Samuel Adams, One of the US’s Founding Fathers
Rebel, patriot and politician Samuel Adams helped organize protests against the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Tea Act of 1773 and developed a...
Jean Renoir, French Filmmaker
Lauded after his death as one of cinema’s greatest directors, Jean Renoir earned comparatively few words of praise during his lifetime. From a childhood...
Richard Wright, Groundbreaking Author of “Black Boy” and “Native Son”
Richard Wright is known for landmark books like “Native Son” and “Black Boy.”
Richard Wright’s Early Days
Richard Wright was born near Natchez, Mississippi, on September...
Eleanor Roosevelt, Philanthropist and Revolutionary First Lady
Eleanor Roosevelt was more than just a first lady. She was a politician in her own right, serving on the United Nations, promoting the...
Neil Simon, Award-Winning Playwright
Crowned by Time magazine “the patron saint of laughter,” the creator of Felix Unger and Oscar Madison, along with a host of other memorable...
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...
Jimmy Stewart, Award-Winning Actor and War Hero
Whether playing a sardonic journalist, earnest politician, recalcitrant cowboy or a man at his wit’s end, Jimmy Stewart stuttered and shuffled his way into...
Tom Ford, Fashion Designer and Director
The American designer Tom Ford made his mark as the head designer of Gucci, transforming the brand in the late 1990s from a passé...
Sidney Poitier, Pioneering African-American Actor
Sidney Poitier was the child of tomato farmers in the Bahamas. He moved to New York as a teenager and worked as a dishwasher...
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...
