Coretta Scott King, First Lady of Civil Rights
Coretta Scott King was more than just the wife of a legend, she was a singer, an organizer and an activist in her own...
Al Hirschfeld, Caricature Artist
Al Hirschfeld demonstrated prodigious artistic talent at an early age. As an adult, his technique was deceptively simple; he harnessed the power of a...
Jules Verne, Science Fiction Author
Jules Verne was a pioneer in literature. With a powerful interest in writing and an imagination that was ahead of his time, Verne became...
John Updike, Prolific Novelist, Critic and Poet
John Updike is one of America’s most beloved authors, known for “The Witches of Eastwick,” the “Rabbit” novel series and his final work, “The...
Nelson Mandela, First Black President of South Africa
Nelson Mandela was elected during the first election when South African blacks were allowed to vote. A leader of the resistance for years, Mandela...
Miriam Makeba, Singer and Anti-Apartheid Activist
Miriam Makeba, widely known as “Mama Africa,” was exiled from her home of South Africa for her revolutionary words and songs, but was widely...
Leonardo da Vinci, Painter, Scientist and Thinker
Leonardo da Vinci will forever be known for “The Last Supper” and “Mona Lisa.” But there was more to the man than his art....
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,...
Niccolò Paganini, Violinist and Composer
Playing with a skill so dazzling and in so eerie a manner that it was seen as supernatural, violinist and composer Niccolò Paganini is...
Saul Bellow, American Novelist
“The backbone of 20th-century American literature”—this was novelist Philip Roth’s assessment of Saul Bellow. His struggle with modernism, his Jewish upbringing, his feelings of...
