Luther Burbank, Trailblazing Horticulturalist and Creator of the “Idaho Potato”
Luther Burbank moved across the country to follow his horticultural dreams. Born on the East Coast, he relocated to California where he could pursue...
Harry Belafonte, Actor, Singer and Activist
Harry Belafonte’s handsome looks and velvety voice, coupled with his talent as an actor and producer, have earned him fame and accolades. But he...
Gwendolyn Brooks, First African-American Pulitzer Prize Winner
Gwendolyn Brooks, renowned poet, was the author of many memorable works centered on the black experience in America and the issues of the Civil...
Catherine Hughes, Radio and TV Executive
From a high school dropout and single teenaged mother to the first woman owner of a number one radio station and the first African-American...
Harriet Beecher Stowe, Author and Abolitionist
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s most memorable contribution to society was her book, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” The responses to Stowe’s work were so powerfully divisive that...
Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen), Author of “Out of Africa”
Karen Blixen may be the best-known Danish writer of the 20th century, authoring books such as “Seven Gothic Tales,” “Winter’s Tales” and “Out of...
Marlene Dietrich, Glamorous Siren of the Silver Screen
1901
An icon of sexuality and sensuality who captured her public with understated beauty and nonchalant charm, the German-born Marlene Dietrich was one of the...
Louis Henri Sullivan, Renowned American Architect
“The skyscraper poet” is how Time magazine referred to Louis Sullivan in 1951. The description holds true today, as Sullivan is widely recognized as...
Roger Federer, Record-Breaking Tennis Player
Roger Federer is leading men’s tennis into a new generation of high intensity, skillful play. But this emotional phenom has had to overcome heartache,...
Rainer Maria Rilke, Author of “Letters to a Young Poet”
Rainer Maria Rilke spent his life traveling the globe. Despite a variety of lovers and locales—Prague, Munich, Rome, Paris and Switzerland—Rilke remained alone, seeking...
