Maya Angelou

  • Brith

    She was born in St. Louis, Missouri with the name Marguerite Annie Johnson
  • Period: to

    She was in the touring cast of Porgy and Bess

  • She ends touring with Porgy and Bess

  • She became the Northern Coordinator in NY for the Southern Christian leadership Conference (SCLC) where she met MLK

  • Period: to

    She lived in Ghana for two years

  • She publishes I Know Why the Caged Birds Sing

  • She publishes Gather Together in My Name

  • Recognized by Southern Women Writers: The New Generation

  • Served on Gerald Ford's presidential committee

  • Served on Jimmy Carter's presidential committee

  • Worked at Wake Forest University

  • Won a Grammy for her poem On the Pulse of the Morning (which was also published that same year)

  • First female black director in Hollywood

  • Given the National Medal of Arts by Bill Clinton

  • Given the Presidential medal of Freedom, which is the highest Civilian honor in the US by Obama

  • She dies