American Tenor Roland Hayes
Roland’s experiences with racism were a norm throughout his career, especially in the beginning. When starting, he was told in the U.S. “that no one...
Category: snapshot biographies
Our collection of historical short story biographies about people who have worked to help others and bring social change.
French Resistance Operative Jeannette Guyot
Jeannette Guyot joined the French resistance fighting Nazi occupation during World War II in 1940. Barely in her twenties at the time, she would take on many da...
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – Civil Rights Leader
Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and Henry David Thoreau, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. believed in nonviolent resistance as the path to gaining equal rights for Black A...
Anna Julia Cooper: Educator and equality advocate
Biography “It is not the intelligent woman vs. the ignorant woman; nor the white woman vs. the black, the brown, and the red,–it is not even the cau...
Charles Young: Short Story Biography
Throughout his upbringing, Charles’ parents placed much emphasis on education. He often studied at home with his mother, who though enslaved for her years...
Chemist Alice Augusta Ball
Alice Augusta Ball was a chemist who developed a treatment for leprosy after becoming the first woman and African-American to graduate with a master’s deg...
Paul Grüninger Helps Save Jewish Refugees
Paul Grüninger was a Swiss police commander who saved about 3,600 Jewish refugees during WWII by backdating their visas and falsifying other documents to indica...
Actress Olivia de Havilland: a snapshot biography
Olivia de Havilland performed in forty-nine feature films and won multiple Academy and Golden Globe awards. But her career almost ended well before stardom. Dee...
Langston Hughes: writer, “My People” & other works
Langston Hughes Biography “The night is beautiful,So the faces of my people. The stars are beautiful,So the eyes of my people Beautiful, also, is the sun....
Bert Williams: “The funniest man I ever saw.”
Biography Bert Williams was simple and kind, many liked him. He was also one of the best comedians of his time. “The funniest man I ever saw,” one fellow comedi...