Photos: Maya Angelou | 1928 - 2014

Joining Maya Angelou, seated, for a photo at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington are, from left, Kim Sajet, Richard Kurin, Cicely Tyson, Oprah Winfrey, Johnnetta Cole, Ross Rossin, Julianne Malveaux and Andrew Young.  (Paul Morigi / Associated Press)

President Obama kisses Maya Angelou after awarding her the 2010 Medal of Freedom during a 2011 ceremony in the White House.  (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press)

Maya Angelou celebrates her 82nd birthday in 2010 with friends and family at her home in Winston-Salem, N.C.  (Steve Exum / Getty Images)

Maya Angelou at an event in Washington in 2008.  (Gerald Herbert / Associated Press)

Maya Angelou attends a memorial in 2009 for performer and activist Odetta at Riverside Church in New York.  (Astrid Stawiarz / Getty Images)

Maya Angelou is shown in 2008 while reading a poem during a ceremony honoring South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu at the State Department in Washington.   (Tim Sloan / AFP/Getty Images)

Maya Angelou addresses the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston.  (Hector Mata / AFP/Getty Images)

1998 portrait of Maya Angelou in Beverly Hills.  (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

Poet Maya Angelou addresses the Million Man March on Capitol Hill in 1995.  (Doug Mills / Associated Press)