Throwback Thursday: We Once Met a Girl Named Maria!

In 1971 a young women named Maria moved to Sesame Street. 44 years later the character is still a cultural icon. 

In honor of Sonia Manzano's retirement we thought we'd share a few more "Maria" clips:

Better quality of the ceremony itself: 

And finally a few videos about playing Maria and Manzano's retirement:

Sonia Manzano Retires from Sesame Street!

Sonia Manzano, best known as Maria on Sesame Street, announced her retirement from the show the American Library Association Annual Conference this week.

Since first appearing on the show in 1971, she has won an astounding 15 Daytime Emmy awards for Outstanding Writing in Children’s Programming (plus five additional nominations) and was nominated twice as Outstanding Performer in a Children’s Series.

Manzano tweeted that she’d consider going “back for 50th anniversary and [making] a guest appearance.” She revealed, she's “always been in love with Oscar the Grouch.”

@Mbtoon05 @sesamestreet @OscarTheGrouch I have always been in love with Oscar The Grouch!
— Sonia Manzano (@SoniaMManzano) July 1, 2015

Enjoy some great Oscar and Maria bits below:

For even more classic Maria moments check out our birthday tribute to "Skinny."

We wish Sonia all the best!