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Information for Librarians

Loretta Lynn

Loretta Lynn (1932–2022) was a country music icon. In a career that spanned six decades, she scored twenty-four No. 1 hit singles and eleven No. 1 albums. Lynn broke down barriers for women in country music, and virtually every female country artist who followed her acknowledged her influence. Her songwriting encouraged women to stand up for themselves and emphasized rural pride and determination.

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Dorothy Bolden

Dorothy Bolden (1920–2005) was a labor and civil rights activist who in 1968 co-founded and became the first president of the National Domestic Workers Union of America. While it was national and a union in name only, Bolden’s group improved the material welfare of thousands of Atlanta’s domestic workers. Bolden expanded the labor movement’s reach by establishing the home as a legitimate site of labor contestation and by organizing workers—specifically Black women—as skilled negotiators.

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The January update of the American National Biography features six new essays, including country music singer and songwriter Loretta Lynn; labor activist Dorothy Bolden; actress Jane Powell; priest and biblical scholar Raymond E. Brown; aviation pioneer John Joseph Montgomery; and visual artist Nancy Spero.

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News

JANUARY 23, 2025

What’s New: January 2025

The January update of the American National Biography features six new essays, including country music singer and songwriter Loretta Lynn; labor activist Dorothy Bolden; actress Jane Powell; priest and biblical scholar Raymond E. Brown; aviation pioneer John Joseph Montgomery; and visual artist Nancy Spero.

NOVEMBER 28, 2024

What’s New: November 2024

The November update of the American National Biography features six new essays, including novelist Harper Lee; televangelist Tammy Faye Messner; musical comedy star Betty Garrett; playwright Clay Greene; and sports broadcasters John Madden and Vin Scully.

OCTOBER 24, 2024

What’s new: October 2024

The October update of the American National Biography features six new essays, including Maragret Burroughs, artist, educator, and co-founder of the DuSable Museum; Boston mob leader and fugitive James “Whitey” Bulger; socialite, fashion designer, and entrepreneur Gloria Vanderbilt; speechwriter and presidential advisor Richard N. Goodwin; and astrologers Carroll Righter and Evangeline Adams.