Abbreviated Bios

Luther Burbank experimented with plants by cross breeding them in order to create disease resistant and tastier fruits and vegetable, most of which we still eat today.

Henry J. Kaiser was an amazing businessman who built dams, brought the steel industry to California, constructed ships during WWII, made the Jeep brand popular around the world and created the HMO.  

John C. Calhoun is considered a villain of American History.  He considered slavery to be a positive for society. Some progressives are stealing his ideas today.

Mercy Otis Warren was one of America's Founding Mothers and the writer of the first complete history of the American Revolution.

When we read the Constitution, we read Gouverneur Morris' words.

Thomas Cole was an early American artist who founded the Hudson River School of landscape art.  Since this is a painter and Anchor now supports, video, this episode is a video presentation.

Mary Walker was the only woman ever to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.  She was also considered a freak of nature in the 1800s for insisting on wearing pants.  She accomplished a lot in her life.

James K. Polk accomplished so many things for the U.S. in his one term that he should be considered one of America's great presidents.  But few people have ever heard of him.  You will, however, if you listen to this episode.

William Wells Brown wrote the first novel by an African American in America. It took on the topic of President Jefferson fathering children by one of his slaves.

John Wesley Powell explored the Colorado River by boat over the dangerous rapids of the Grand Canyon.  He is also one of the reasons so many Dams were built in the west to save water.

Thomas Nelson Jr. was a signer of the Declaration of Independence who lost his fortune because of his support of the Patriot cause.  Yet he never regretted his actions.

Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca was a Conquistador stranded in North America during the 1530s.  He went from Conquistador to slave to healer in his struggle to survive. The previous version of this had another episode attached.  How? I don't know.

Frederick Funston, at 5 foot 4 and 115 pounds did not look like a great military officer.  He overcame those perceptions to become an American hero of the Philippine insurrection.

William Seward was Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of State and survived an assassination attempt on the same night Lincoln was killed.

Civil War general Lew Wallace wrote the best-selling American novel of the 1800s, Ben Hur.

Matthew Maury developed the scientific specialty of Oceanography and got the idea for it by reading the Bible.

Garfield was a brilliant and kind man who was shot 3 months into his presidency.

Phyllis Schlafly helped shape the modern Republican Party.  Learn about her in this episode of Abbreviated Bios.

Stephen Foster was the first great American songwriter who, unfortunately, died in obscurity.

Richard Mentor Johnson was the 9th Vice-President of the U.S. who had an unusual personal life for that time in U.S. History.

There will be a new Abbreviated Bio each week.  Among the people being profiled in upcoming episodes will be James K. Polk, Richard Johnson, Calvin Coolidge, Benjamin Banneker, Phyllis Schlafly, and Pio Pico.