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 regular feature in the paper.
The project was created by Amy Padnani, the digital editor of the obituaries desk, 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".
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.
List of honorees International Women's Day (March 8, 2018)
Ida B. Wells, (1862–1931), "took on racism in the deep south with powerful reporting on lynchings" Qiu Jin, (1875–1907), "beheaded by imperial forces, was 'China's Joan of Arc'" Mary Ewing Outerbridge, (1852–1886), "helped bring tennis to the United States" Diane Arbus, (1923–1971), "a photographer, whose portraits have compelled or repelled generations of viewers" Marsha P. Johnson, (1945–2002), "a transgender pioneer and activist" Sylvia Plath, (1932–1963), "a postwar poet unafraid to confront her despair" Henrietta Lacks, (1920–1951), "whose cells lead to a medical revolution" Madhubala, (1933–1969), "a Bollywood legend whose tragic life mirrored Marilyn Monroe's" Emily Warren Roebling, (1843–1903), "the woman behind the man who built the Brooklyn Bridge" Nella Larsen, (1891–1964), "wrestled with race and sexuality in the Harlem renaissance" Ada Lovelace, (1815–1852), "mathematician who wrote the first computer program" Margaret Abbott, (1878–1955), "an unwitting olympic trailblazer" Belkis Ayón, (1967–1999), "a Cuban printmaker inspired by a secret male society" Charlotte Brontë, (1816–1855), "Novelist known for Jane Eyre" 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. Padnani wrote that readers' suggestions of whom to write about "have yielded some of the most-read obituaries".
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 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
Hilda Terry, "who cracked the code of teen culture", published September 18, 2026 Patricia Douglas, "who challenged Hollywood's culture of abuse", published August 21, 2026 Barbara Rubin, "teenage filmmaker at the heart of New York's underground", published July 24, 2026 Garrincha, "Brazil's brilliant and broken World Cup hero", published July 10, 2026 Robbie Basho, "guitar mystic who sought enlightenment in sound", published June 19, 2026 Nancy Sheung, "whose camera captured women on their own terms", published May 29, 2026 Jackie Pung, "pioneering golfer whose setback became her story", published May 13, 2026 Margaret Moth, "fearless CNN camera operator", published April 11, 2026 Gertrude Chandler Warner, "author of 'The Boxcar Children'", published March 27, 2026 Eleanor Abbott, "the creator of Candy Land", published March 13, 2026 Bobby Garnett, "'godfather' of vintage dealers", published February 27, 2026 Clifford Brown, "trumpeter whose brief life left a lasting mark", published February 12, 2026 Jimmy Reed, "the bluesman everyone covered, then forgot", published January 31, 2026 Pamela Colman Smith, "artist behind a famous tarot deck", published January 2, 2026 Inge Lehmann, "who discovered the Earth's inner core", published December 20, 2025 Dorothy Wise, "the 'grandmother of pool' who defied the odds", published December 4, 2025 Sabina Spielrein, "visionary lost between Freud and Jung", published November 14, 2025 Hannah Szenes, "poet and paratrooper who defied the Nazis", published October 31, 2025 Violeta Parra, "folk 'genius' who redefined Latin American music", published October 10, 2025 Bessie Margolin, "lawyer who turned workers' hopes into law", published October 2, 2025 Eglantyne Jebb, "who started a movement with Save the Children", published September 12, 2025 Tina Modotti, "whose life was striking in photographs", published August 30, 2025 Molly Drake, "a maternal musical force behind Nick Drake's sound", published August 13, 2025 Polina Gelman, "fearless 'Night Witch' who haunted Nazi troops", published July 19, 2025 Rotimi Fani-Kayode, "whose camera sought a truer image of black men", published June 27, 2025 Hong Yen Chang, "lawyer who challenged a racial system", published June 6, 2025 Walasse Ting, "who bridged cultures with paint and prose", published May 16, 2025 Joyce Brown, "whose struggle redefined the rights of the homeless", published May 1, 2025 Ethel Lina White, "master of suspense who inspired Hitchcock", published April 17, 2025 Katharine McCormick, "force behind the birth control pill", published April 3, 2025 Beulah Louise Henry, "inventor with an endless imagination", published March 14, 2025 Maria W. Stewart, "trailblazing voice for Black women", published March 1, 2025 Lena Richard, "who brought Creole cooking to the masses", published February 14, 2025 Annie Easley, "who helped take spaceflight to new heights", published February 1, 2025 Karen Wynn Fonstad, "who mapped Tolkien's Middle-earth", published January 13, 2025 Fidelia Bridges, "artist who captured the natural world", published December 12, 2024 Margaret Getchell, "visionary force at Macy's", published November 27, 2024 Gowongo Mohawk, "trailblazing Indigenous actress", published November 9, 2024 Margaret E. Knight, "innovator of the flat-bottomed paper bag", published October 25, 2024 Mariama Bâ, "voice of African feminism", published October 11, 2024 Ellen E. Armstrong, "'marvelous, mystifying' magician of mirth", published September 20, 2024 Gwendolyn B. Bennett, "Harlem renaissance star plagued by misfortune", published September 6, 2024 Mabel Addis, "who pioneered storytelling in video games", published August 24, 2024 Renee Carroll, "world's most famous hatcheck girl", published August 9, 2024 Willy De Bruyn, "cycling champion who broke gender boundaries", published July 25, 2024 Ursula Parrott, "best-selling author and voice for the modern woman", published July 10, 2024 Otto Lucas, "God in the hat world", published June 28, 2024 Lorenza Böttner, "transgender artist who found beauty in disability", published June 15, 2024 Hansa Jivraj Mehta, "who fought for women's equality in India and beyond", published May 31, 2024 Bill Hosokawa, "journalist who chronicled Japanese American history", published May 16, 2024 Min Matheson, "labor leader who faced down mobsters", published May 3, 2024 Lizzie Magie, "the unknown inventor behind Monopoly", published April 12, 2024 Henrietta Swan Leavitt, "who unraveled mysteries of the stars", published March 27, 2024 Yvonne Barr, "who helped discover a cancer-causing virus", published March 21, 2024 Miriam Solovieff, "lauded violinist who suffered tragedy", published March 15, 2024 Betty Fiechter, "pioneer in the world of watches", published March 1, 2024 Pierre Toussaint, "philanthropist and candidate for sainthood", published February 18, 2024 Henry Heard, "tap dancer and advocate for people with disabilities", published February 2, 2024 Beatrix Potter, "author of The Tale of Peter Rabbit", published January 19, 2024 Cordell Jackson, "elder stateswoman of rock 'n' roll", published January 6, 2024 Ethel J. Lindgren-Utsi, "anthropologist of reindeer herding cultures", published December 22, 2023 Ada Blackjack, "survivor of a harrowing expedition", published December 9, 2023 Elena Zelayeta, "emissary for Mexican cooking", published November 22, 2023 Ángela Ruiz Robles, "inventor of an early e-reader", published November 10, 2023 Adefunmi, "who introduced African Americans to Yoruba", published October 27, 2023 Omero C. Catan, "who gained fame as 'Mr. First'", published October 12, 2023 Alice Elizabeth Anderson, "who ran Australia's first all-woman garage", published September 26, 2023 Margaret Chung, "doctor who was 'different from others'", published September 18, 2023 Molly Spotted Elk, "steward of Penobscot culture", published September 14, 2023 Chick Strand, "pioneering experimental filmmaker", published August 31, 2023 Lily Parr, "dominant British soccer player", published July 21, 2023 Hannie Schaft, "resistance fighter during World War II", published July 7, 2023 Dolores Alexander, "feminist journalist and activist", published June 25, 2023 Lou Sullivan, "author and transgender activist", published June 9, 2023 Sultan Khan, "untrained chess player who became a champion", published May 27, 2023 James Sakoda, "whose wartime internment inspired a social science tool", published May 8, 2023 Elizabeth Wagner Reed, "who resurrected legacies of women in science", published April 22, 2023 Alice Ball, "chemist who created a treatment for leprosy", published April 8, 2023 Lilian Lindsay, "Britain's first female dentist", published March 21, 2023 Dilys Winn, "who brought murder and mystery to Manhattan", published March 10, 2023 Clara Driscoll, "designer of vision in glass for Tiffany", published February 23, 2023 Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, "poet and suffragist", published February 7, 2023 Mary Barr, "who fought wildfires from aloft", published January 28, 2023 Tove Ditlevsen, "Danish writer of confessional autofiction", published January 7, 2023 Audrey Munson, "forgotten but, living on in sculptures, not gone", published December 15, 2022 Ann Davison, "who crossed the Atlantic alone", published December 3, 2022 Cléoma Falcon, "Queen of Cajun music", published November 11, 2022 Dorothy Spencer, "film editor sought out by big directors", published October 29, 2022 Katharine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers, "creators of a personality test", published October 14, 2022 María Orosa, "inventor of banana ketchup", published September 29, 2022 Sylvia Rexach, "Puerto Rican singer and composer", published September 16, 2022 Vera Menchik, "first women's chess champion", published September 2, 2022 Regina Jonas, "on whose shoulders 'all female rabbis stand'", published August 19, 2022 Alda Merini, "poet who wrote of life's joys and struggles", published August 5, 2022