Kathleen Collins

Born in New Jersey in 1942, Kathleen Collins was an activist during the Civil Rights Movement who went on to carve out a career for herself as a playwright and filmmaker during a time when black women were rarely seen in those roles. Though she is now considered a pioneer, Collins's work was overlooked and forgotten till 2015 when her film Losing Ground premiered at the Lincoln Center as part of a series on African-American filmmakers, and was hailed as a masterpiece. She died in 1988, aged just 46.