Arts, Entertainment, Sports, and Cultural Acceptance

This series of messages focus on those who opened up society through their personal talent or their ability to encourage talent in others.

    • Alice Marble: Athlete, Spy, Civil Rights Advocate

      She won 5 Grand Slam Tennis tournaments. She helped the Allies infiltrate the Nazi finances. And she helped desegregate tennis so that people of color could compete on a world stage. With all of these accomplishments, you would think we would know her name. But Alice...

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    • The All-American Red Heads

      It was the roaring 20s in America. Traveling entertainment was popular in the days before technology made available the variety of entertainment we have today. While larger metropolitan areas had entertainment clubs, rural America relied upon vagabond entertainers who...

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    • Unrecognized Artistry

      Camille Claudel was born in France. Her early education was a traditional Catholic education. As she grew older, she became interested in an artistic future. She began to sculpt the human form in clay. Her mother was aghast. Her father was more supportive. Her father...

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    • Father of Gospel Blues

      Thomas Dorsey was born in Georgia in 1899. His father was a minister and a sharecrop farmer as well as a one-room schoolteacher. Thomas grew up with religion and music being strong influences. Both his mother (organ) and uncle (guitar) introduced him to a variety of...

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    • Photographic Awareness

      Dorothea (Nutzhorn) Lange was born in 1895 in New Jersey. When she was seven, she was a polio victim giving her a limp for the rest of her life. When she was 12, her father abandoned the family. When her mother worked, she would wander the streets and observe people....

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    • The Roosevelt Dime

      Selma Burke was born in Mooresville, NC in 1900. Her father was both a minister and a railroad brakeman. Her mother wanted her 10 children to be professionally trained, and that led Selma to getting a nursing degree. Her mother actually began her college career when...

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    • Illustrations that Connect

      Albert Staehle was born in Germany and came to America when he was 14 years old. He was destined to have a career in art, as both his father and grandfather were artists. His father painted for Currier and Ives and was studying art in Germany when Albert When Albert...

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    • Breaking the Color Barrier in Tennis

      Jimmie McDaniel was the son of a former baseball player in the Negro League but became known for another sport: tennis. He started playing tennis by hitting balls against a wall. He never had a lesson. At 6’5” tall, he was initially thought to be a track athlete,...

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    • The First African American Athletic Super Star

      Marshall (Major) Taylor was one of eight children. His father was a coachman for the wealthy Southard family. Major and the son of his father’s employer became close, and he began to live with the Southard family. The Southard’s gave Major a bicycle and a future that...

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    • Golf Course Architect

      Joseph Bartholomew was born in New Orleans in 1888. He was a good student who was allowed to skip grades. At the age of 7, he began to caddie at whites-only golf courses. He was paid $3/day. He was befriended by the golf pro at the Auburn golf course who taught him...

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