Born June 25, 1951
Grand Island, New York

Environmental activist

Throughout her youth Lois Gibbs had aspired to nothing more than a comfortable life as a homemaker. In 1972 she and her new husband bought a home and began living the American dream. That dream became a nightmare, however, when they learned that their community, called Love Canal, had been built atop a seething cauldron of toxic chemicals. Alarmed by the growing number of unexplained illnesses and birth defects in the neighborhood, Gibbs sought to hold government and industry officials accountable. By 1980, largely due to Gibbs’s efforts, the government had purchased every home in the community—thus providing residents the resources to leave.

After Love Canal there was no turning back for Gibbs. She continued her work as an environmental activist and today is director of the Center for Health, Environment, and Justice in Falls Church...