While they may raise children, cook, clean and honor their spouses, the women celebrated in the PBS-AOL collaboration “Makers” are the daring ones who ventured out of the house to lead the women’s liberation movement, who broke barriers and became emblems in the fight for equality. “Makers: Women Who Make America” is a broadcast and digital effort, already online and premiering as a three-hour documentary narrated by Meryl Streep on PBS on Feb. 26. Bra burning? Yes, that’s part of the story, along with Supreme Court appointments, the first female astronaut, anchorwomen, congresswomen, corporate executives, coal miners, Boston marathoners and more. From the victory of Roe v. Wade to the defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment, from consciousness-raising about advertising imagery to the admission of women in sports, it has been a long, not always winning slog. The complete article on the documentary can be read here.

And while we’re at it, here’s the pictures update for 2003. Although we’ve tracking the appearances back ten years, I vividly remember 2003 as one of the most exciting years in Meryl’s recent career. She won the Golden Globe for “Adaptation” (her first win in 20 years), was honored with the Cesar in France and received Oscar, BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild Awards nomination. With “The Hours” and “Adaptation” as well as the television landmark “Angels in America” (which premiered in late 2003), Meryl sort of made a comeback as an actor of relevance. That being said, it’s much easier to forget she also did “Stuck on You” in 2003 :-) To view all last added pictures, click any of the previews below.

The coverage continues with 2004. This has been one of the most extensive years for Meryl, winning both the Golden Globe and Emmy Award for “Angels in America”, receiving the American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award and promoting two films, “The Manchurian Candidate” and “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events”. Over 1.000 additional pictures have been added to the image library. To launch all last added pictures, click any of the previews below.

Another batch of additional pictures, this time covering the year 2005, have been added to the image library. 2005 has been a rather quiet year, featuring the theatrical release of “Prime”, but not that much otherwise except some appearances – including the Golden Globe Awards as a nominee for “The Manchurian Candidate” and various benefit events. To launch all last added pictures, click one of the previews below.

In a recent interview, actress Margo Martindale has dished on the recent filming of “August: Osage County”: August was a wonderful, incredible two months. It will look beautiful. The script is magnificent. The actors are all fabulous. Will it all work? That will be a mystery. I was wildly happy to get that part, and I said to myself, after seeing it on Broadway, “I want to play that in the movie.” Rondi Reed, who played it on stage, I couldn’t have perfected that. There was no need to do it on stage. So I decided to set my sights on the movie. You’ve worked with Meryl Streep, who plays your sister Violet, a few times in your career. Did that previous experience with her help build your relationship as sisters? Tremendously. We spent our off time together. She’s a great, great person. These sisters really lean on each other, and I’ve known Chris Cooper, who plays my husband, since 1981. I love him so much. I think that when everyone got this job, you had that looming around in the back of your mind. Juliette Lewis said, “So much came with getting these roles,” and I responded, “I know. I wish we had never had that. I wish we had just been out here doing a movie.” Which we were, but there was so much expectation. There’s something about that that makes it hard.” The complete article can be read here.

And the public appearances updates continue with over 1.000 additional pictures from 2006 events. This has been another busy year for Meryl, promoting both “A Prairie Home Companion” and “The Devil Wears Prada” in the US and overseas, including the Venice, Deauville and Berlin Film Festival. She also returned to the stage with “Mother Courage” and presented the Lifetime Achievement Academy Award to Robert Altman. All last added pictures can be viewed by clicking one of the previews below. P.S. I’ve received lots of emails asking if Meryl attends the BAFTA Awards tonight. There have been news, but I don’t know how reliable they are. However, if Meryl will attend the ceremony tonight, be sure to find up-to-date coverage here at Simply Streep.

Another batch of public apperances pictures have been added, this time covering 2007. That year, Meryl won a Golden Globe for her performance in “The Devil Wears Prada” and released a total of four films – Dark Matter, Evening, Rendition and Lions for Lambs – the latter two promoted at various premieres. In 2007, Meryl also attended Belfast to promote their arts museum and presented Al Gore with the Global Environmental Citizen Award. To view all last added pictures, click one of the previews below.

Today, the AMPAS made an announcement that Meryl Streep, Jean Dujardin, Octavia Spencer and Christopher Plummer will return to present on this year’s telecast. “We are honored to have Meryl, Octavia, Christopher and Jean, last year’s Oscar winners in each of the acting categories, return to the Oscar stage,” said Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. Streep, who is the most nominated actor with 17 nominations, has won three Academy Awards, including last year’s lead actress award for her performance in The Iron Lady. Plummer, who has twice been nominated, won the award for his supporting role in Beginners and Spencer took home the award for her supporting role in Best Picture nominee The Help. Dujardin, who received his first nomination last year, won the Oscar for his lead performance in the Best Picture winner The Artist. Oscars for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on Oscar Sunday, February 24, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and will be hosted by Seth MacFarlane live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.

Additional pictures from 2008 public appearances have been added to the image library. The year was dominated by the US releases of both “Mamma Mia” – which was also promoted in London, Germany, Italy, Stockholm, Sydney, Melbourne – and “Doubt”, which world-premiered at the 2008 AFI Fest. Further, Meryl was honored by the Lincoln Center, the British National Movie Awards and at the San Sebastian Film Festival. For a complete overview of all last added pictures, click any of the previews below.

The gallery updates continue with additional pictures from 2009 events. Over 1.000 images have been added from this very busy year – Meryl not only promoted “Doubt” during its award season and “Mamma Mia” oversears in Tokyo, the year also boasted the theatrical releases of “Julie & Julia”, “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “It’s Complicated”. Pictures include the Golden Globes, SAG Awards, BAFTA and Academy Awards, the above premieres and press conferences and her festival appearances in Deauville and Rome. Check all last added pictures by clicking the previews below.