Mary June Bennett was born in 1922 in Evanston, Illinois. She grew up in Ann Arbor and Birmingham, Michigan during the Prohibition Era. After attending the University of Michigan, she joined the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) and graduated from midshipman’s school at Smith College in 1944. She was photo editor of the U.S. Navy’s All Hands Magazine. She had three children with her first husband, Maxwell Matthews, and after their divorce she married Clyde “Buck” Bennett in 1967. She was a family therapist for 25 years.

Hortense Howard was born in Bloomington, Illinois in 1927. Soon afterwards, her family moved to Ann Arbor, where she and her sisters became known as the “Bacon Sisters” for their choral performances at sorority houses and other venues. Ms. Howard attended a music school in Detroit because she “wanted to sing like Sarah Vaughan,” and she met many African American singers while working at the Gotham Hotel. She ran her own daycare, Sitters Unlimited Family Day Care, in Ann Arbor for twenty years. 

John Dingell Jr. (D) served in the U.S. House of Representatives as part of the Michigan delegation from 1955-2015. His 60 years in office make him the longest serving member in the history of the House. A long-time member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, including 16 years as Chairman, Dingell was an advocate for environmental issues and a supporter of the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Environmental Protection Agency.  Dingell was also the longest serving Dean of the House of Representatives.