Fred Rogers, Host of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”

For more than 30 years Fred Rogers welcomed children and their parents into a realm of imagination on his show, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” Through...

Maya Angelou, Author, Actor and Activist

Poet, author, playwright, educator, civil rights activist, singer, actress: these were the many faces of Maya Angelou. A living testament to the strength of...

Willie Nelson, Country Music Sensation

Willie Nelson, country singer-songwriter, long-haired hippie and philanthropist, has had a prolific music career. He began playing when he was 10 years old and...

James P. Johnson, Jazz Pianist

The 1920s were a dynamic time in American history. Flappers tested the limits of fashion. Bootleg liquor fought prohibition. In music, the era became...

Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States

Some consider Ronald Reagan the greatest president in contemporary American history: under his watch, the country saw the longest period of peacetime prosperity in...

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...

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...

Nat King Cole, Singer and Jazz Pioneer

Nat King Cole’s musical upbringing forged a career that would delve the nuances of the jazz trio and fashion a more subtle approach to...

Nadine Gordimer, 1991 Winner of Nobel Prize in Literature

Writer Nadine Gordimer has devoted her life to fighting for the rights and health of the less fortunate and oppressed. She won the Nobel...

Queen Noor al-Hussein of Jordan

Queen Noor of Jordan has strayed from the comfort of her wealthy upbringing, focusing on difficult humanitarian issues, marrying a Muslim king and speaking...