Diverse American history books for all ages.
Who Started Black History Month? Dr. Carter Woodson is known as the Father of Black History Month. Born in Virginia on December 19, 1875 to formerly enslaved parents, he learned as he could between jobs on the land or in the mines. He went to Douglass High School at the age of 20 and graduated…
Dred Scott was an enslaved man who fought for his freedom, all the way up to the Supreme Court. Dred Scott and his wife, Harriet, filed lawsuits against their enslavers for their freedom, fearing that continued enslavement put their two daughters at risk of being sold to other families and taken away from them. The…
Frank Kameny Early Life Frank Kameny was born to Jewish parents in 1925. He became an astronomer and was drafted into the United States Army during World War II, where he worked as an astronomer for the U.S. Army Map Service. Frank Kameny was also gay. After World War II ended, a Senator from Wisconsin…
Garrett Morgan Early Life Garrett Morgan was the a son of America who saved countless lives with his inventions. Both parents were formerly enslaved; his mother was Native American and African American. His father was the son of Confederate Colonel John Hunt Morgan and an enslaved woman. With only an elementary school education, he began…
Who Was Wilma Mankiller, the First Female Principal Chief of Cherokee Nation? Wilma Mankiller was the first woman to serve as Principal Chief of Cherokee Nation, leading from 1985 to 1995. She stepped into the role when the sitting chief left office, then won her own election with eighty percent of the vote in a…
Who Was Jane Addams, the Mother of Social Work? Jane Addams was a social reformer who founded Hull House, one of the first settlement houses in the United States, in Chicago in 1889. In 1931, she became the first American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, honored for a lifetime of work on behalf…