Making a Difference

These messages describe how the work of individuals made a difference for others.

    • Wounded for Life

      Charles Barger was born in Missouri in 1892. When he was 5 years old, his father was sentenced to a lifetime in prison. His mother gave him up for adoption. When Charles was 26 years old, he enlisted in the Army as the U.S. entered World War I. With training, he was...

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    • Good Trouble in the Fight for Freedom

      Robert Smalls was born into slavery in South Carolina in 1839. His mother was a house slave and took care of Robert, as well as the slaveholder’s children. He was able to learn basic reading and writing skills. His mother helped ensure that he saw the dark side of...

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    • A Charitable Activist

      Frances (Wisebart) Jacobs was born in Kentucky in 1843 to Jewish parents who were from Bavaria. She trained to be a teacher, but when she married her life’s purpose changed. She and her husband moved to Denver, Colorado. At the time, Denver was merely an encampment...

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    • Tutoring the World

      Salman Khan was born in Louisiana in 1976. His father was from Bangladesh while his mother was from India. Sal went to a public high school and was the valedictorian. He obtained his BS and MS degrees from MIT and his MBA from Harvard. Sal began his career as a...

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    • Forsaking a Life of Privilege

      Roger Baldwin was born to a life of privilege, but to a family who was socially active. He had two degrees from Harvard. When at Harvard, he taught adult education classes where he became aware of the challenges of low income families. A family friend Louis Brandeis,...

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    • Commitment to Society

      Jack Geiger was born in NYC to parents who immigrated to America from Austria and Germany. Jack graduated from high school when he was 14. He was not old enough to go to college, so he got a job with the New York Times. Jack was a fan of jazz and spent most...

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    • The Gift of Blood

      Charles Drew grew up in a middle-class African American family. He was an excellent student and went to Amherst College on an athletic scholarship. After graduating from college, he went to medical school at McGill University. While at McGill, he worked on a research...

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    • Ain’t I a Woman

      Isabella (Bella) Baumfree was one of 10 or 12 children born to slave parents. When she was 9 years old, she was sold to another owner who beat her every day. She was sold twice more including one owner who raped her repeatedly. She later married and had five children....

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    • Moral Persuasion

      A fourth grade geography textbook with pictures of Africa set the course for Janice McLaughlin’s life. She sensed that Africa would become her life’s passion. She joined the Maryknoll sisterhood at age 18. Marymount is the Catholic order that focuses its missions to...

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    • Sustainable Giving

      It was the first trip that Jon and June had made to the family farm since they were married. Jon’s aunt, Alice, and family friend, Jim, were the only family members left in the rural community where Jon’s mother was raised. Jim, while not a biological member of the...

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