The Great American History Fact Finder

Over 2,000 entries covering the who, what, where, when, and why of U.S. history.--Cover.

"Over 2,000 entries covering the who, what, where, when and why of U.S. history."--Thumbnail.

Eager to challenge social norms during the Victorian age, Louise Pound was an iconoclast responsible for challenging America¿s views on women, academics, and sports. Discarding the traditional corset to accommodate her sports activities, her athletic prowess resulted in her being a world-class athlete in both tennis and golf. She became a local legend after winning several matches against her male contemporaries. She is now recognized for having layed the social groundwork for female athletes like ¿Babe¿ Didrikson Zaharias. Unable to get accepted into an American post-graduate program, she battled institutional sexism and obtained her Ph.D. in Germany in less than a year. She soon became a world-renowned philologist, American folklorist and educator, and she was the first academician to advocate the recognition of American English as a distinct language from that spoken in Great Britain. Although she is often known for little more than being the love interest of lesbian author Willa Cather, the author debunks such claims, giving sound evidence that the attraction was not reciprocated.

Why are Americans of African descent, as a group, not flourishing like other racial groups in America? Dr. J. M. Sparrow, in Rebels with Insufficient Cause, proposes that value formation through the biblical model of the family is lacking. The secular world is redefining and reinterpreting the social structures that God created in order for humans to enjoy maximum human flourishing. Every person or social group that chooses to ignore God’s designs for humanity will experience chaos, but every person and social group that submits to God’s designs for humanity will experience order. Americans of African descent are experiencing that chaos in greater measure than any other racial group. Since this book holds to a biblical worldview that teaches that all humans are created equal, Americans of African descent are not inherently more debased than other races. However, since the out-of-wedlock birth rate is astronomically higher in black communities than in others, they are experiencing a greater share of the chaos. Yet all is not lost. When Americans of African descent begin to hold up the truths of the Bible as normative and encourage future generations to practice the same, things will begin to turn around. Americans of African descent must choose to reject the victim mentality, see themselves as part of the larger American culture rather than as outsiders, and inculcate biblical values on their children in the midst of loving, supportive, and God-honoring family units.

Principally an abridgement of the transcript of the trial as published in: The Sacco-Vanzetti case. 2nd ed. Mamaroneck, N.Y. : P. P. Appel, 1969; followed by a collection of remarks over the past 80 years about the trial and its significance.

Following up Betty DeRamus’s Essence bestselling Forbidden Fruit, Freedom by Any Means follows the story of extraordinary acts of courage and love by Blacks in the American slave era with beautifully written and inspiring stories of how slaves used the law—against all odds—to gain freedom for themselves and loved ones. In Freedom by Any Means, Betty DeRamus explains that “Much of what we think we know about African American history isn't completely true.” Slave freedom isn’t limited to the usual story—slaves gained their freedom by running away, being freed by their owners, buying their way out of bondage, or having someone else buy them. But history doesn’t account for the slaves who bluffed their way to freedom, sidestepped tricks and traps, won lawsuits, or even gained their freedom by their cooking. Riveting and surprising, DeRamus captures the tumultuous lives of the humans in inhumane situations who were able to salvage their families and marriages and achieve freedom together against tremendous odds. It takes a broader look at the various extraordinary ways that enslaved and dehumanized people achieved freedom and the means to a self-determined life. Among these people are visionaries who not only survived against the odds, but prospered—building businesses, owning land and other property. Freedom by Any Means also features the return of many of the beloved figures from her previous book Forbidden Fruit, including Lucy Nichols, Al and Margaret Wood, and Sylvia and Louis Stark. This inspiring account, steeped in rich historical research, attests to the resolve of the human spirit and reveals how men and women were willing to risk it all to escape the slavery.