Kandeler Photo · Public domain

A novelist and short-story writer who, at her peak in the 1920s, was among the highest-paid and most widely read authors in America, publishing over 300 stories and bestselling novels including Back Street and Imitation of Life. Several became landmark films, with Imitation of Life adapted twice, in 1934 and 1959. Alongside her writing she was an active campaigner for feminism, African American equality, and New Deal social programs.