Historic Figures

Phillis Wheatley Biography

Source: Biography

This biography outlines the life of Phillis Wheatley, who became a published poet despite being enslaved.

This POW kept a secret diary that showed daily life in a concentration camp

Source: Public Radio International

Read this article to learn about the life of Anthony Acevedo, a former U.S. Army medic who kept a diary of his time in a Nazi concentration camp as a prisoner of war.

A Close, Intimate Look at Walt Whitman

Source: Smithsonian Magazine

What can the camera tell us about the lives and work of famous authors? In this article, poet Mark Strand examines an 1891 photograph of Walt Whitman.

Who is Martin Luther King Jr. to us, 50 years later?

Source: CNN

On the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., authors, activists, and historians share their views of his legacy.

Patrick Henry Smells a Rat

Source: American Heritage

As an anti-Federalist, Patrick Henry opposed the ratification of the Constitution. Read about his opposition to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

Did the Civil War Achieve Equality? Stephen Kantrowitz’s ‘More Than Freedom’

Source: Daily Beast

Critic Herschthal reviews historian Stephen Kantrowitz’s 2012 book about the abolitionist leaders who fought for more than just the end of slavery before and after the Civil War.

Baltimore rededicates ex-Confederate site to Harriet Tubman

Source: CBS News

In another chapter of America’s reckoning with the history of slavery, Baltimore has removed Confederate statues from one of its parks and renamed it after abolionist Harriet Tubman.