Since 1851, obituaries in The New York Times have been dominated by white men. With Overlooked, we’re adding the stories of remarkable people whose deaths went unreported in The Times.

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Bette Nesmith Graham didn’t tell anyone about the first few bottles of her whitish concoction. She had mixed it in her kitchen blender and poured it into nail polish containers, then hid it in her desk, furtively applying it only when needed to avoid the scrutiny of a disapproving boss.

In due time, her mix would be in virtually every office desk and supply cabinet around the world. The substance was Liquid Paper, the correction fluid that relieved secretaries and writers of all stripes from the pressure of perfection.

Graham later brought it to market and was soon leading an international business, based in Dallas, that produced 25 million bottles of Liquid Paper a year at its peak, with factories in Toronto and Brussels. She would sell the company for $47.5 million in 1979 and donate millions to charity — six months before she died at 56.