Inspiring Others

These messages tell us about those who inspired us through their own lives.

    • Songs that Unite Us

      It was 1908 and Jack Norworth was riding a subway train when he saw a sign that inspired a tune. Norworth was a songwriter as part of the Tin Pan Alley Music scene in the early 20th century. He teamed up with Albert Von Tilzer to set the lyrics to music. The original...

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    • A Life of Hope

      J.C. Hall was born in 1891 in Nebraska. He had a tough early start to life. His parents divorced and his father died when he was seven. When J.C. was eight, J.C. became a door-to-door salesman of perfumes for what would become Avon products. When J.C. was 14, he and...

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    • Hope from Life’s Struggles

      Louis Zamperini was born in New York in 1917. His parents were immigrants from Italy and neither he nor his parents spoke English. Louis was a subject of bullying and that led Louis to having a rebellious childhood. Louis’ older brother encouraged him to try out for...

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    • Hopes in Perspective

      Charley was unsure what he wanted to do with his engineering degree other than he wanted to make a difference. When he graduated, he started his career working as a design engineer for a socially responsible company. His work was highly praised, but Charley wasn’t...

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    • Hope and Finding Your Life’s Purpose

      George was an indifferent student. He had gone to college hoping to find a career, but he really wasn’t interested in any of his courses. When George returned home in the summer, he didn’t expect to return to college. But all that changed when the father of...

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    • An Inventive Mind

      Lonnie Johnson was born in Alabama in 1949. His father had not completed high school but was a skilled handyman who taught Lonnie and five siblings to create their own toys. This was the start of Lonnie’s lifetime of tinkering. Lonnie went to a segregated high school...

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    • Paying it Forward

      One of the most lasting stories of hope is one that we call paying it forward. The concept is that we return kindness given to us by paying it forward to another person. Paying it forward was brought to our conscious by a popular movie in 1999. But the concept of...

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    • Raising Esteem for Children – Part 2

      Kenneth Clark was born in the Panama Canal Zone in 1914. When his parents divorced, he returned to the U.S. with his mother. It wasn’t until he started living in Harlem that he became aware of race. He was being trained for a trade until his mother had him transfer to...

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    • Raising Esteem for Children – Part 1

      Mamie (Phipps) Clark was born to a medical family in Arkansas in 1917. Her family’s status made them accepted even though they were African Americans living in the Jim Crow staff. She was still forced to attend segregated schools. Her experience living between black...

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    • Feeding the Civil Rights Movement

      Georgia Gilmore was born in Montgomery Alabama, the hotbed of much of the struggle for civil rights. She became the lead cook in a cafeteria serving only white people. She was also a midwife and mother of six children. When Georgia became active with the NAACP she was...

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