Barnum, P. T. (Phineas Taylor), 1810-1891, entertainer and circus promoter.

Phineas Taylor Barnum (1810-1891) is one of the most colorful and well known personalities in American history. A consummate showman and entrepreneur, Barnum was famous for bringing both high and low culture to all of America. From the dulcet tones of opera singer Jenny Lind "The Swedish Nightingale" to the bizarre hoax of the Feejee Mermaid, from the clever and quite dimunitive General Tom Thumb to Jumbo the Elephant, Barnum's oddities, spectacles, galas, extravaganzas, and events tickled the fancies, hearts, minds and imaginations of Americans of all ages.

Alexander Berkman (1870-1936). The youngest of four children, Berkman was born in Vilna, Russia, to a prosperous family. Attracted to radical ideas as a youth in St. Petersburg, he was expelled from school after submitting an atheistic essay to his instructors. Berkman came to the United States in 1887 and settled in New York City. He was a well-known anarchist leader in the United States and life-long friend of Emma Goldman. His dramatic attempt on the life of Henry Clay Frick is considered the event that broke the back of resistance to the striking workers' demands, although it led to his imprisonment, a penalty he served for over twenty years. Among his numerous agitational writings the best-known of his books are Prison Memoirs, and The Bolshevik Myth. He died as the result of a suicide attempt induced by illness and poverty. From: Normal Books

Henry Clay (April 12, 1777 – June 29, 1852) a Senator and a Representative from Kentucky, statesman, and famed orator. Given the title the "Great Compromiser," for his work on the Compromise of 1850, a series of legislative attempts to balance the powers of free and slave states.

Sites related to Dr. Thomas A. Dooley, an American Catholic physician and author who was acclaimed for his medical work in Vietnam and Laos from the late 1950s until his death from cancer in 1961.

Sites about the American industrialist and founder of the Ford Motor Company.

Emma Goldman (1869-1940) stands as a major figure in the history of American radicalism and feminism. An influential and well-known anarchist of her day, Goldman was an early advocate of free speech, birth control, women's equality and independence, union organization, and the eight-hour work day. Her criticism of mandatory conscription of young men into the military during World War I led to a two-year imprisonment, followed by her deportation in 1919. For the rest of her life until her death in 1940, she continued to participate in the social and political movements of her age, from the Russian Revolution to the Spanish Civil War. From: Emma Goldman Papers

Harry Robbins Haldeman, 1926-1993. American businessman who served as chief of staff in the Nixon administration.

L. Ron Hubbard is known for achievements in two different fields: he was an author of pulp science fiction; and he was the founder of Scientology. In this latter capacity, as a religious figure, he also evokes criticism of his character.

Sites about Lee Iacocca.

Jesse Louis Jackson, b. 1941. African-American civil rights leader.

Henry Alfred Kissinger Born: May 27, 1923, Fürth, Germany 1969-1975 Assistant for National Security Affairs to President Richard M. Nixon, then President Gerald R. Ford. 1973-77 Secretary of State. Henry A. Kissinger shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Le Duc Tho of North Vietnam in 1973.

This category is about Malcolm X (1925-1965), born Malcolm Little, a much celebrated leader of the human rights movement of the 60's.

Born 19 April, 1903, Eliot Ness is best known for his battle against bootlegging in Chicago in the 1920s and 30s as well as his fight against Al Capone. Some time after his exploits in Chicago, Ness moved to Cleveland where he continued to fight crime. He died of a heart attack 16 May, 1957. His remains were cremated and remained with the family until 10 September, 1997 when they were finally laid to rest in Cleveland.

On December, 1, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a city bus to a white man. She was arrested for disorderly conduct. This lead to the Montgomery Bus Boycott which lasted over a year until the Supreme Court found segregated public transportation to be unconstitutional and ordered Montgomery officials to integrate the service.

Many historians note December 1, 1955, as the beginning of the modern civil rights movement in the U.S.

From 1965 until her retirement, Rosa Parks worked for U.S. Representative John Conyers of Michigan. In 1999 she was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor.

John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (1839-1937) was one of the foremost American businessmen and philanthropists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The founder of Standard Oil Company, he was often criticized for the ruthless business tactics that enabled him to dominate the U.S. oil industry, and eventually his oil empire was broken up under the antitrust laws. However, like Andrew Carnegie, he gave away vast sums from his enormous fortune and became known as much for his philanthropy as for his role as the "robber baron" of Standard Oil.

Sites related to Harold Edward Stassen (1907-2001), three-term governor of Minnesota, World War II Navy captain, president of the University of Pennsylvania, member of the Eisenhower administration, active American Baptist churchman, and nine-time presidential hopeful.

Norman Thomas (1884-1968) was a Presbyterian minister and longtime leader of the Socialist Party in the United States who ran for US President in 1928, 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944 and 1948.

Sojourner Truth was born Isabella Bomefree about 1797 at Hurley, New York. Her parents were James and Betsy, slaves of Colonel Hardenbergh. Isabella was sold four times between 1806 and 1828. Isabella changed her name to Sojourner Truth in 1843, as she planned to travel the land telling the truth. There are some reports that this change was a response to a religious vision Truth experienced. Sojourner Truth died at her home on College Street on November 26, 1883. Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth were attending a meeting. Frederick had been speaking very despondently. A hush came over the audience as Sojourner rose and admonished Mr. Douglass by asking, "Frederick, is God dead?" These three words, "Is God Dead?" are inscribed on her tombstone, along with her reputed age of 105 which is really thought to be more like 86.

Lew Wallace (1827-1905) was by turns a lieutenant in the Mexican-American War, a member of the Indiana state legislature, a major-general in the Civil War, governor of the New Mexico territory, best-selling novelist, and ambassador to Turkey. His wife Susan was a successful author in her own right.