Women We Lost in 2011

As we look to all the possibilities of the new year, we also salute those women who made their mark as top achievers, revolutionaries and groundbreaking advocates.

In 2011, we said goodbye to influential women who – famous or not – blazed trails and helped propel the rest of us forward.

Geraldine Ferraro (born 1935): An attorney and member of the House of Representatives. As a Democratic politician, she was the first female Vice Presidential candidate for a major political party. She also served as a U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights under the Clinton administration.

Betty Ford (born 1918): The first lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977 during her husband Gerald’s presidency. She was the founder of the Betty Ford Center for substance abuse as well as an active breast cancer awareness advocate. Ford was a recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal and Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Sonia Pierre (born 1963): A human rights advocate in the Dominican Republic and recipient of the Robert. F. Kennedy Human Rights Award. Pierre was honored by the United States Department of State with a 2010 International Women of Courage Award.

Kate Swift (born in 1923): A writer and editor responsible for helping expose sexism in modern language. She and her companion Casey Miller wrote several influential books explaining how words can be written and spoken in a more gender-neutral manner, including a style guide in the ‘70s called The Handbook of Nonsexist Writing.

Elizabeth Taylor (born 1932): A British-American actress and Academy Award winner. She co-founded the American Foundation for AIDS research, received a Lifetime Achievement Award and was named one of the greatest American screen legends by the American Film Institute.

Bonus PINK Link: Join us in bidding a heartfelt farewell to seven other women we lost in our online exclusive.

By Farren Davis

“The search for human freedom can never be complete without freedom for women.” Betty Ford