They Too Influenced a Nation's History: The Unique Contributions of 105
Lesser-Known Americans

By Abraham Resnick

The United States, ever since its inception, has recognized innumerable Americans, be they native-born or newly arrived immigrants, for their unique contributions to their nation's history and heritage. Many have been bestowed with honors. Many are legends, their memories forever cherished. Yet, there are so many other important American contributors that tend to be lesser-known or sometimes overlooked when examining the events of the country's past.

This book accounts for 105 mini-biographies, each highlighting the life of a lesser-known contributor, their achievements, influences and impacts on America's development. A picture of many faces, from many places, from many walks of life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jul 9, 2003
• ISBN: 9781462077038

Abraham Resnick

Abraham Resnick, a native New Jerseyan, is a noted author and educator specializing in elementary and secondary social studies education. Prior to his retirement, he served for many years as a professor of education at Jersey City State College. He was the Director of the Instructional Materials Center at Rutgers University Graduate School of Education from 1956 to 1968. In 1975, he received that school’s Alumni Award for Distinguished Service to Education. His most recent books treat the contributions of 105 lesser-known Americans to its country’s history and a volume about the multiplicity of United States place-name origins. Dr. Resnick has had an outstanding career writing many student-level and professional books. His titles, include an array of subjects, including books about countries of the world, maps and globes, weather, money, American holidays, the Holocaust, the state of New Jersey, and ideas for teachers. He has received two writing awards from the National Council for Geographic Education as well as numerous honors. The author enlisted in the armed forces during World War II and served as a weatherman in the United States Army Air Corps. Dr. Resnick has received extensive field research opportunities from an array of countries including Japan, Bulgaria, Romania, the Soviet Union and its Siberian region. His experience and findings led to the publishing of a number of texts and enrichment books used in schools and libraries throughout the United States. Additionally, he has lived and worked on an Israeli kibbutz. Presently handicapped with a walking impairment, he enjoys reading, television watching of sporting events, visiting of friends and family and participating in stimulating discussions around his condo pool.

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They Too Influenced a Nation’s History

♦

The unique contributions of 105 lesser-known Americans

Abraham Resnick

iUniverse, Inc.

New York Lincoln Shanghai

They Too Influenced a Nation’s History

The unique contributions of 105 lesser-known Americans

All Rights Reserved © 2003 by Abraham Resnick

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher.

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ISBN: 0-595-28434-5 (pbk)

ISBN: 0-595-65795-8 (cloth)

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Printed in the United States of America

Contents

INTRODUCTION

Abigail Adams

Marian Anderson

Susan B. Anthony

Tohnny Appleseed (John Chapman)

Tohn Tacob Astor

Crispus Attucks

Tohn Tames Audubon

Bentamin Banneker

P.T. Barnum

Tohn Barry

Clara Barton

Mary Tane Mcleod Bethune

Seth Boyden

Mathew B. Brady

Andrew Carnegie

Rachel Carson

George Washington Carver

Lee Deforest

Melvil Dewey

Walt Disney

Abner Doubleday

Charles Richard Drew

Amelia Earhart

George Eastman

Enrico Fermi

Henry Morrison Flagler

Betty Friedan

Tames Gadsen

Edward Gallaudet

William Lloyd Garrison

George Gershwin

Robert Goddard

George Goethals

Toseph Goldberger

Samuel Goldwyn

Samuel Gompers

Charles Goodyear

Martha Graham

Nathan Hale

Matt Henson

Tames T. Hill

Tohn Holland

Bob Hope

Edwin Powell Hubble

Cordell Hull

Helen Keller

Francis Scott Key

Ray Kroc

Pierre Charles L’enfant

Tames Lawrence

Emma Lazarus

Arthur Levitt

Elijah Lovejoy

Alfred Mahan

Horace Mann

Tames Wilson Marshall

Ottmar Mergenthaler

Cyrus Hall Mccormick

William Holmes Mcguffey

Tustin Smith Morrill

Samuel F.B. Morse

Grandma Moses (Anna Mary Robertson)

John Muir

Tames Naismith

Thomas Nast

J. Robert Oppenheimer

Elisha Otis

Jesse Owens

George Peabody

Thomas Mundy Peterson

Molly Pitcher

Emily Post

Casimir Pulaski

Joseph Pulitzer

Walter Reed

Norman Rockwell

Tohn Augustus Roebling

Will Rogers

Tulius Rosenwald

Sacajawea

Jonas Salk

David Sarnoff

Carl Schurz

William Henry Seward

Samuel Slater

Alfred (Al) Smith

Amos Alanzo Stagg

Leland Stanford

Charles Proteus Steinmetz

Levi Strauss

Jim Thorpe

Harriet Tubman

Frederick Jackson Turner

Cornelius Vanderbilt

Sam Walton

John Wanamaker

Earl Warren

Booker T. Washington

Daniel Webster

Noah Webster

Eli Whitney

Frank Lloyd Wright

Tohn Peter Zenger

SOURCES

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

For my wife Gilda, always by my side.

A special thank you to my granddaughter, Alyssa Lauren Steinway, for her cooperation in helping me select the persons included in this publication.

Once again, with much gratitude and appreciation to Linda Watson for her valuable assistance and innumerable contributions in bringing this book to fruition.

In memory of Art Sinett, Joe Schlesinger, Mel Singer and Murray Fried, my lifelong friends. They too served their country well.

INTRODUCTION

The United States, ever since its inception, has recognized innumerable Americans, be they native-born or newly arrived immigrants, for their unique contributions to their nation’s history and heritage. Many have been bestowed with honors. Many are legends, their memories forever cherished.

Living in a land of freedom and opportunity they have utilized their diverse talents to disseminate ideas, explore new frontiers, make valuable discoveries, invent machines and engage in productive agriculture, manufacturing and commerce. By relying on such exemplary traits as diligence, industry, creativity, perseverance and sound reasoning abilities many were able to achieve rewarding personal goals. Their good deeds and achievements greatly benefited their fellow contemporaries as well as the generations that followed, The men and women who contributed so positively to America’s progress and well-being are deserving of much gratitude and acclaim. Their respect and prominence, worthy of remembrance, is deserved. In the study of American history considerable attention is given to their feats. Yet, there are so many other important American contributors that tend to be lesser-known or sometimes overlooked when examining the events of the country’s past.

This book accounts for 105 mini-biographies, each highlighting the life of a lesser-known contributor, their achievements, influences and impacts on America’s development. The list, rather randomly selected, reflects a broad array of representative individuals that differ in race, gender, region, occupation, religion, ethnic origin, socio-economic status and generation.

It is hoped that the reader will be able to uncover and learn new facts and fascinating information about the exploits and achievements of each of these acknowledged but less known persons named. That will result in a fuller understanding and appreciation of the great American mosaic, a picture of many faces from many places, from many walks of life.

abigail adams

Her letters were a primary source revealing insights into colonial life.

♦ ♦ ♦

The wives of United States presidents are known as first ladies. The demeanor, advocacies and influences of past first ladies have varied considerably. Some have been confidantes and advisers to their husbands while others have been rather innocuous and passive during their tenures living in the White House. A number have craved public attention, while others have chosen to remain inconspicuous. On the other hand, Abigail Adams, the wife of John Adams, the 2nd American President, from 1797-1801, and the mother of John Quincy Adams, the 6th president of the nation, proved to be a very unique first lady, perhaps the most exceptional of all.

Abigail Adams, born in Weymouth, Massachusetts in 1744, was the daughter of a prominent minister, and grew up exposed to wealth, a well-stocked library and the views of frequent visitors to her house. Since girls were literally not formally educated during colonial times she was mainly self-taught or given lessons by her grandmother. She became especially adept at letter writing, a skill that eventually proved very valuable for historians upon the examination of her copious adult correspondence. The letters revealed what life was like during the founding years of the republic. They also revealed much about her personal virtues; her strength of character, her religious conviction, her faith in the common sense decision making ability of the citizenry and her loyalty and great love of her husband. That in particular was manifested in her letters to him during their long years of separation while she remained on their Massachusetts farm, managing it and rearing their four children.

Abigail Adams was hardly reticent about offering her views on the status of women. While John Adams was in Philadelphia in March of 1776 involved in the writing of the Declaration of Independence, Abigail Adams implored her husband to remember the ladies and to be generous and favorable to them. She also, in her writings, favored a woman’s right to vote and the abolition of slavery. She was an outspoken critic of press falsehoods in reporting, underscored by her thorough knowledge of politics and political philosophy. Abigail Adams spoke out on many controversial issues, a rarity for women of her day. The Adams were the first family to live in the White House.

marian anderson

A greatly admired trail blazer in the realm of concert singers.

♦ ♦ ♦

Marian Anderson, born poor in Philadelphia in 1903 has been called one of the most popular concert singers in the world. Her contralto voice was considered to be one of the finest of the 20th century. She was chosen from over 300 auditions to sing solo with the New York Philharmonic. In 1955 she became the first black person to sing with the Metropolitan Opera Company. She studied abroad and her concert tours in Europe earned her much acclaim and popularity.

Once, when Ms. Anderson was not permitted to sing in Washington’s Constitution Hall because of her race she was subsequently invited to sing at the Lincoln Memorial. The outdoor concert was attended by a very reassuring and enthusiastic audience of 75,000 fans. Many attended to offset the previous intolerant affront to a great American talent. Shortly thereafter Marion Anderson was honored by being invited to sing at the White House before invited guests, including the King and Queen of England.

In many respects Marian Anderson was a trail-blazer in helping to eliminate prejudices some American audiences and show-business booking agents had against black entertainers and artists of song, stage and screen. She was accepted and admired by all who heard her sing. She was considered a class act, both in person and as an accomplished performer. Marian Anderson did much to foster good will and a very positive image for the United States the world over.

In 1958 Marian Anderson was appointed an alternate delegate to the UN General Assembly.

susan b. anthony

A crusader and leader in the early struggle for female equality.

♦ ♦ ♦

Susan Brownell Anthony, born in Adams, Massachusetts, of Quaker parents in 1820, did much to change and improve the lot of women in her lifetime and in the generations to follow.

She learned to read and write by age three. Bright and well educated, she became a teacher in Rochester, New York. As a young lady Susan spoke out about and published papers on the unfair disparity of educational opportunities, civil rights, salary differentials, property rights and voting entitlements between men and women. Much of her advocacy for reforms were made in New York state where she was frequently heckled at meetings, accosted on the streets, insulted and ridiculed in the newspapers. Through it all she endured the slander with calmness and fortitude.

Susan B. Anthony was so personally committed to make her point known that she was once arrested for the crime of voting illegally. She was fined and jailed for exercising her rights as a woman.

Susan B. Anthony’s crusade became a campaign to grant suffrage for women. Her call for the right to vote was coupled with her drive to bring about a national temperance movement (moderation in the use of alcoholic liquors). She was also active in the anti-slavery movement for fifty years.

Fourteen years after her death in 1906 the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted, giving women the right to vote.

She, along with other women of their time, such as Lucretia Coffin Mott (1793-1880) and Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902), in addition to their anti-slavery advocacy, are considered to be three ofthe most crusading early leaders in the struggle for female equality.

tohnny appleseed (john chapman)

The patron saint of American orcharding, floriculture and conservation.

♦ ♦ ♦

Johnny Appleseed was born John Chapman in Leominster, Massachusetts in 1775. He has become an American folk hero through the many tales and legends about his wanderings told by elderly pioneer settlers. He eventually was regarded as the patron saint of American orcharding, floriculture and conservation for his wandering about Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana distributing and planting apple seeds; as well as healing herbs and other plants for 40 years.

Peace loving, he was called the great medicine man by the Indians. Johnny supposedly would not accept money for his gift of seeds. He gave money to the poor and bought religious books or even food for animals.

He is credited with distributing hundreds of bags of seeds to pioneer families traveling westward into the frontier lands where they too helped start orchards and gardens. Johnny Appleseed died near Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1845 where a city park and monument memorializes his unique contribution to American agriculture.

tohn tacob astor

He opened up the Oregon land to settlement and helped America claim the region.

♦ ♦ ♦

In 1779 John Jacob Astor left his little village in Germany at age 16, worked in London for four years and saved seventy-five dollars to pay his passage to New York. Arriving practically penniless, by the time he died in 1848 he became one of the most powerful and richest men in the world.

As a young man in New York City he sold baked goods and worked in the fur business. Finding furs to be a very profitable enterprise he set out for the north woods in search of furs, which he did for twelve years, trading with the Indians while beating the pelts himself. It was hard and dangerous work. Saving much of his profits he invested his newly acquired wealth in Manhattan real estate which quickly increased in value.

John Jacob Astor expanded his interest in furs to the Pacific Northwest. In 1811, with the approval and support of President Thomas Jefferson, he built a fort on the Columbia River. It was the first American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains, and it opened up the Oregon land to further settlement, giving America a