WGLT is marking Women’s History Month with a new series called 21 Women Who Shaped Bloomington-Normal. One new episode, featuring one woman, will be released every weekday throughout March. Episodes will air throughout each day on 89.1 FM and be published on WGLT.org. You can follow the entire series at WGLT.org/21Women.
The 21 women who will be featured were selected by WGLT’s Newsroom, chosen from 130+ nominations submitted by the community. (Thank you to everyone who nominated someone!)
The final list includes 21 remarkable women who shaped Bloomington-Normal in so many different ways. There are political figures, educators, judges, advocates, artists and coaches. Some have passed away; others are still very active in the community. Some are household names in Bloomington-Normal; others will surprise you. But without each of them, Bloomington-Normal would be a different place.
Of course, this list is imperfect. It’s made by humans, after all. It’s not a ranking, and episodes are not released in order of importance or impact. We’ll certainly exclude someone who you thought should have definitely made the list. The WGLT Newsroom could have easily chosen 42 or 63 or 84 women, given how many stories there are to tell. But we have to start somewhere, given our resources. Perhaps that’s just a good excuse to do a second round in 2025.
A special thanks to our partners at the McLean County Museum of History for their help with the series. Museum staff provided many nominations and multimedia assistance with our work.
Your feedback is always welcome. Contact us at news@wglt.org.
