C1 ~ Marian Anderson - Marian Anderson was an African-American opera singer who lived during times of racial segregation in the U.S. In 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution denied Anderson the privilege to sing at Washington's Constitution Hall because she was black, so she sang at the Lincoln Memorial instead and brought with her the largest crowd ever gathered there to date. With accomplishments such as this as well as being the first African-American to ever perform at the Metropolitan Opera, Marian Anderson broke racial barriers and inspired future black artists and civil rights activists to stand up for their rights.

A2 ~ John Steinbeck - A Nobel Prize winning author famous for his realistic and imaginitive writings distinguished by a sympathetic humor and keen social perception.  His novel, Grapes of Wrath, won the Pulitzer Prize.  It illustrated the dignitiy and spirit of a desperate circumstance and gave hope to many who were forced out of their homes during the Dust Bowl.

B2 ~ Raymond Chandler -Was born in Chicago, but he grew up in England. Chandler was an American motion picture writer and author of detective fiction.  He is best known for his tough but honest private detective Phillip Marlowe. As a master of the hard-boiled school of crime fiction, Chandler often criticized classical mystery writers for their lack of realism.  He is the first writer to set his stories in Los Angeles, and his best-known works include The Big Sleep (which has been made into 3 movies) and Farewell, My Lovely.

C2 ~ Anna Mary Robertson - aka "Grandma Moses" was a self-taught American painter who lived from 1860-1961. She lived the arduous life of a farm wife and began to paint in her late 70s, when she became too frail to do hard work, and continued painting until she was 100.  Her pictures are called 'American primitives' and are simple, happy scenes of farm life such as The Old Oaken Bucket, Sugaring-Off, and Out for the Christmas Trees.

D2 ~ Harry James became one of the most popular bandleaders of the war era.  He started playing drums when he was seven and trumpet at ten, playing for a circus band, and throughout high school played for local school bands.  He made his Big Band debut in Feburary 1939 at the Ben Franklin Hotel, and signed with Columbia Records in 1941.  During his time with the Columbia label he made his famous song, "You Made Me Love You", hits based on ethnic folk songs ("Ciribiribin"), and technical masterpieces like "And the Angels Sing".  He met and married the famous pin-up and actress Betty Grable, then quit the band business in 1946.  He didn't stay out for long, coming back and playing until his death of lymphatic cancer in July 1983.

D4 ~ Leon Trotsky - born Lev Davidovich Bronstein in the Ukraine to a well-off Jewish farmer, he grew up to take a sincere interest in the problems of working-class people.  As a revolutionary leader, he was deported to Siberia twice by the Tsar, but became 2nd in power to Lenin after the 1917 Revolution.  He was placed in control of the development of the Red Army, until Lenin's death.  Because of conflicts with Stalin, he was deported again, but continued to write editorials in Communist papers that actively opposed Stalin.  He was not desired by most countries (who feared the spread of Communist ideals), but was admitted to Mexico thanks to the intervention of famous painter Diego Rivera.  In 1940 he was murdered by a Stalinist supporter with an ice axe.

A5 ~ Wendell Willkie -  A prominant midwestern lawyer who was tapped by the Republican party to run against FDR by criticizing the "New Deal" and his anti-war feelings.  When he was defeated 27 million votes to 24 million, he became an avid supporter of FDR.  He wrote a book outlining his feelings about post WW II peacekeeping missions.

D6 ~ Gutzon Borglum - An America Sculptor from Idaho. Designed many works, his most famous being Mount Rushmore, which he began to sculpt in 1927. He finished the heads of the four presidents (Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and T. Roosevelt) before he died, the rest was finished by his son Lincoln Borglum.

A7 ~ Stan Musial - Stan "the Man" was one of a long line of famous athletes from a small area in southwestern Pennsylvania (Johnny Unitas, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, and Mark Bulger are others).  A baseball Hall-of-Famer, he played for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1941 to 1963, setting a number of records and establishing a reputation for great class and dignity.  One of the stars who helped baseball recover from the WW II talent drain, Stan batted .331 for his career, winning 7 batting titles, 3 World Series rings, and 3 MVP awards.  He hit 475 home runs, and is considered one of the all-time greats for his production and consistency.

A9 ~ Glenn Miller - Not only the "Best left End" in Colorado high school football but also a professional musician (trombone player) who organized his own band called the Miller Orchestra.  His style included smoothly-played melodies, and, of course, plenty of trombone solos.  His signature tune was "Moonlight Serenade", but the "Miller Style" also included fun songs like "Chattanooga Choo-Choo".  Miller then decided that he wanted to serve the armed forces therefore the army drafted him to build morale, bring a touch of home to the troops, and modernize military music. Glenn was also a talented fund raiser who raised millions of dollars in war bonds and was a wonderful recruiter through his weekly radio address.  His plane was shot down over the English Channel, and he was never heard from again.

A12 ~ Thomas Dewey -  Known as the "Rackets Buster," Thomas Dewey was appointed Special Prosecuter investigating organized crime in New York in 1935 obtaining 72 convictions in 73 prosecutions in 2 years and later serving 3 consecutive terms as governor of New York.  In 1944, Dewey ran against Franklin Roosevelt for the presidency but lost due to the people's love for FDR during war time (WW II).  In 1948, Dewey ran against Truman and was considered the heavy favorite to win the election but lost, though a famous photo shows Truman holding the Chicago Tribune, with a banner headline that stated "Dewey Defeats Truman," which was not true.

A15 ~ George Orwell -  A British author, pen name for Eric Blair, achieved prominence in the late 1940's as the author of two brilliant satires attacking totalitarianism - 1984 and Animal Farm. Familiarity with the novels, documentaries, essays, and critisism he wrote during the 1930's later established him as one of the most important and influential voices of the century.

B15 ~ Alton Ochsner - Born in South Dakota, Dr. Ochsner pioneered the the "war against smoking."  Despite endless ridiculing from his peers, Ochsner made it known to the world that smoking does, indeed, have a direct link to lung cancer and tobacco is an extreme hazard to anyone's health.  He worked out of the Tulane Medical School where he was renowned by his students for intense verbal debates.

C15 ~ Earl Tupper - He spent his whole childhood inventing small household items. During WW II, he formed a company called Tupper Plastics which made molding parts for gas masks and signal lamps for the war. After the war, Tupper developed a cleaner, purified version of plastic and also an air-tight plastic seal which was the foundation for Tupperware.  Today, Tupperware is found in practically every house and has enabled us to store food for long periods of time without being wasteful.  His marketing practice of having home parties held by housewives for their friends and neighbors saved many dollars in the overhead costs most businesses must pay, keeping the price of his items quite reasonable.

C16 ~ John Hersey - Criticized the inhumanity of modern warfare.  In his book Hiroshima, which was derived from a series of articles he wrote for the New York Times, he described in detail the graphic and pernicious effects resulting from the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  Influenced much criticism and anti-war sentiment.

D17 ~ Jawarhalal Nehru - The son of Motilal Nehru, a prominent advocate and early leader of the Indian independence movement. He became the top political leader of the Indian National Congress Party and its struggle for independence from Britain. After independence, he served as India's prime minister from 1947 until his death by assassination, and he was also a great internationalist and one of the founders of the non-aligned movement.  He also became a pop-culture phenomenon due to the stylish and colorful jackets he wore, which eventually became a fad around the world.

C18 ~ Tennessee Williams - one of Americas greatest playwrights, and certainly the greatest ever from the South.  He wrote fiction and motion picture screenplays, but he is acclaimed primarily for his plays-- nearly all of which at their best rise above regionalism to approach universalism.  His most famous works include The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named Desire.

D19 ~ Whittaker Chambers - He was a U.S. journalist and spy born in Philadelphia.  He wrote for a newspaper before engaging in espionage for the USSR.  He is extremely important to this era because, as editor of Time magazine, he testified before the Senate accusing Alger Hiss of Un-American activities.  Hiss sued for libel, and then Chambers took government officials to his farm in Maryland where he produced a microfilm of secret documents (hidden inside a pumpkin) that Hiss had supposedly given him from the Department of Justice.  Hiss went to prison, but Chambers was universally hated as well.

A20 ~ Bernard Baruch -He was an American government advisor to several Presidents on economics, and for the Office of War Mobilization, as well as a philanthropist.  In 1943 he produced a report outlining ways industry adjusted to wartime.  Presedent Truman appointed him U.S. representative to the U.N. Atomic Energy Commission, in 1946.

D20 ~ Margaret Sanger -  When she worked as a nurse in New York City caring for the poor women, she saw the suffering caused to women by unwanted pregnancy and she joined the Socialist Party, became a feminist, and devoted her life to promoting birth control.  In 1916, Sanger opened a birth control clinic and she was arrested and sent to prison.  She eventually helped obtain economic and social equality with men through her actions to promote birth control.

A21 ~ James V Forrestal - He was an aviator for the U.S. Navy in WW I, and he was the administrative assistant under the Secretary of Navy.  He became the first Sectretary of Defense, and he was dedicated to changing the defense structure of the U.S. and he expanded the Secretary of Defense's power.  The National Security Act was amended in his name after his untimely and tragic death.

B21 ~ Andrei Sakharov -  He was a Soviet physicist who was famous for his research on controlled thermonuclear reactions.  He became known for his efforts on behalf of human rights and world peace after he realized the incredible destructive power of nuclear weapons.  He has helped us today to make the world a better place to live by his efforts to promote world peace and human rights.

C21 ~ Arthur Miller -Arthur Miller had attended the University of Michigan, during WWII he wrote many radio scripts and plays but made his living as a steam fitter. Miller had many successful plays including: The Death of a Salesman, for which he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize, All My Sons, The Crucible, and many more. Miller was called before the HUAC and received an honorary doctorate from his old college; He was convicted of contempt of Congress by the HUAC for refusing to name names, which was overturned the next year.

D21 ~ Estes Kefauver -  Grew up in Tennesse, went to law school. Ran for the Senate and won. He beat out "Boss" Edward Crump who had dominated Tennesse's politics for many years. He was Re-elected in 1954 and won the Democratic nomination for Vice - president.  He wrote a book called Crime in America which was about the investigation of crimes of the Mafia.  He headed up a Congressional commission that investigated organized crime, but the results did not help his political career.

C22 ~ Charles Schultz - After serving in World War II, this young man took a tremendous risk, attempting to build a career around his artistic talents.  Reflecting on his own childhood, which he saw as uneventful and rather lame, he created a round-headed boy whose best plans for love and success never came to full realization.  This sympathetic character remained at the center of a low-key, subtly-humored comic strip for over 50 years, making Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Snoopy, and host of other characters cultural icons in Peanuts.

Comp3 ~ DDT - Rachael Carson, a well-known biologist, wrote a book entitled Silent Spring, in which she expressed the dangers of this residual poison, which eventually caused it to be banned.  DDT was widely used to control insect damage to crops, but it was discovered that elements in DDT would not leave an insect's body after it died, causing the DDT to pass on into the body of its predator.  One of the effects was that the eggshells of American Bald Eagles (which had eaten rodents who had eaten "dusted" bugs) became much thinner, causing the eggs to break too easily, and the Eagle to nearly become extinct.