Ethel Kennedy, wife of Robert F. Kennedy, mother of eleven children and social activist, has died at the age of 96.

She spent more than half of her long life in the public eye as a devoted wife, mother and formidable social activist who raised awareness and funding for causes including human rights, poverty and gun control. The audience also watched as she bore the crushing grief of too much death at too young an age: from the assassinations of both Robert F. and John F. Kennedy to the accidental deaths of her parents and brother; and the children, nephews and grandchildren who died before their time.

Here are photos from her seventy-plus years in the spotlight.