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Mary Ann Shadd Cary spent her entire lifetime fighting for justice and equality for African Americans. Born a free African American in the 1820s, Cary started schools for black children and wrote books and articles. She was also the first black woman to publish a weekly newspaper and to enter law school. Never afraid of offending anyone, Cary demanded justice for herself and for her fellow African Americans.
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When Jules Verne was born in 1828, his family had his future planned out for him. They expected him to become a lawyer, but he dreamed of writing. He started out writing more traditional poetry and plays, but then he began to create a new, unconventional kind of fiction. It combined adventure, the modern world of science and invention, and his personal view of the future. With fantastical characters, spaceships to the moon, and deep-sea submarines,...
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A teacher and principal, a lawyer, an entertainer, a diplomat, and a writer, James Weldon Johnson spent his entire life working to help African Americans gain the rights and respect they deserved. The first black chief executive of the NAACP, Johnson lived from the end of Reconstruction in the South through the exciting years of the Harlem Renaissance. He spent his life keeping the promise of equality alive, not only through his actions but through...
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From the time she was a young child, Willa Cather had a gift with words and she loved stories. As a child on the Nebraska prairie, she heard many stories from her neighbors, many of them immigrants, and she never forgot them. She begun to write stories of her own, and even after she became a successful journalist, she made time for them. Her great novels of the prairie, such as O Pioneers! and My Antonia, established her as one of the finest writers...
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Born a slave, Frederick Douglass grew up facing hunger, hard work, and terrible beatings. After overhearing that reading was the key to freedom, Frederick became determined to learn to read. Against all odds, he did learn and escaped from slavery. A powerful and inspirational speaker, Frederick spoke and wrote about his remarkable life and fought for the freedom and equal rights of African American men and women.
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The son of a wealthy, repected admiral, William Penn did what was forbidden in seventeenth-century England--he openly practiced the Quaker religion. Penn dreamed of a place with freedom of religion. He asked for land in the New World and was given a colony called Pennsylvania. His success in establishing a new and just government there later became the blueprint for thirteen newly independent colonies.
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Growing up in the 1830s, Louis Pasteur saw the horrifying effects of diseases like rabies and tuberculosis. Filled with curiosity and imagination, Pasteur began a lifelong search for answers to his many questions about diseases. Although many scientists disagreed with his unusual ideas, his discoveries made him famous. Through his dedication and insight, Pasteur saved millions of lives and laid the groundwork for future medical advancements.
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Born a slave in Georgia in 1818, Bridget "Biddy" Mason learned to survive in a harsh world. Taken from her parents as a young child, Biddy grew up to be self-reliant and hard working. When she and her children finally found freedom in California in 1855, she turned her nursing skills into a successful career as a midwife. Even after she became a wealthy landowner in Los Angeles, Biddy never forgot her basic philosophy of sharing with others: "The...
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Sarah Winnemucca, a Northern Plains Indian, lived in the last half of the nineteenth century when white settlers were moving west into land the Paiutes had inhabited for thousands of years. Sarah's grandfather encouraged her to learn the ways of the white settlers, including their language. As a result, she was instrumental in negotiating benefits for her people. She traveled across the country speaking about the plight of the Paiutes. She challenged...
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Ely Parker grew up on the Tonawanda Reservation in New York in the 1830s. There he learned the ways of his people, the Seneca Indians. Ely worked many years to save his reservation from a land company, and as a result, he was made a sachem, or chief, by his people. At the same time, he was working as a translator and ambassador to bridge the gap that divided his people from the white Americans. After serving in the Civil War, Ely went on to become...
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James Madison loved to debate--as long as he wasn't in public! Painfully shy, Madison was content to listen and absorb ideas rather than to speak them. But when he saw a newly independent America about to be torn apart, his love for the American nation conquered his shyness. Known as the father of the constitution because of the leadership he showed during its creation, he helped shape what America would become.
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Sir Isaac Newton changed the world with his many discoveries and inventions about mathematics, science, optics, and physics. Although he was brilliant, Newton felt no need to publish his ideas or to inform his fellow scientists of the amazing discoveries he made. Because of this, his discoveries were often disputed. Despite the controversy that often surrounded him, Newton made astounding advances in his efforts to understand how nature worked. His...
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The Father of the U.S. Navy, John Paul Jones spent most of his lifetime trying to prove his ideas about naval tactics and training. Born in Scotland, he chose a life of adventure as a sea captain. He commanded cargo ships before settling in America and becoming an officer in the newly formed Continental Navy. Through persistence, training, and sheer nerve, Jones fought against the formidable British Navy and helped America win its freedom.
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"Give me liberty, or give me death!" A passionate speaker, Patrick Henry mesmerized and motivated audiences with his powerful words. Henry believed that Britain had stolen America's freedom, and he was determined to prevent this injustice. Using his skills as a lawyer and politician, he inspired his fellow colonists to prepare for a war against Britain--and helped to create a new nation.
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Mary Jemison was born in 1743 as her parents emigrated from Ireland to Pennsylvania. When she was fifteen years old, a group of raiding Shawnee Indians and French soldiers captured her and her family. She was the only one to survive. For seventy-five years, she lived among the Seneca Indians who adopted her. She outlived two husbands and bore eight children. She witnessed two wars and a revolution. Even though she could have returned to the white...
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