Jackie Robinson, Baseball Pioneer
Jackie Robinson was an accomplished multi-sport athlete who in 1947 became the first black baseball player in the modern major leagues. He displayed courage...
Omar Khayyam: Persian Mathematician, Astronomer and Poet
Omar Khayyam was a brilliant mathematician, astronomer, philosopher and physician of the 11th century. He contributed to the basic principles of algebra and developed...
Sonia Sotomayor, First Hispanic Supreme Court Justice
Sonia Sotomayor is the first Hispanic and the third female justice to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Hailing from a working-class background, Sotomayor...
Rosemary Clooney, Jazz and Pop Singer
Rosemary Clooney’s smooth, rich voice and captivating good looks catapulted the Kentucky-born singer to the top of the charts and to on-screen fame in...
Mary Lyon, Champion of Women’s Higher Education
Mary Lyon was a progressive educator and pioneer of women’s higher education. In 1837 she founded the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in South Hadley,...
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...
Magic Johnson, Legendary Basketball Player
His nimbleness on the court earned him the nickname “Magic,” and Earvin Johnson has truly lived up to it. Whether he was facing rival...
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...
Peggy Guggenheim, Art Collector
American heiress Peggy Guggenheim was considered to be as intriguing as the art she collected. One of the pioneering collectors of Abstract Expressionism, she...
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...
