“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond to it.”

Born in New York City on October 11,

1884, Eleanor Roosevelt—the niece of

Theodore Roosevelt—was one of the

most outspoken women in the White

House. She married Franklin D.

Roosevelt in 1905. During her

husband's presidency, Eleanor gave

press conferences and wrote a

newspaper column. After his death,

she served at the United Nations,

focusing on human rights and

women's issues.

-www.biography.com

Born on January 30, 1882, in Hyde

Park, New York, Franklin D.

Roosevelt was stricken with polio in

1921. He became the 32nd U.S.

president in 1933, and was the only

president to be elected four times.

Roosevelt led the United States

through the Great Depression and

World War II, and greatly expanded

the powers of the federal

government through a series of

programs and reforms known as the

New Deal. Roosevelt died in Georgia

in 1945.

-www.biography.com

“Born on February 27, 1902, in

Salinas, California, John Steinbeck

dropped out of college and worked as

a manual laborer before achieving

success as a writer. His 1939 novel,

The Grapes of Wrath, about the

migration of a family from the

Oklahoma Dust Bowl to California,

won a Pulitzer Prize and a National

Book Award. Steinbeck served as a

war correspondent during World War

II, and was awarded the Nobel Prize

for Literature in 1962. He died in New

York City in 1968.”

During the Great Depression, Dorothea

Lange photographed the unemployed

men who wandered the streets. Her

photographs of migrant workers were

often presented with captions featuring

the words of the workers themselves.

Lange’s first exhibition, held in 1934,

established her reputation as a skilled

documentary photographer. In 1940,

she received the Guggenheim

Fellowship.

-www.biography.com

“Louis Armstrong, nicknamed "Satchmo,"

"Pops" and, later, "Ambassador Satch,"

was born on August 4, 1901, in New

Orleans, Louisiana. An all-star virtuoso,

he came to prominence in the 1920s,

influencing countless musicians with both

his daring trumpet style and unique

vocals. Armstrong's charismatic stage

presence impressed not only the jazz

world but all of popular music. He

recorded several songs throughout his

career, including he is known for songs

like "Star Dust," "La Via En Rose" and

"What a Wonderful World." Armstrong

died at his home in Queens, New York, on

July 6, 1971.”

“Duke Ellington was born April 29,

1899, in Washington, D.C. A major

figure in the history of jazz music, his

career spanned more than half a

century, during which time he

composed thousands of songs for the

stage, screen and contemporary

songbook. He created one of the most

distinctive ensemble sounds in

Western music and continued to play

what he called "American Music"

until shortly before his death in

1974.”

-www.biography.com

“Woody Guthrie wrote more than 1,000

songs, including "So Long (It's Been

Good to Know Yuh)" and "Union Maid."

After serving in WWII, he continued to

perform for farmer and worker groups.

"This Land Is Your Land" was his most

famous song, and it became an

unofficial national anthem. His

autobiography, Bound for Glory (1943),

was filmed in 1976. His son Arlo also

achieved success as a musician.”

-www.biography.com

“With only an eighth grade education and natural

business acumen, Jesse Holman Jones set off for

Houston, Texas in 1894 on a journey that would take

him to the heights of wealth and power. Jones made

his mark in real estate and banking, and transformed

the city of Houston into a hub of international

commerce for the South. During the Great Depression

he bailed out the banks, railroads and the farms. He

also prepared the country for World War II, enabling

industry to build the "arsenal of democracy." The

nation has much reason to thank Jesse Jones for his

service during some of its most perilous times.”

-www.pbs.org

“Born February 27, 1897, in

Philadelphia, Marian Anderson

displayed vocal talent as a child, but

her family could not afford to pay for

formal training. Members of her

church congregation raised funds for

her to attend a music school for a

year, and in 1955 she became the

first African American singer to

perform as a member of the

Metropolitan Opera in New York

City.”

-www.biography.com

“American industrialist John D. Rockefeller

was born July 8, 1839, in Richford, New

York. He built his first oil refinery near

Cleveland and in 1870 incorporated the

Standard Oil Company. By 1882 he had a

near-monopoly of the oil business in the

U.S., but his business practices led to the

passing of antitrust laws. Late in life,

Rockefeller devoted himself to

philanthropy. He died in 1937.”

-www.biography.com

“The daughter of former slaves, Mary Jane McLeod

Bethune became one of the most important black

educators, civil and women’s rights leaders and

government officials of the twentieth century. The college

she founded set educational standards for today’s black

colleges, and her role as an advisor to President Franklin

Delano Roosevelt gave African American’s an advocate in

government.”

-Debra Michals, National Women’s History Museum

“Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902, in

Joplin, Missouri. He published his first poem in

1921. He attended Columbia University, but left

after one year to travel. His poetry was later

promoted by Vachel Lindsay, and Hughes published

his first book in 1926. He went on to write countless

works of poetry, prose and plays, as well as a popular

column for the Chicago Defender. He died on May

22, 1967.”

-www.biography.com

Dr. Francis Townsend worked to help the elderly

during the trying and difficult time of the Great

Depression. Have you heard of Social Security?

It's the government program that gives social

welfare benefits to the elderly and others in

need. Social Security might not have passed

when it did if it were not for the efforts of Dr.

Francis Townsend. Many of us have never heard

of him, but Dr. Francis Townsend was a political

activist who first conceived of the national

elderly pension that would become a mainstay of

Social Security.

-Adapted by Christie Archer from

the writings of Erica Cummings,

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