Truman Capote, Investigative Journalist and Author
Writer Truman Capote emerged from the small town of Monroeville, Alabama, to become one of the most visible writers of the 1950s and ’60s....
Fats Waller, Jazz Entertainer and Composer
Fats Waller's piano virtuousity and outsize personality made him a jazz legend. But his talents didn’t stop there; he was also a vaudeville performer,...
Jack Kirby, Creator of Comic Book Superheroes
Jack Kirby was as much of a hero to the comic book industry as the characters he created. An innovator in the industry for...
Martin Scorsese, Director of “Taxi Driver” and “Raging Bull”
“It’s easy to think of Scorsese as a kind of poet of the underworld,” the American Film Institute reflected when they granted him a...
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Father of Transcendentalism
Ralph Waldo Emerson—essayist, minister, poet and philosopher from New England—was the founding father of the transcendentalist movement and the creator of many literary works...
Paul Robeson, Entertainer and Social Activist
Paul Robeson was a renaissance man. Revered for his abilities on stage, on the football field, in the classroom and in the campaign for...
Walt Whitman, “America’s Poet”
Walt Whitman helped transform the literary scene in the United States during the 19th century, becoming one of the most influential poets of his...
W.E.B. Du Bois, Civil Rights Pioneer and Social Historian
A tireless activist and scholar, W.E.B. Du Bois wrote “The Souls of Black Folk” and was a founding member of the National Association for...
Jack Welch, Former CEO of General Electric
Jack Welch was CEO of General Electric for 20 years, beginning his tenure in the midst of 1981’s tough economic conditions and leading the...
Federico García Lorca, Spanish Poet and Playwright
Before the Spanish Civil War, scholars, literary figures and artists from all of Europe found a home in Spain, a nation of contrasts, diverse...
