," published March 13, 2019
• Julia Morgan, "pioneering female architect," published March 6, 2019
• Dondi, "the underground graffiti adventures of," published February 27, 2019
• Dorothy Bolden, "who started a movement for domestic workers," published February 20, 2019[20]
• Dudley Randall, "whose broadside press gave a voice to black poets," published February 13, 2019[21]
• Mabel Grammer, "whose brown baby plan found homes for hundreds", published February 6, 2019[22]
• Forough Farrokhzad, "Iranian poet, who broke barriers of sex and society", published January 30, 2019[23]
• Mabel Stark, "fearless tiger trainer", published January 23, 2019[24]
• Isabelle Kelley, "developed a food stamp program to feed millions", published January 16, 2019[25]
• Laura De Force Gordon, "suffragist, journalist and lawyer", published January 9, 2019[26]
• Karen Spärck Jones, "established the basis for search engines", published January 2, 2019[27]
• Gertrude Beasley, "wrote an uncompromising memoir, then vanished", published December 19, 2018
• Elizabeth Keckly, "dressmaker and confidante to Mary Todd Lincoln", published December 12, 2018
• Charley Parkhurst, "gold rush legend with a hidden identity", published December 5, 2018[28]
• Noor Inayat Khan, "Indian princess and British spy", published November 28, 2018
• Lilian Jeannette Rice, "architect who lifted a style in California", published November 21, 2018
• Pandita Ramabai, "Indian scholar, feminist and educator", published November 14, 2018
• Jackie Mitchell, "fanned two of the baseball's greats", published November 7, 2018
• Miki Gorman, "the unlikely winner of the marathon", published October 31, 2018
• Rose Zar, "a holocaust survivor who hid in plain sight", published October 24, 2018
• Kin Yamei, "the Chinese doctor who introduced tofu to the West", published October 17, 2018
• Annemarie Schwarzenbach, "author, photographer, and 'ravaged angel'", published October 10, 2018
• Minnie Mae Freeman Penney, "Nebraska's fearless maid", published October 3, 2018
• Voltairine de Cleyre, "America's 'greatest woman anarchist'", published September 26, 2018
• Ana Mendieta, "a Cuban artist who pushed boundaries", published September 19, 2018
• Marthe McKenna, "nurse who spied for the British in World War I", published September 12, 2018
• Melitta Bentz, "invented the coffee filter", published September 5, 2018
• Ruby Payne-Scott, "explored space with radio waves", published August 29, 2018
• Doria Shafik, "led Egypt's women liberation movement", published August 22, 2018
• Matilda Sissieretta Joyner Jones, "a soprano that shattered racial barriers", published August 15, 2018
• Julia Sand, "whose letters inspired a president", published August 8, 2018
• Clara Lemlich, "crusading leader of labor rights", published August 1, 2018
• Edmonia Lewis, "sculptor or worldwide acclaim", published July 25, 2018
• Beatrice Tinsley, "astronomer who saw the course of the universe", published July 18, 2018
• Bette Nesmith Graham, "invented liquid paper", published July 11, 2018
• 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.[29]

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.[30]

References

1. Padnani, Amisha (2018-03-08). "How an Obits Project on Overlooked Women Was Born". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
2. Times, The New York (2017-12-13). "Jessica Bennett, Our New Gender Editor, Answers Your Questions". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
3. "The New York Times Is Writing Obituaries for the Historical Women They Ignored". InStyle.com. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
4. Stevens, Heidi. "NYT runs obits for 'overlooked' women on International Women's Day". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
5. ""We want to address these inequities of our time": NYT starts new series featuring overlooked obituaries". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
6. Andreeva, Nellie; Petski, Denise (2018-05-21). "'Overlooked' Female Anthology Series Based On NY Times Obituaries Feature Set At Anonymous Content & Paramount TV". Deadline. Retrieved 2019-01-17.
7. Dickerson, Caitlin (2018-03-08). "Ida B. Wells, Who Took on Racism in the Deep South With Powerful Reporting on Lynchings". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-01-11.
8. Qin, Amy (2018-03-08). "Qiu Jin, Beheaded by Imperial Forces, Was 'China's Joan of Arc'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-01-11.
9. Padnani, Amisha (2018-03-08). "Mary Ewing Outerbridge, Who Helped Bring Tennis to the United States". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-01-17.
10. Estrin, James (2018-03-08). "Diane Arbus Called Her Portraits 'A Secret About a Secret'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-01-17.
11. Padnani, Amisha; Chambers, Veronica (2019-01-31). "For Black History Month, Remarkable Women and Men We Overlooked Since 1851". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
12. Padnani, Amisha (2019-01-31). "A Year Into the Overlooked Project, Widening the Lens". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
13. Connelly, Eileen AJ (2020-07-20). "Overlooked No More: Brad Lomax, a Bridge Between Civil Rights Movements". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
14. Slotnik, Daniel E (11 December 2019). "Overlooked No More: Bessie Coleman, Pioneering African-American Aviatrix". New York Times.
15. Rosenberg, Karen (20 November 2019). "Overlooked No More: Pauline Boty, Rebellious Pop Artist". New York Times.
16. Weber, Bruce (2019-11-06). "Overlooked No More: Annie Londonderry, Who Traveled the World by Bicycle". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
17. Ives, Mike; Li, Katherine (2019-10-23). "Overlooked No More: Sanmao, 'Wandering Writer' Who Found Her Voice in the Desert". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
18. New York Times (September 6, 2019). "Overlooked No More: Alice Guy Blaché, the World's First Female Filmmaker". New York Times.
19. "Overlooked No More: Alan Turing, Condemned Code Breaker and Computer Visionary". The New York Times. 2019-06-05. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
20. "Overlooked No More: Dorothy Bolden, Who Started a Movement for Domestic Workers". The New York Times. 2019-02-20. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
21. "Overlooked No More: Dudley Randall, Whose Broadside Press Gave a Voice to Black Poets". The New York Times. 2019-02-13. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
22. "Overlooked No More: Mabel Grammer, Whose Brown Baby Plan Found Homes for Hundreds". The New York Times. 2019-02-06. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
23. "Overlooked No More: Forough Farrokhzad, Iranian Poet Who Broke Barriers of Sex and Society". The New York Times. 2019-01-30. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
24. "Overlooked No More: Mabel Stark, Fearless Tiger Trainer". The New York Times. 2019-01-23. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-01-27.
25. "Overlooked No More: Isabelle Kelley, Who Developed a Food Stamp Program to Feed Millions". The New York Times. 2019-01-16. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
26. "Overlooked No More: Laura de Force Gordon, Suffragist, Journalist and Lawyer". The New York Times. 2019-01-09. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
27. "Overlooked No More: Karen Sparck Jones, Who Established the Basis for Search Engines". The New York Times. 2019-01-02. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
28. "Overlooked No More: Charley Parkhurst, Gold Rush Legend With a Hidden Identity". The New York Times. 2018-12-05. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
29. "HIGHER GROUND ANNOUNCES UPCOMING SLATE OF PROJECTS EXCLUSIVE TO NETFLIX". Netflix Media Center. Retrieved 2019-05-01.
30. https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2019/04/the-88th-annual-waa-mu-show-for-the-record/