Arthur Ashe, Tennis Star and Human Rights Activist
Arthur Ashe was one of the most accomplished tennis players of his generation and the only African-American man to win a Grand Slam title,...
Primary Sources About George Washington, Father of Our Country
As commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, George Washington led American troops to victory against the more powerful British forces in the Revolutionary War. After...
Sandra Day O’Connor, First Female Supreme Court Justice
Sandra Day O’Connor endured a great deal of gender-based prejudice before she became the first woman to serve as a Supreme Court justice. During...
Neil Simon, Award-Winning Playwright
Crowned by Time magazine “the patron saint of laughter,” the creator of Felix Unger and Oscar Madison, along with a host of other memorable...
Horace Mann, “Father of American Education”
Horace Mann was an educational pioneer. At a time when many saw considerable problems in American education, he stepped forward to address the issues,...
Tony Kushner, Writer of “Angels in America”
“My day job is playwright. My citizen job is activist...I succeed and fail at both my jobs, but I try to do them both.”...
Samuel Johnson, Dictionary Writer and Biographer
Not only did Samuel Johnson’s work define the literature of the 18th century, his dictionary defined the language. Sometimes called “the great convulsionary” for...
Edmund Hillary, First Man to Summit Mt. Everest
An explorer at heart, humble New Zealand beekeeper Edmund Hillary became the first man to reach the peak of Mount Everest in 1953, and...
Oskar Schindler, Keeper of “List” That Saved 1,200 Jews
Oskar Schindler was a Nazi party member, philanderer and war profiteer who saved approximately 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust. Schindler is now revered as...
Menachem Begin, Israeli Prime Minister
Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin is best remembered for signing the 1978 Camp David Accords with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, and a subsequent 1979...
