Okay, I know that some of these famous Americans might not be suitable for elementary school kids to do reports on. Of course, Alfred Kinsey is obvious since he was a pioneer in human sexuality while Eugene Debs was a political radical and Al Capone and John Dillinger were criminals. However, this series about honoring great Americans who’ve necessarily made positive contributions since that might be a matter of opinion. And then there are some people who are rather controversial but that doesn’t mean I should leave them out. Nevertheless, in this post I bring you the Mount Rushmores I compiled from prairie state Kansas to Chesapeake Bay state Maryland. First, we venture to Kansas which has at times has been no place like home to a prominent WWII general who later became president, a noted black photographer and filmmaker, a famous poetic voice from the Harlem Renaissance, and a legendary aviator. Second, it’s on to Kentucky where you’ll meet an interesting lot consisting of a bird guy who’s name is synonymous with avian conservation, a knife guy who died at the Alamo, an eccentric journalist, and a mystic monk. Then we go down to Louisiana, home to a legendary jazz trumpeter, a larger than life politician, a French pirate, and a highly well-known gay playwright. Next, I bring you up north to the state of Maine where you’ll meet a legendary American poet, one of the most unlikely military heroes, an advocate for the mentally ill, and an academic who was an early supporter of civil rights. Finally, we go to Maryland where you’ll find a former slave who became the most prominent voice for African Americans in the 19^th century, a lawyer who wrote what became a national anthem, a civil rights lawyer who eventually sat on the highest court bench in the land, and a Catholic bishop who supported Christian unity as well as a separation between church and state.

16. Kansas

“This is a long tough road we have to travel. The men that can do things are going to be sought out just as surely as the sun rises in the morning. Fake reputations, habits of glib and clever speech, and glittering surface performance are going to be discovered.”-from 1942. Also, before becoming Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, he spent a time “studying dramatics” under Douglas MacArthur as he put it. So I’m sure he has the chops to rein in a prima donna like George S. Patton.

Figure 1: Dwight D. Eisenhower – US president from 1953-1961 and 5-star general during WWII who served as Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe. Responsible for planning and supervising the invasion of North Africa with Operation Torch in 1942-43 and the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944-45. Was first Supreme Commander of NATO, served as Army Chief of Staff under Truman, and president of Columbia University. Administration saw the end of the Korean War, coups in Iran and Guatemala, troubles in Vietnam, the Suez crisis, establishment of NASA, the early years of the Civil Rights Movement, the U2 Incident, McCarthyism, establishment of the Interstate Highway System, and Alaska and Hawaii becoming states.

Gordon Parks was a pioneer among African photojournalists and filmmakers. Nevertheless, he’s best remembered as the creator of Shaft in recent generation as well as taking photos. But he did much more than that.

Figure 2: Gordon Parks– photographer, musician, writer, and film director who became prominent in US documentary photojournalism in the 1940s through the 1970s, particularly in issues of civil rights, poverty, and African Americans. Was the first African American to produce and direct major motion pictures, developing films relating the experience of black slaves and struggling black Americans, and creating the “Blaxploitation” genre. Best remembered for his iconic photos of poor Americans during the 1940s (particularly the lady with the brooms behind the American flag), his photographic essays in Life magazine, and as the director in the 1971 film Shaft. Also an author, poet, and composer.

O, let America be America again —/The land that never has been yet —/And yet must be — the land where every man is free./Sure, call me any ugly name you choose —/The steel of freedom does not stain./From those who live like leeches on the people’s lives,/We must take back our land again,/America! – from “Let America Be America Again”

Figure 3: Langston Hughes– poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist who was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form called jazz poetry and best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance. Famously wrote about the period that “the negro was in vogue”, which was later paraphrased as “when Harlem was in vogue.” Poetry and fiction portrayed the lives of the working-class blacks in America, lives he portrayed as full of struggle, joy, laughter, and music.  Stressed a racial consciousness and cultural nationalism devoid of self-hate and thought united people of African descent and Africa across the globe to encourage pride in their diverse black folk culture and black aesthetic. In his time, he was one of the few prominent black writers to champion racial consciousness as a source of inspiration for black artists which influence many black writers today.

While she was only a passenger in her first Transatlantic flight, Amelia Earhart soon became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic solo. However, her attempt to fly around the world didn’t turn out so well since her plane hasn’t been seen since 1937.

Figure 4: Amelia Earhart– aviation pioneer and author who was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, receiving the US Distinguished Flying Cross for the record and set many other records as well. Wrote bestselling books about her flying experiences and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, a female pilot organization. Disappeared in an attempt to make a circumnavigational flight around the globe in 1937 over the central Pacific Ocean. Fascination with her life, career, and disappearance continues to this day.

17. Kentucky

Though John James Audubon is a celebrated figure among bird fans, he tend to kill a lot of birds so he could study them, stuff them, and put them in paintings. To be fair, killing animals in the name of science and conservation was a very common practice in the 19th century.

Figure 1: John James Audubon– ornithologist, naturalist, and painter who was notable for his extensive studies documenting all types of American birds and for his detailed illustrations that depicted the birds in their natural habitats. His major work titled The Birds of America is considered one of the finest ornithological works ever completed with nearly all later ornithological works were inspired by his artistry and high standards. Made significant contributions to the understanding of bird anatomy and behavior through his field notes. Identified 25 new species and 12 subspecies.

Sure Jim Bowie may not be as well known as Davy Crockett, but he’s still an awesome legend in his own right as a fighter and frontiersman with a big ass knife that bears his name. Not to mention, but there’s considerable evidence that he died as the real hero of the Alamo while fighting Mexicans in his bed.

Figure 2: Jim Bowie– pioneer who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution which culminated in this death at the Battle of the Alamo. Stories of him as a fighter and frontiersman have made him a legendary figure and a folk hero of American culture. Despite conflicting accounts of the manner of his death, the “most popular, and probably the most accurate” accounts maintain that he died in his bed after emptying his pistols into several Mexican soldiers. Was renowned for his prowess with a large knife that lends his name with which he was reputed to kill a Louisiana sheriff after having been shot and stabbed himself, according to reports of the 1827 Sandbar fight.

“I was a seeker, a mover, a malcontent, and at times a stupid hell-raiser. I was never idle long enough to do much thinking, but I felt somehow that my instincts were right.” And yes, that’s the real Hunter S. Thompson. I’m sure you were expecting Johnny Depp.

Figure 3: Hunter S. Thompson– journalist, author, and founder of the gonzo journalism movement. Became a counter cultural figure in the 1970s, with his own brand of New Journalism which he termed “Gonzo”, an experimental style of journalism where reporters involve themselves in the action to such a degree that they become central figures of their stories. Best known work is Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream which constitutes a rumination on the failure of the 1960s counterculture movement and was serialized by Rolling Stone with which he’d be long associated. Also known well known for his inveterate hatred of Richard Nixon, who he claimed represented “that dark, venal, and incurably violent side of the American character” as well as for his lifelong use of alcohol and illegal drugs, his love of firearms, and his iconoclastic contempt for authoritarianism.

“To say that I am made in the image of God is to say that Love is the reason for my existence, for God is love. Love is my true identity. Selflessness is my true self. Love is my true character. Love is my name.”- from Seeds of Contemplation (1949)

Figure 4: Thomas Merton– writer, mystic, poet, social activist, and Trappist monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani, Kentucky who wrote more than 70 books, mostly on spirituality, social justice, and a quiet pacifism as well as scores of essays and reviews. Among his most enduring works is his bestselling autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain which sent scores of WWII veterans, students, and even teenagers flocking to monasteries across the US. Was a keen proponent of interfaith understanding, pioneered dialogue between Asian spiritual figures including the Dalai Lama, and authored books on Zen Buddhism and Taoism. Called by Pope Francis as ”a man of prayer, a thinker who challenged the certitudes of his time and opened new horizons for souls and for the Church. He was also a man of dialogue, a promoter of peace between peoples and religions.”

18. Louisiana

Sometimes nicknamed “Satchmo” or “Pops,” Louis Armstrong is one of the most influential and recognizable figures in jazz. However, sometimes his irrepressible personality was so strong that it overshadowed his contribution as a musician and a singer.

Figure 1: Louis Armstrong– trumpeter, composer, and singer who was one of the most influential figures in jazz and whose career spanned 5 decades and different jazz eras with a profound influence extending well beyond jazz music. One of the first truly popular African American entertainers to “cross over” whose skin color was secondary to his music in an America that was extremely racially divided. Was a foundational influence in jazz shifting focus from collective improvisation to solo performance. With his instantly recognizable gravelly voice, he was also an influential singer demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser, bending lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes as well as skilled in scat singing.

Called, “The Kingfish,” Huey Long was a very controversial figure in Louisiana, even during his own lifetime. Sure he was a populist who called to “Share our Wealth” and make “Every Man a King.” But his dictatorial means and motives violated American norms.

Figure 2: Huey Long– politician nicknamed “The Kingfish,” who served as Louisiana’s governor and senator during from 1928 to his assassination in 1935. Best known for being an outspoken populist who denounced the rich and the banks and called for “Share Our Wealth” that proposed new wealth distribution measures in the form of a net asset tax on corporations and individuals to curb poverty and homelessness during the Great Depression. Advocated federal spending on public works, schools and colleges, and old age pensions stimulate the economy as well as was an ardent critic of the Federal Reserve. As Louisiana’s political boss, he commanded wide networks of supporters and was willing to take forceful action. Under his leadership, he expanded hospitals and schools, set of a system of charity hospitals to provide healthcare to the poor, massive highway construction and free bridges that brought an end to rural isolation, and free textbooks provided for schoolchildren. But his dictatorial means and motives violated American norms. Remains a controversial figure in Louisiana with critics and supporters debating whether or not he was a dictator, demagogue, or populist. Has inspired countless novels, particularly Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men.

Jean Lafitte was no saint. and only agreed to help the US in exchange for a pardon. But his assistance to Andrew Jackson proved critical in a achieving victory for the Battle of New Orleans.

Figure 3: Jean Laffite– pirate and privateer in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century who had a successful smuggling operation in Louisiana with his brothers as well as was instrumental in helping Andrew Jackson defend New Orleans against British forces in the final battle of the War of 1812 in exchange for a legal pardon. His assistance to the US in that battle was crucial in achieving victory for he provided ships and men. Also suggested to Jackson that the American line of defense be extended from the Mississippi to a nearby swamp. Later became a spy for the Spanish during the Mexican War of Independence and developed a pirate colony in what is today Galveston, Texas. Continued attacking merchant ships as a pirate around Central American ports until he died around 1823, trying to capture Spanish vessels. Historians have speculated about his life and death ever since.

Though not actually from Tennessee, Tennessee Williams was a prolific playwright who’s best known for A Streetcar Named Desire. His dysfunctional family drama is often said to be an inspiration for many of his stage classics.

Figure 4: Tennessee Williams– playwright and author of many stage classics. Considered among the three foremost playwrights in 20th-century American drama along with Eugene O’Neill and Arthur Miller. Also wrote short stories, poetry, essays and a volume of memoirs. Best known for The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Sweet Bird of Youth. While his plays in the 1940s and 1950s are seen as extraordinary, his later works brought him turmoil and theatrical failures, mainly due to his alcoholism.

19. Maine

“All your strength is in your union,/All your danger is in discord;/Therefore be at peace henceforward,/And as brothers live together.” – from The Song of Hiawatha (1855)

Figure 1: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow– poet and educator whose works include “Paul Revere’s Ride”, The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline and was one of the 5 Fireside poets. First American to translate Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. Wrote many lyric poems known for their musicality and often presenting stories of mythology and legend and was the most popular American poet of his day. Yet has been criticized for imitating European styles and writing specifically for the masses.

Joshua Chamblerlain played a key role in the Battle of Gettysburg when he and the 20th Maine held off the Confederates at Little Round Top on the second day. He was awarded a Medal of Honor for his heroism.

Figure 2: Joshua Chamberlain– college professor who volunteered for the Union Army during the American Civil War where he became a highly respected and decorated Union officer reaching the rank of brigadier general. Most well-known for his gallantry at Gettysburg in his valiant defense of Little Round Top where he ordered simultaneous full frontal assault and flanking maneuver on Confederate troops, capturing 101 of them. This earned him the Medal of Honor as well as gave him the honor of commanding Union troops at the surrender ceremony of Robert E. Lee’s Army at Appomattox Court House. After the Civil War, served as governor of Maine and president of his alma mater Bowdoin College.

While Dorothea Dix’s advocacy of putting the mentally ill in institutions might not go well with us today, in her day, it wasn’t unusual to see the mentally ill treated much worse like put in horrific prisons with appalling conditions alongside violent criminals. And if there was any mental health system present, it was unregulated, underfunded, and prone to widespread abuse.

Figure 3: Dorothea Dix– author, teacher, and activist on behalf of the indigent insane who, through a vigorous program of lobbying state legislatures and the US Congress, created the first generation of American mental asylums as well as helped change people’s perceptions on the mentally ill as well as prisoners and the disabled. Her own troubled family background and impoverished youth is said to serve as a galvanizing force throughout her career. Served as Superintendent of Army Nurses during the American Civil War where she established a reputation as an advocate for the work of female nurses.

“We shall speak against slavery, as we have hitherto done. We can find no language that has the power to express the hatred we have towards so vile and so wicked an institution-We hate it-we abhor, we lather it-wedetest it and despise it as a giant sin against God.”

Figure 4: Oren Burbank Cheney– Free Will Baptist clergyman, politician, editor, and academic who was a leader in the New England antislavery movement and played an active role in the empowerment of African Americans and women in the American Civil War and decades beyond as well as was one of the earliest advocates for civil rights for both groups. His contributions to the political and religious landscape of Maine and Massachusetts proved to be influential and changed the notions of equality in the United States. Established Bates College which provided the backdrop to increased racial equality, the formalization of women’s rights, making a college education available for those with limited financial means, and educational reform where he was president for 39 years.

20. Maryland

“He is a lover of his country who rebukes and does not excuse its sins. It is righteousness that exalteth a nation while sin is a reproach to any people.”

Figure 1: Frederick Douglass– social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping slavery, he became a national leader of the abolitionist movement from Massachusetts and New York, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writings. Because he was born into slavery, he was seen by abolitionists as a living counter-example to slaveholders’ arguments that slaves lacked the intellectual capacity to function as independent American citizens. Wrote several autobiographies and was influential in promoting the cause of abolition. Was a firm believer in the equality of all peoples, in dialogue and in making alliances across racial and ideological divides, and in the liberal values of the American Constitution. By making a career of agitating the American conscience, he is by far the most influential African American of the 19^th century.

Even before Francis Scott Key’s poem became US national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner” was increasingly popular throughout the 19th century, even played by bands at public events like 4th of July celebrations. And it has been played at sporting events since at least the 1918 World Series. So when it came time to choose a national anthem, Key’s song was a natural choice.

Figure 2: Francis Scott Key– lawyer, author, and amateur poet who wrote the lyrics to what eventually became the US national anthem, “The Star Spangled Banner” which was based on his experience witnessing the 1814 bombardment of Fort McHenry in the Battle of Baltimore while he was a prisoner on a British ship during the War of 1812. It would be published in the American and Commercial Daily Advertiser that same year as “Defence of Fort M’Henry.” He later took it to Thomas Carr who adapted it to a melody of a popular drinking love song “To Anacreon in Heaven” and it became “The Star-Spangled Banner” ever since. Though somehow difficult to sing, the song became increasingly popular, competing with “Hail Columbia,” as the de facto national anthem during both the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War. More than a century after its publication, it was adopted as the US national anthem first by an Executive Order by Woodrow Wilson in 1916 and then by Congressional resolution in 1931. Also wrote some religious poems that were used in Christian hymns.

Even if he wasn’t the first black Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall would still be in this series since his career as an attorney for the NAACP played a pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement. His most famous case was Brown v. Board of Education which ruled segregation in public schools as unconstitutional.

Figure 3: Thurgood Marshall– lawyer who served as Chief Counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund during the 1940s and1950s. Best known for his high success rate in arguing civil rights cases before the Supreme Court and for the victory in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, a decision that desegregated public schools. Would eventually be appointed the first African American justice on the Supreme Court where he served from 1967-1991.

As the first American Catholic bishop, John Carroll was an early advocate for a vernacular liturgy because he wanted everyone in his flock to have access to the Scriptures and he knew that there were Catholics who didn’t understand Latin. Unfortunately for him, Catholic liturgy wouldn’t be in the vernacular until nearly 200 years later with Vatican II.

Figure 4: John Carroll– prelate to the Roman Catholic Church who served as the first American bishop and archbishop as well as founded Georgetown University and the first diocesan parish at Saint John the Evangelist in what is now Forest Glen, Maryland. When he joined the Jesuits, there was no public Catholic Church in Maryland due to anti-Catholic discrimination laws that effectively banned Catholics from political participation. In 1776, he accompanied Benjamin Franklin on a failed diplomatic mission to Quebec which gave him some name recognition to other Founding Fathers. Selected as Bishop of Baltimore by US clergy which was approved by Pope Pius VI. Was an early advocate for Christian unity and a vernacular liturgy as well as wrote articles defending Catholic tradition from those who promoted anti-Catholicism and fought notions of state establishment Protestantism as the official religion (though he always treated non-Catholics with respect).

So two down. Yes, I know that there will be some white people complaining about Florida’s all black lineup, perhaps saying that there are plenty of famous white Floridians, too. However, I didn’t compile these Mount Rushmore sets based on race. And it’s just turned out that the figures I had for Florida had accomplishments that can’t possibly be ignored. The fact they’re black is just a coincidence. Anyway, in this selection, I bring you the Mount Rushmores from Hawaii to Iowa. From Hawaii hails a Chinese cop who inspired a popular detective, an explorer who rediscovered a lost Inca citadel, and two Hawaiian monarchs. Then we’re off to Idaho where you’ll meet 4 people whose accomplishments weren’t small potatoes like an FBI agent who brought down a US president, a guy who invented television, a literary expatriate, and a lady guide for Lewis and Clark. Next, it’s on to Illinois where you have a great emancipator, one of the best known gangsters in Prohibition, a pioneer in social work, and a libertarian Nobel Prize winning economist. After that is Indiana where you’ll find a Depression Era rock star criminal, a pioneer in human sexuality, a journalist who wrote about the little guy, and a the biggest name in Progressive Era Socialism. Finally, you have Iowa where you’ll meet the guy behind one of the most famous American paintings, a man who had a Wild West show, a highly noted conservationist, and perhaps the best known big band leader of all time.

11. Hawaii

Though Charlie Chan was played by a white guy in the movies, he was at least partly inspired by a real Chinese Hawaiian detective named Chang Apana who had a very distinguished and adventurous career in the Honolulu Police Department. However, Earl Derr Biggers’ widow disputes this but you know, he was pretty awesome in his own way.

Figure 1: Chang Apana– Chinese Hawaiian member of the Honolulu Police Department for 34 years as an officer and detective who was acknowledged by Earl Derr Biggers as the inspiration for Charlie Chan. Was successful in solving many cases due to his fluency in several languages, his wide network of informants, and meticulous detective style.

While he was from a family of famous missionaries, Hiram Bingham III rediscovered the ruins of the lost Inca citadel of Machu Picchu with the help of indigenous farmers. Nevertheless, while he does seem like he’s in Indiana Jones mode here, he thankfully didn’t destroy it.

Figure 2: Hiram Bingham III– explorer, academic, and politician who made public the existence of the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu in 1911 with the guidance of local indigenous farmers. Later became a US Senator.

Through alliances and conquest, King Kamehameha I united Hawaii and established a kingdom. While it did outlive him, it didn’t survive the 19th century due to American Imperialism.

Figure 3: Kamehameha I– established the Kingdom of Hawaii after uniting most of the islands through conquest as well as developed alliances with the major Pacific colonial powers which preserved Hawaii’s independence under his rule. Remembered for the Kānāwai Māmalahoe, the “Law of the Splintered Paddle”, which protects human rights of non-combatants in times of battle.

Queen Liliʻuokalani was Hawaii’s first and last reigning queen as well as its last reigning monarch. In 1895, she was forcibly removed from her throne while Hawaii was annexed to the United States. Was also an accomplished author and songwriter with her “Aloha Oe” being Hawaii’s state song.

Figure 4: Liliʻuokalani– last monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1891-1893 when she was deposed and Hawaii was annexed to the US. Was also an accomplished author with her book Hawaiʻi’s Story by Hawaiʻi’s Queen as well as songwriter and musician who wrote the “Aloha Oe” which is Hawaii’s state song.

12. Idaho

As “Deep Throat,” W. Mark Felt leaked information about Watergate to Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein eventually proved vital in bringing down Richard Nixon’s presidency. However, his involvement as “Deep Throat” was kept a secret for decades until he revealed it in 2005. He died 3 years later.

Figure 1: W. Mark Felt– FBI Special Agent who rose to the Bureau’s Associate Director and was the Watergate scandal’s whistleblower referred to as “Deep Throat” in which he provided the Washington Post with critical information that eventually led to Richard Nixon’s resignation in 1974. His involvement with Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein was kept a secret for nearly 30 years. It is alleged he blew the whistle on Watergate as revenge against Nixon for passing him over for Bureau Director that he thought he deserved and giving it L. Patrick Gray whom he resented and didn’t think was up for the job.

In America, a man like Philo Farnsworth should be a household name since he was the inventor of television which has changed the world significantly. However, he’s not as well known as he should be. Also appeared on TV once in his life in 1957 for a CBS quiz show I’ve Got a Secret.

Figure 2: Philo Farnsworth– inventor and TV pioneer who made many contributions that were crucial to the early development of all-electronic television. Perhaps best known for his 1927 invention of the first fully functional all-electronic image pickup device (video camera tube), the “image dissector”, as well as the first fully functional and complete all-electronic television system. Was also the first person to demonstrate such a system to the public. Developed a TV system complete with receiver and camera which he produced commercially in the form of Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation from 1938-1951. Held 300 patents mostly in TV and radio. Later in life, invented a small nuclear fusion device the Farnsworth–Hirsch fusor, or simply “fusor”, employing inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC) that has been the acknowledged inspiration for other fusion approaches including the Polywell reactor concept in terms of a general approach to fusion design.

As an expatriate editor for several American literary magazines in London, Ezra Pound was a significant figure in the early modernist movement during the early 20th century. As a poet, he developed Imagism which was inspired by Chinese and Japanese poetry.

Figure 3: Ezra Pound– expatriate poet and critic as well as major figure in the modernist movement. Contribution to poetry began with his development of Imagism, a movement derived from classical Chinese and Japanese poetry, stressing clarity, precision and economy of language. Helped discover and shape the work of contemporaries T. S. Eliot, James Joyce, Robert Frost, and Ernest Hemingway. Was responsible for the 1915 publication of Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” and the serialization from 1918 of Joyce’s Ulysses, while he was a foreign editor of several American magazines in London. Embraced Benito Mussolini’s Italian fascism during the 1930s and 1940s as well as expressed support for Hitler and wrote for publications owned by British fascist Oswald Mosley as well as made several propaganda speeches against the US, FDR, and the Jews during WWII.

While no contemporary portrait exists of Sacagawea, familiarity with the western landscape and several Indian tribes proved vital for the Lewis and Clark expedition. One highlight was when she came to her Shoshone people and broke down in tears when trying to translate when she discovered that the the leader was her brother she hadn’t seen in years.

Figure 4: Sacagawea– a Lemhi Shoshone woman who helped the Lewis and Clark Expedition achieve each of its chartered mission objectives exploring the Louisiana Purchase. With the expedition between 1804 and 1806, she traveled thousands of miles from North Dakota to the Pacific Ocean, establishing cultural contacts with Native American populations, and researched natural history. The National American Woman Suffrage Association of the early 20^th century adopted her as a symbol of women’s worth and independence, erecting several statues and plaques in her memory, and doing much to spread the story of her accomplishments.

13. Illinois

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow, this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” – Gettysburg Address

Figure 1: Abraham Lincoln– US president who led the country through the American Civil War-its bloodiest war and an event often considered its greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis. In doing so, he preserved the union, abolished slavery, strengthened the federal government, and modernized the economy. Key moments in his life are his highly publicized debates against Stephen Douglas during the 1858 Senate election, his election to the presidency in 1860 which sparked the formation of the Confederacy, issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, confronting his opponents by pitting them against each other and carefully planned political patronage, appointing Ulysses S. Grant as commander of Union forces, pushing the 13^th Amendment through Congress that outlawed slavery permanently, and his Second Inaugural Address. His Gettysburg Address has become an iconic endorsement of the principles of nationalism, republicanism, equal rights, liberty, and democracy. Has been consistently ranked both by scholars and the public as one of the 3 greatest US presidents, if not the greatest president the US has ever had.

In his public persona, Al Capone would seem to you like a big, friendly guy you’d want to have a beer with. However, keep in mind that this guy dominated Chicago as head of an organized crime syndicate during Prohibition. And it’s very likely that he was involved in the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre. But at least you can be grateful that he was brought down by the IRS.

Figure 2: Al Capone– gangster who attained fame during the Prohibition Era as the co-founder of the Chicago Outfit of which he reigned as crime boss for 7 years in which he expanded the bootlegging business through increasingly violent means as well as his mutually profitable relationships with mayor William Hale Thompson and the city’s police kept him seemingly safe from law enforcement. Though styled himself as a “modern day Robin Hood” and reveled in media attention, his image would be forever tarnished by the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre which resulted in the killing of 7 rival gang members in broad daylight which led influential citizens to demand government action and newspapers to dub him “Public Enemy No.1.” Details of his reign, his flashy fashion sense, his colorful personality, and eventual fall and imprisonment for tax evasion have made him the most famous American Prohibition gangster of all time.

As founder of Chicago’s Hull House, Jane Addams was one of the most prominent reformers of the Progressive Era, the first American woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize, and pioneer in the social work profession. She was instrumental in turning America to issues of concern to mothers, such as the needs of children, local public health, and world peace. Why isn’t she more famous in this country I have no idea. Because she really deserves to be remembered.

Figure 3: Jane Addams- pioneer settlement activist/reformer, social worker, public philosopher, sociologist, author, and leader in women’s suffrage and world peace who created the first Hull House in Chicago, co-founded the ACLU, as well as became one of the most prominent reformers of the Progressive Era. Helped turn American issues of concern to mothers, such as needs of children, local public health, and world peace. Became a role model for middle-class women who volunteered to uplift their communities. Was the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and is recognized as the founder of the social work profession.

I’m no admirer of Milton Friedman nor do I support his economic theories. However, I do admit that his ideas have influenced so many politicians, particularly Republicans and Libertarians. And he has been cited by The Economist as, “the most influential economist of the second half of the 20th century … possibly of all of it.”

Figure 4: Milton Friedman– Nobel Prize winning economist for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and the complexity of stabilization policy. His political philosophy extolled the virtues of a free market economic system with minimal intervention. advocated policies such as a volunteer military, freely floating exchange rates, abolition of medical licenses, a negative income tax, ending the Federal Reserve, abolishing Social Security, and school vouchers (with volunteer military being his only good idea). Works include many monographs, books, scholarly articles, papers, magazine columns, television programs, and lectures, and cover a broad range of economic topics and public policy issues. Was an advisor to Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and Augusto Pinochet. Has been very influential in Republican and Libertarian politics.

14. Indiana

As a Depression-Era outlaw, John Dillinger stood out as the most notorious of all even among more violent criminals like Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson, and Bonnie and Clyde. However, the fact he escaped prison by fooling 17 guards with a gun made from a potato might have something to do with it.

Figure 1: John Dillinger– infamous gangster during the Great Depression who operated with a group of men known by some as the Dillinger Gang or Terror Gang that were, among other activities, accused of robbing 24 banks and 4 police stations. Escaped from jail twice. Seen as the most notorious of Depression-era outlaws, standing out among more violent criminals like Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd, and Bonnie and Clyde. Courted publicity by styling himself as a Robin Hood figure and the media ran exaggerated accounts of his bravado and colorful personality, causing the government to demand federal action. As a result, J. Edgar Hoover developed a more sophisticated FBI as a weapon against organized crime using him and his gang as his campaign platform.

While professor at the University of Indiana, Alfred Kinsey was a pioneer in the field of researching human sexuality which made him a controversial figure. Nevertheless, his work has had significant impact on our culture ever since.

Figure 2: Alfred Kinsey– biologist, professor of entomology and zoology, and sexologist who in 1947 founded the Institute for Sex Research at Indiana University, now known as the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction. Best known for writing Sexual Behavior in the Human Male and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female which are also known as the Kinsey Reports as well as the Kinsey Scale. While research on human sexuality, foundational to the field of sexology, provoked controversy in the 1940s and 1950s, his work has influenced cultural values in the US and worldwide.

While many journalists get attention through interviewing larger than life figures, Ernie Pyle earned acclaim by traveling across the country writing about ordinary people, especially in rural areas. As a WWII correspondent, he hung out with American GIs and won a Pulitzer Prize for it.

Figure 3: Ernie Pyle– journalist who as a roving correspondent for the Scripps-Howard newspaper chain, earned wide acclaim for his accounts of ordinary people and later of ordinary American soldiers during WWII, lending the same folksy style to his war-time reports before being killed by enemy fire on lejima during the Battle of Okinawa. Syndicated column ran in more than 300 newspapers nationwide and at the time of his death he was among the best known American war correspondents as well as won the Pulitzer Prize in 1944 for his spare, poignant accounts of “dogface” infantry soldiers from a first person perspective. Harry Truman wrote of him, “No man in this war has so well told the story of the American fighting man as American fighting men wanted it told. He deserves the gratitude of all his countrymen.”

“I am not a Labor Leader; I do not want you to follow me or anyone else; if you are looking for a Moses to lead you out of this capitalist wilderness, you will stay right where you are. I would not lead you into the promised land if I could, because if I led you in, some one else would lead you out. You must use your heads as well as your hands, and get yourself out of your present condition; as it is now the capitalists use your heads and your hands.”

Figure 4: Eugene V. Debs– union leader who was one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and 5 time presidential candidate of the Socialist Party of America, once running his 1920 presidential campaign from prison. His candidacies and work with labor movements led him to become one of the best known Socialists in America. Helped motivate the American Left as a measure of political opposition to corporations and WWI. Honored by socialists, communists, and anarchists for his compassion for the labor movement and his motivation to have the average working man build socialism without large state involvement. Has been cited as the inspiration for numerous politicians.

15. Iowa

He may not look very remarkable but this Grant Wood who brought you American Gothic which as become an iconic painting of 20th century America. You’ve probably seen it.

Figure 1: Grant Wood– painter best known for his paintings depicting the American Midwest, particularly American Gothic which has become the iconic painting of the 20^th century. His painting Foundation in Education is on Iowa’s state quarter.

William “Buffalo Bill” Cody is best known for his Wild West Shows that have shaped how we came to perceive the American West. Were they 100% accurate? No. But they were highly popular around the globe.

Figure 2: William Frederick “Buffalo Bill” Cody– scout, bison hunter, and showman who became a Pony Express rider at 14, served for the Union during the American Civil War, and was a civilian scout for the US Army during the Indian Wars for which he received a Medal of Honor. One of the most colorful figures of the American West, he founded Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show in 1883 which provided education and entertainment about bronco riding, handling bovine and equine livestock, roping, and other herdsman skills seen in present day rodeos. Despite that he’s said to have killed 4,282 bison in 18 months and the cultural western myths his shows projected that have now become part of the American Western ethos, he was said to respect Native Americans and support their rights as well as believed in conservation and equal pay for women.

“Modern natural history deals only incidentally with the identity of plants and animals, and only incidentally with their habits and behaviors. It deals principally with their relations to each other, their relation to the soil and water in which they grow, and their relations to the human beings who sing about ‘my country’ but see little or nothing of its inner workings. This new science of relationships is called ecology, but what we call it matters nothing. The question is, does the educated citizen know he is only a cog in an ecological mechanism? That if he will work with that mechanism his mental wealth and his material wealth can expand indefinitely? But that if he refuses to work with it, it will ultimately grind him to dust? If education does not teach us these things, then what is education for?” -from “Natural History: The Forgotten Science” (1938)

Figure 3: Aldo Leopold– author, scientist, ecologist, forester, conservationist, and environmentalist who is best known for his book A Sand County Almanac which has sold more than 2 million copies. Influential in the development of environmental ethics and in the movement for wilderness conservation. His ethics on nature and wildlife preservation had a profound impact on the environmental movement with his ecocentric and holistic ethics regarding land. Emphasized biodiversity and ecology and was the founder of the science of wildlife management.

You might’ve heard Glenn Miller’s music at some time in your life, particularly when you see something pertaining to the 1930s or 1940s. Of course, some people might know him better because his plane went missing during WWII which has given rise to conspiracy theories.

Figure 4: Glenn Miller– musician, arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era who was a bestselling recording artist and led one of the best known big bands. Recordings include “In the Mood”, “Moonlight Serenade”, “Pennsylvania 6-5000”, “Chattanooga Choo Choo”, “A String of Pearls”, “At Last”, “(I’ve Got a Gal In) Kalamazoo”, “American Patrol”, “Tuxedo Junction”, “Elmer’s Tune”, and “Little Brown Jug.” Also known for his plane disappearing over the English Channel which has given rise to many conspiracy theories (though in reality it was due to bad weather, pilot error, and mechanical failure).

So we’re off to a great start. You might notice that you might not know some of these people I put up on the last post, especially the ones from Alaska excluding Bob Ross of course. In some states, there’s not a lot of famous people who’ve achieved national fame or made contributions that affected the country. While looking on Wikipedia, I found a lot of the people listed in some of the less populated states that are either alive or local politicians. In my second selection in this series we look at the Mount Rushmores I picked from states beginning with Colorado and ending with Georgia. From Colorado you’ll meet a blacklisted Hollywood screenwriter, a white woman who dedicated her life advocating for Native Americans, a globetrotting journalist who came with the idea of the travelogue, and a famous singer-songwriter who sang about his love of nature and his favorite state. From Connecticut, you’ll see an iconic American writer and humorist known for wearing a white suit, a woman who wrote a controversial novel that drove the country apart and into war, a man who made a fortune in his innovation of firearms, and a man who invented a device that contributed to the expansion of the institution of slavery. Next, it’s off to Delaware where you’ll find a Frenchman who founded one of the most successful American corporations, the first black woman to own a newspaper, a man who built one of the country’s most iconic buildings, and a woman who invented a family of synthetic fibers. After that is an all-black lineup in Florida with a key woman of the Harlem Renaissance, a labor organizer who arranged the March on Washington, a leader of the NAACP, and an iconic musician whose influence can still be felt in the music industry today. Finally, we get to Georgia where we’ll get to know an iconic Southern Gothic writer, another writer who wrote a novel that inspired an iconic film, a minister who helped keep the dream alive, and a man from the Harlem Renaissance who helped inspire future civil rights activist in future decades.

6. Colorado

As a member of the Hollywood Ten, Dalton Trumbo refused to name names and was put on the Hollywood Blacklist because of it for over a decade. Did that stop him from writing screenplays? Not a chance. In fact, his work won 2 Oscars during this period even though he couldn’t claim them at the time.

Figure 1: Dalton Trumbo– screenwriter and novelist who was a member of the Hollywood Ten who refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947 that resulted in him being blacklisted by the motion picture industry for over a decade. Yet, he continued working clandestinely eventually earning 2 Academy Awards for Roman Holiday and The Brave One (with credit given to a front writer). His public credit for scripting Exodus and Spartacus marked the end of the Hollywood Blacklist and his earlier achievements were eventually credited to him.

“If I can do one hundredth part for the Indian that Mrs. Stowe did for the Negro, I will be thankful.” She was also friends with Emily Dickinson and they corresponded with each other throughout their lives since they were in school.

Figure 2: Helen Hunt Jackson– poet and writer who became an activist on behalf of improved treatment of Native Americans by the US government. Described the adverse effects of government actions in her history A Century of Dishonor. Her novel Ramona dramatized the federal government’s mistreatment of Native Americans in Southern California during the Mexican-American War which attracted considerable attention to her cause. Though commercially popular enough to have been reprinted 300 times and attract many tourists to Southern California, most readers preferred the romantic and picturesque qualities rather than its political content. Was lifelong friends with Emily Dickinson. Buried in Colorado Springs.

While he had a long career in broadcasting, Lowell Thomas is best known as the man who made Lawrence of Arabia famous as well as filmed a travelogue depicting him that was a huge success.

Figure 3: Lowell Thomas– writer, broadcaster, and traveler who’s best known as the man who made Lawrence of Arabia famous through shooting dramatic footage, touring the world, narrating his film With Allenby in Palestine and Lawrence which was seen by 4 million people and made $1.5 million. He did this through funding by 18 Chicago filmmakers who he’d done a favor for by exposing a blackmailer (without the information becoming public) and because he wanted to find material that would encourage Americans to support WWI which wasn’t very popular with the public. Came up with the novel idea of the travelogue. Later spent his career narrating newsreels and was a newscaster for CBS and NBC radio and television. Was known to make the occasional gaffe.

“Now his life is full of wonder but his heart still knows some fear/Of a simple thing he cannot comprehend/Why they try to tear the mountains down to bring in a couple more/More people, more scars upon the land
And the Colorado rocky mountain high/I’ve seen it raining fire in the sky/I know he’d be a poorer man if he never saw an eagle fly/Rocky mountain high”- from “Rocky Mountain High”

Figure 4: John Denver– singer-songwriter, activist, actor, and humanitarian. Best known as a popular acoustic artist in the 1970s and was America’s best-selling performer by 1974. Primarily sang about his joy in nature, his enthusiasm for music, and his relationship trials. Music has appeared on a variety of charts including country and western as well as adult contemporary. Signature songs “Rocky Mountain High” and “Take Me Home, Country Roads” have become state songs for Colorado and West Virginia respectively. Sang about his beloved Colorado numerous times and was honored as the state’s Poet Laureate in 1974. Activism usually focused on calling attention to environmental issues, supporting space exploration, and testifying in front of Congress against censorship.

7. Connecticut

“I thoroughly disapprove of duels. I consider them unwise and I know they are dangerous. Also, sinful. If a man should challenge me now I would go to that man and take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet retired spot and kill him.” -from his autobiography.

Figure 1: Mark Twain– author and humorist best known for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the latter often called, “The Great American Novel” as well as has been repeatedly restricted by American high schools.  Was a master at rendering colloquial speech as well as helped create and popularize distinctive American literature built on American themes and language. Noted as “the great American humorist of his age” and called by William Faulkner as “the father of American literature.” Work continues to be rediscovered by researchers as recently as 1995 and 2015 since he wrote under so many different pen names. Often depicted as an old man in a white suit. Said to be born and die with the coming of Halley’s Comet though he did read his obituary before writing that reports of his death have been greatly exaggerated.

“We hear often of the distress of the negro servants, on the loss of a kind master; and with good reason, for no creature on God’s earth is left more utterly unprotected and desolate than the slave in these circumstances.” – from Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Figure 2: Harriet Beecher Stowe– abolitionist and author who’s best known for her novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin which depicts the harsh life of African Americans and slavery which reached millions that it energized anti-slavery forces in the North while provoking widespread anger in the South during the 1850s. Wrote 30 books including novels, 3 travel memoirs, and collections of articles and letters. Was influential for both her writings and her public stands on social issues of the day.

Samuel Colt’s use of interchangeable parts allowed him to become one of the first to exploit the assembly line and make the revolver’s mass production commercially viable. However, he was also a pioneer in mass marketing, advertising and product placement. It’s said that for its first 25 years, his company produced over 400,000 of his trademark revolvers. Kind of makes me cringe.

Figure 3: Samuel Colt– inventor and industrialist who founded what’s now Colt’s Manufacturing Company and made the mass production of the revolver commercially viable. During the Civil War, he supplied firearms for both the North and the South and his weapons were prominent during the settling of the western frontier. His use of interchangeable parts helped him become one of the first to exploit the assembly line. His innovative use of art, celebrity endorsements, and corporate gifts to promote his wares also made him a pioneer in the fields of advertising, product placement, and mass marketing. By the time he died in 1862, he was one of the wealthiest men in America.

In many ways, Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin shows the benefits and the consequences of technological innovation. While his invention brought great wealth to the US, it strengthened the economic foundation of slavery, drove the North and South further apart, and eventually to war.

Figure 4: Eli Whitney– inventor best known for inventing the cotton gin which was a key invention of the Industrial Revolution and shaped the economy of the Antebellum South by making upland short cotton a very profitable crop, which strengthened the economic foundation of slavery in the United States and eventually culminated into the American Civil War. Though he received fame, his invention didn’t make him rich. Also championed the idea of interchangeable parts as a maker of muskets.

8. Delaware

Though Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours originally founded his company as a gunpowder manufacturer, it would later become one of the largest and most successful corporations in American history. And his descendants would be one of America’s richest and most prominent families. Of course, his descendant you probably remember the best is that crazy guy played by Steve Carell in Foxcatcher.

Figure 1: Éleuthère Irénée du Pont– chemist and industrialist founded the gunpowder manufacture and future chemical conglomerate E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company which became one the largest and most successful corporations in America. His descendants, the Du Pont family have been one of America’s richest and most prominent families since the 19^th century with generations of influential businessmen, politicians, and philanthropists.

With her Provincial Freeman, Mary Ann Shadd Cary became the first black woman in North America to own a newspaper and was a prominent abolitionist in the 1850s. Also worked to recruit black volunteers for the Union during the American Civil War.

Figure 2: Mary Ann Shadd Cary– anti-slavery activist, journalist, publisher, teacher, and lawyer. Was the first female African American newspaper editor and publisher in North America when she edited the Provincial Freeman in 1853. Traveled around the US and Canada advocating for full integration and self-reliance. She also advocated that free blacks move to Canada which attracted controversy. During the American Civil War, she helped enlist black volunteers for the Union Army. Became the second black woman to earn a law degree when she graduated as a lawyer at the age of 60 in 1883.

John Jakob Raskob may not have designed the Empire State Building. But he contracted the skyscraper which became the tallest building in the world at the time and the most iconic in New York City.

Figure 3: John Jakob Raskob– financial executive and businessman for Du Pont and General Motors, and builder of the Empire State Building. Though he was a key supporter of Alfred E. Smith as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, he was a prominent opponent of FDR’s New Deal legislation.

No, this isn’t Mrs. Doubtfire doing science. This is DuPont chemist Stephanie Kwolek who invented a family of exceptionally strong synthetic fibers called Kelvar. So who says women can’t invent anything?

Figure 4: Stephanie Kwolek– chemist and inventor whose career at Du Pont spanned over 40 years and is best known for inventing the first of a family of synthetic fibers of exceptional strength and stiffness known as Kelvar which has many applications, ranging from bike tires, racing sails, and body armor. In 1995, she became the 4^th woman to be added to the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

9. Florida

“I accept this idea of democracy. I am all for trying it out. It must be a good thing if everybody praises it like that. If our government has been willing to go to war and sacrifice billions of dollars and millions of men for the idea I think that I ought to give the thing a trial. The only thing that keeps me from pitching head long into this thing is the presence of numerous Jim Crow laws on the statute books of the nation. I am crazy about the idea of Democracy. I want to see how it feels.”- from “Crazy for This Democracy” in 1945.

Figure 1: Zora Neale Hurston– novelist, short story writer, folklorist, and anthropologist who wrote 4 novels and more than 50 short stories, plays, and essays. Best known work is her 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. Traveled extensively through the American South, the Caribbean, and Central America to conduct anthropological research and immerse herself in the local culture. Despite being a key figure of the Harlem Renaissance, her work slid into obscurity for decades.

A. Philip Randolph had a significant impact on the Civil Rights Movement from the 1930s onward. His methods of nonviolent confrontation were employed in the Montgomery Bus Boycott and other demonstrations.

Figure 2: A. Philip Randolph– leader in the Civil Rights Movement, the American labor movement, and socialist political parties. Organized and led the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters which was the first predominantly African American labor union. In the early Civil Rights Movement, he led the March on Washington Movement which convinced President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to issue an executive order in 1941 banning discrimination in defense industries during WWII. His group would later pressure President Harry S. Truman to issue an executive order ending discrimination in the armed forces in 1948. Head of the March on Washington at which Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech and inspired the Freedom budget, which aimed to deal with economic problems facing the black community. Had a significant impact on the Civil Rights Movement with leaders in the 1950s and 1960s using tactics he pioneered like such as encouraging African-Americans to vote as a bloc, mass voter registration, and training activists for nonviolent direct action.

“Lift every voice and sing/Till earth and heaven ring,/Ring with the harmonies of Liberty./Let our rejoicing rise high as the listening skies;/Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.” – from “Lift Every Voice and Sing”

Figure 3: James Weldon Johnson– author, educator, lawyer, diplomat, songwriter, and civil rights activist who’s best remembered for his leadership of the NAACP where he was the first African American to be chosen as executive secretary of the organization. Also established his reputation as a writer and was known during the Harlem Renaissance for his poems, novels, and anthologies collecting both poems and spirituals of black culture. Most famous work is The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man which explores the conflict between assimilation and maintaining one’s cultural identity.

“Hey mama, don’t you treat me wrong,/Come and love your daddy all night long./All right now, hey hey, all right./See the girl with the diamond ring;/She knows how to shake that thing./All right now now now, hey hey, hey hey./Tell your mama, tell your pa,/I’m gonna send you back to Arkansas./Oh yes, ma’m, you don’t do right, don’t do right.”- from “What I’d Say”

Figure 4: Ray Charles– singer, songwriter, musician, and composer. Referred to as “The Genius” and “The High Priest of Soul,” he pioneered the genre of soul music during the 1950s combining rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into music he recorded for Atlantic records. Also contributed to the racial integration of country and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success at ABC Records as well as be one of the first African American musicians to be granted artistic control by a mainstream record company. Called by Frank Sinatra as “the only true genius in show business,” and it was often said by Billy Joel, “This may sound like sacrilege, but I think Ray Charles was more important than Elvis Presley.” Has been one of the most influential recording artists to date. Version of “Georgia On My Mind” was made the official state song of Georgia.

10. Georgia

While Flannery O’Connor’s writings reflected her Catholic beliefs, she didn’t write the kind of glurge worthy Christian stuff you see in today’s Christian film industry. No, she had her characters go to a state of divine grace through pain, violence, and ludicrous behavior in the pursuit of the holy. One story involves a whole family getting stopped on the road and eventually killed by thugs. Or one pertaining to a hermaphrodite showing his or her, well, nevermind.

Figure 1: Flannery O’Connor– writer and essayist who was an important voice in American literature. Wrote 2 novels and 32 short stories as well as a number of reviews and commentaries. Was a Southern writer who often wrote in a Southern Gothic style and relied heavily on regional settings and grotesque characters. Her writing also reflected her own Roman Catholic faith, and frequently examined questions of morality and ethics. Was the first writer born in the 20^th century to have her works collected and published in the Library of America.

Though Margaret Mitchell gets some flack about her nostaligized portrayal of the South during the American Civil War and Reconstruction in Gone With the Wind, the book continues to be popular among generations and all over the world. Mostly because it’s about people. Adapted into a movie that’s seen as one of the greatest films ever made.

Figure 2: Margaret Mitchell– author and journalist best known for writing Gone With the Wind for which she won a National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. It has since become an American classic and adapted into one of the greatest movies of all time. Yet it has led people worldwide to incorrectly think that it was the true story of the Old South and how it was changed by the American Civil War and Reconstruction as well as the negative effects it has had on race relations by its resurrection of Lost Cause mythology.

Ralph Abernathy was a frequent collaborator and friend of Martin Luther King Jr. as well as carried on the Poor People’s Campaign after his assassination. However, shortly before his death, he wrote a controversial autobiography that revealed allegations pertaining to King’s marital infidelities.

Figure 3: Ralph Abernathy Sr. – Baptist minister, civil rights leader, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s closest friend who collaborated with him to create the Montgomery Improvement Association which would lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott, co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of which he became president after King’s assassination. Led the Poor People’s Campaign in Washington D. C. and served as an advisory committee member of the Congress on Racial Equality. Addressed the United Nations in 1971 on World Peace. Wrote And the Walls Came Tumbling Down: An Autobiography, a controversial autobiography about his and King’s involvement in the civil rights movement.

“There is always a certain glamour about the idea of a nation rising up to crush an evil simply because it is wrong. Unfortunately, this can seldom be realized in real life; for the very existence of the evil usually argues a moral weakness in the very place where extraordinary moral strength is called for.” – from The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America, 1638-1870

Figure 4: W. E. B. Du Bois– sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author, and editor who was the first African American to earn a doctorate and was one of the co-founders of the NAACP. As a civil rights activist, he insisted on full civil rights and increased political representation and believed that believed that African Americans needed the chances for advanced education to develop its leadership. Strongly protested against lynching, Jim Crow Laws, and discrimination in education and employment and his cause included people of color everywhere, particularly Africans and Asians in colonies. Helped organize several Pan-African Congresses to fight for independence of African colonies from European powers as well as made several trips to Europe, Africa, and Asia. After WWI, he surveyed the experiences of African American soldiers in France and documented widespread bigotry in the US military. His collection of essays The Souls of Black Folk was a seminal work of African American literature and his 1935 magnum opus Black Reconstruction in America challenged the prevailing orthodoxy that blacks were responsible for the failures of the Reconstruction Era. Wrote one of the first scientific treatises in the field of American sociology, he published three autobiographies, each of which contains insightful essays on sociology, politics and history as well as published many influential pieces in the NAACP journal he edited, The Crisis. Many of the reforms for which he had campaigned his entire life were embodied in the 1964 Civil Rights Act that was enacted a year after his death.

In our American culture, Mount Rushmore has become a national symbol of the United States since Gutzon Borglum carved the faces of 4 presidents on the mountain in the Black Hills of South Dakota. When I was in college, one of my roommates used to watch ESPN a lot. One time, the network was doing a feature on which sports figures they’d put on Mount Rushmore pertaining to each state. I didn’t think about it at the time. But now since recently I came up with the idea of whether to do a similar idea. But this time, instead of sports figures, it would pertain to people from American history and culture (even though I did include a couple of sports figures Jackie Robinson and Jim Thorpe). Because after all, the US does have a captivating history and there are plenty of famous Americans who’ve contributed to the nation as well as the world in unique ways. I know plenty of elementary schools tend to emphasize this by assigning students famous Americans. My famous American project in 3^rd grade was Molly Pitcher said to give soldiers water and take over loading her husband’s cannon at the Battle of Monmouth. Now this woman sort of existed but there’s some evidence she didn’t but I was stuck with her. Another one I remember was a kid doing one on Virginia Dare who did exist since she was the first white child born in the Americas. But she was born on Roanoke Island that disappeared so who knows what happened to her. Then I remember another kid doing one on Albert Einstein who did exist and did reside in the US. But he was already famous for his Theory of Relatively when he came to the US in 1933 as a refugee from his native Germany. So considering him a famous American would be like saying the same about John Lennon who is best known for being one of the Beatles who all came from Liverpool in the UK. And of course, many tend to credit Betsy Ross who designed the first American flag even though this was cooked up bullshit her grandkids made up. So I bring my series on the idea that if each state had their very own Mount Rushmore, then these should be the people who should be on it based on this criteria:

1. The celebrities depicted must be dead. (Because you don’t want highly partisan figures. However, this means that people like Bob Dylan, John Glenn, Kens Burns, Barack Obama, the Clintons, Oprah, Muhammad Ali, Stephen King, and others don’t make it on their respective states.)
2. The celebrities pertaining to the state must have either been born or spent considerable time there. (For instance, though Edgar Allan Poe is associated with Maryland, he didn’t spend a lot of time there and really should be on for Virginia, Pennsylvania, or New York but those spots were taken. However, Dolley Madison was born in North Carolina but she was a rather significant First Lady while George M. Cohan gets in for Rhode Island for his immeasurable contributions to Broadway even though he was only born there.)
3. Each celebrity can only be depicted on one state. (For instance, despite that Lincoln had lived in Kentucky and Indiana, he’s only depicted for Illinois because that’s where he spent most of his life. Then you have Mark Twain who was born in Missouri and spent some time in California but he spent the bulk of his life in Connecticut.)
4. Has made a clear and considerable impact on American culture. (Reagan’s legacy is more or less debated among party lines and can either be a good or bad president depending on what your political views are. Not to mention, as far as California is concerned, his influence on the US doesn’t have nearly the cultural impact as Republicans say it does. Nixon by contrast, no matter what you think of him, will always be remembered with Watergate which will forever stain his legacy as well as American politics. This is why Reagan isn’t on for California and Nixon is. Same goes for John Muir, Jackie Robinson, and Caesar Chavez since they’re practically cultural icons.)
5. Has to have verifiable account of accomplishments. (For instance, details in Calamity Jane’s autobiography are questionable. Same goes for John C. Fremont.)
6. Impact can have positive, ambiguous, or negative effects on country. (For instance, Al Capone is on Illinois because his domination of Chicago’s organized crime scene during Prohibition made him the most famous US gangster of all time. Nevertheless, this rule allows inclusion of more infamous and controversial figures like legendary criminals or people with very negative legacies that are also very noteworthy.)
7. State location has to be certain. (For instance, Chief Joseph and Crazy Horse don’t make it on there because they’re associated with multiple states while Sitting Bull died at the same place he was born so he makes it on South Dakota’s. Douglas MacArthur doesn’t get in since he was from a military family and didn’t stay in one place for long. And I had to leave Francis Hopkinson out since though he signed the Declaration of Independence as a delegate from New Jersey, he spent a lot of his life in Philadelphia.)
8. Can be very well known as well as relatively obscure. (For instance, a lot of these states have famous people who you may not have heard of like Delaware which consists of a founder of a major US corporation, the first black woman in North America to edit and own a newspaper, the man who built the Empire State Building, and the inventor of Kelvar.)
9. Just because some famous person didn’t make it to their state Mount Rushmore doesn’t mean they’re less important. (For instance, I would’ve loved to have added Harvey Milk, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Washington Irving, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bonnie and Clyde, Edgar Allan Poe, Lewis and Clark, William Tecumseh Sherman, Robert E. Lee, Arthur Ashe, George C. Marshall, Betty Ford, Frances Willard, Margaret Sanger, Gifford Pinchot, Jim Morrison, Buddy Holly, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Dorothy Day, Babe Ruth, George S. Patton, Jesse Owens, Henry Clay, Truman Capote, Clara Barton, Ernest Hemingway, Charles Goodyear, Sojourner Truth, John Steinbeck, Eugene O’Neill, Arthur Miller, Frances Perkins, John Ericson, Upton Sinclair, Andrew Carnegie, P. T. Barnum, Jesse James, Fred Rogers, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith, John D. Rockefeller, Mary Chestnut, Elisha Hunt Rhodes, and more but you can only fill 4 slots for each state.)

For this first selection, I bring you the figures I have in mind for the state Mount Rushmores from Alabama to California. From Alabama, you have an author who wrote a book that managed to convey the evils of racism in a way that’s accessible to almost anyone, a deafblind woman who was a leading activist and author in her day, a young Baptist minister who became the face of the Civil Rights Movement, and a scientist who devoted his life to finding alternative crops to cotton in order to help poor families in the South. From Alaska there’s a former Air Force sergeant who had a show about the joys of painting, a woman who was instrumental in creating the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, an explorer who wrote numerous articles about the Alaskan wilderness, and an Alaskan Native woman whose advocacy led to the passage of the first US anti-discrimination law. In Arizona, I bring you two great Native American warriors who’ve been elevated to iconic status, a politician who’s has a substantial influence in American conservatism, and a major figure in Latin music. From Arkansas comes a black woman who’s been a major literary figure in American literature in the latter half of the 20^th century, a major country music superstar who always dressed in black, a man who founded the world’s largest retailer that now sets the way how the industry does business, and a civil rights activist who was involved in a school integration crisis. And finally, we get to California where you’ll meet a Scotsman who became a founding father of environmentalism, a man who would’ve become a great US president had he not gotten involved in a major political scandal, a baseball player whose career challenged the traditional basis of segregation, and a union organizer who’s become an icon among the Hispanic community.

1. Alabama

“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.”- Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird

Figure 1: Harper Lee – author of To Kill a Mockingbird which won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and has become a classic in modern American literature as well as been cited as a factor in the success of the civil rights movement in the 1960s by giving white Southerners a way to understand racism that they’ve been brought up with and to find another way. Assisted her close friend Truman Capote in his research for the book In Cold Blood.

We mainly know Helen Keller from her story of how her teacher Annie Sullivan broke through the isolation imposed by a near complete lack of language which allowed her to blossom and communicate. Keller and Sullivan would be together until Sullivan died in 1936.

Figure 2: Helen Keller– author, political activist, and lecturer. First deafblind person to earn a bachelor’s degree. Member of the Socialist Party of America and Industrial Workers of the World as well as campaigned for women’s suffrage, labor rights, socialism, and other similar causes.

“Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state, sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.”- from King’s “I Have a Dream” speech during the 1963 March on Washington.

Figure 3: Martin Luther King Jr.– Baptist minister, activist, humanitarian, and leader of the Civil Rights Movement. Best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs. Delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech during the March on Washington. Received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Also made speeches against poverty and opposed the Vietnam War. Has his own national holiday and very deservedly so.

Carver is often mistakenly credited with inventing peanut butter. However, it’s said that the Aztecs have been known to make peanut butter from ground peanuts since the 15th century. And that many methods of peanut preparation had been developed and patented by by various pharmacists, doctors and food scientists working in the US and Canada.

Figure 4: George Washington Carver– botanist and inventor who based his research into and promotion of alternative crops to cotton such as peanuts and sweet potatoes as food for poor farmers and for products to improve their quality of life. Though he spent years promoting numerous peanut products, none were commercially successful. Was also a leader in promoting environmentalism.

2. Alaska

“Traditionally, art has been for the select few. We have been brainwashed to believe that Michaelangelo had to pat you on the head at birth. Well, we show people that anybody can paint a picture that they’re proud of. It may never hang in the Smithsonian, but it will certainly be something that they’ll hang in their home and be proud of. And that’s what it’s all about.” Nevertheless, while his show may not give rise to the next Michelangelo, it was quite relaxing to watch.

Figure 1: Bob Ross– painter, art instructor, and television host. Creator and host of The Joy of Painting on PBS. Coined the phrase, “happy little tree.” Started painting while serving as a sergeant at Eiselson Air Force Base.

Here’s Margaret Murie with her husband who was also active in the campaign to protect what is now Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. I hope their ghosts haunt anyone who intends to drill there because it’s a place that should be protected for everyone.

Figure 2: Margaret Murie– naturalist, author, adventurer, and conservationist dubbed as “Grandmother of the Conservation Movement” by the Sierra Club and the Wilderness Society. Helped in the passage of the Wilderness Act and was instrumental in creating the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (which is now subject to drilling controversies).

Here is Bob Marshall in front of what Bob Ross would call a “happy little tree.” His travels to Alaska led him to write The Arctic Village and found The Wilderness Society.

Figure 3: Bob Marshall– forester, writer, and wilderness activist. Was a scientist with doctorates in philosophy and plant physiology. Explored the Alaskan wilderness and wrote numerous articles and books, including his bestselling 1933 book The Arctic Village. Was chief of forestry in the Bureau of Indian Affairs and head of recreation management in the Forest Service during the FDR administration. Founded the Wilderness Society in 1935 and is considered largely responsible for the wilderness preservation movement. 25 years after his untimely death of a heart attack at 38, partly as a result of his efforts, The Wilderness Society fostered the Wilderness Act, which legally defined the wilderness of the US and protected some nine million acres of federal land.

“I would not have expected that I, who am barely out of savagery, would have to remind gentlemen with five thousand years of recorded civilization behind them, of our Bill of Rights.”

Figure 4: Elizabeth Peratrovich– member of the Tlingit nation as well as an important civil rights activist who worked on behalf of equality of all Alaskan Natives as a leader in the Alaska Native Brotherhood and the Alaska Native Sisterhood. Credited with advocacy that gained passage of the then territory’s Anti-Discrimination Act of 1945, the first anti-discrimination law in the US.

3. Arizona

While Ira Hayes became a national hero for being among the 6 flag raisers at Iwo Jima, he was never comfortable with fame and descended into alcoholism after his Marine services. Flags of Our Fathers suggests that he might’ve suffered from PTSD.

Figure 1: Ira Hayes-Pima Native American and US Marine who was one of the 6 flag raisers immortalized in the iconic photograph of the flag raising on Iwo Jima during WWII. Instrumental in revealing the true identity of one of the pictured Marines who was later killed in action. However, he never really felt comfortable with his fame, descended into alcoholism, and was found dead on his reservation. He was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

“I was no chief and never had been, but because I had been more deeply wronged than others, this honor was conferred upon me, and I resolved to prove worthy of the trust.” Nevertheless, Geronimo was the kind of Indian fighter and leader who just couldn’t stay put.

Figure 2: Geronimo– leader of Chiricahua Apache who fought against encroachment of European settlers on Native American lands; hero of Native American fight for respect and independence. Wasn’t really a chief since only about 30-50 Apaches would be among his following but frequently led numbers larger than that. But while other Apache leaders conducted raids and carried on revenge warfare, he accumulated a record of effective resistance during this time that matched any of his contemporaries and his fighting ability extended to over 30 years. Said to “surrender” to reservation life 3 times between 1876-1886 but he led bands to “breakouts” each time. And the years after he surrendered for the last time, he spent as a prisoner of war. Among his tribe many Chiricahua had mixed feelings for him for while they respected him as a skilled and effective leader of raids or warfare, he wasn’t very likeable and wasn’t widely popular among the other Apache. He also hated Mexicans more than Americans, by the way.

No, this isn’t a middle aged Bernie Sanders with Instagram filters. This is Republican US Senator Barry Goldwater who’s often credited with the resurgence of the modern American conservative movement. Way different personality.

Figure 3: Barry Goldwater-politician and businessman who’s often most credited with the resurgence of American conservative political movement of the 1960s as well as had a substantial impact in the libertarian movement. Rejected the legacy of the New Deal and fought through the conservative coalition against the New Deal coalition. His defeat in the 1964 presidential election allowed younger conservatives to mobilize even though he was a much less active leader afterwards. Urged Richard Nixon to resign during the Watergate scandal. Became a vocal opponent of the Religious Right in the 1980s. Was the first candidate of Jewish heritage to be nominated for President by a major American party.

Lalo Guerro is best known as the “Father of Chicano Music” who’s career spanned for nearly 7 decades. As a prolific musician he’s said to be the musical historian of his beloved his Chicano culture and has influenced generations of Latin music artists.

Figure 4: Eduardo “Lalo” Guerrero– Mexican-American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and farm labor activist best known for his strong influence in today’s Latin musical artists that he’s called the “Father of Chicano Music.” Recorded and/or wrote over 700 songs from 1939 including ones about Caesar Chavez, other farm workers, and braceros. Also wrote for many famous artists. Worked closely with Chavez for farm workers’ rights.

4. Arkansas

“You may shoot me with your words,/You may cut me with your eyes,/You may kill me with your hatefulness,/But still, like air, I’ll rise.” – from “Still I Rise”

Figure 1: Maya Angelou– poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist. Published 7 autobiographies, 3 books of essays, several books of poetry, and was credited with a list of plays, movies, and TV shows spanning 50 years. Best known for her memoir I Know When the Caged Bird Sings based on her childhood in Stamps which brought her fame and international acclaim.

“I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,/Livin’ in the hopeless, hungry side of town,/I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,/But is there because he’s a victim of the times.”- from “Man in Black”

Figure 2: Johnny Cash– singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, and author who’s widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20^th century and one of the best-selling musical artists of all time, selling 90 million records worldwide. Though primarily a country music icon, songs also spanned rock and roll, rockabilly, blues, folk, and gospel. Known for his deep, calm baritone-bass voice, distinctive sound of his Tennessee Three backing band, rebelliousness, increasingly somber and humble demeanor, free prison concerts, and a trademark look which earned him the nickname, “The Man in Black.”

To some, Wal Mart founder Sam Walton is a hero to American capitalism and consumerism. But to me, he’s a founder of a consumer in our society that has led to the mass exploitation, materialism, and superficiality. Seriously, when Wal Mart decided to be open on Thanksgiving I was pissed.

Figure 3: Sam Walton– businessman and entrepreneur best known for founding Wal Mart and Sam’s Club which have forever changed the nature of retail business, if not capitalism for better or worse with predatory pricing, treating workers like commodities that they’re forced to rely on government programs for basic needs, union busting, importing products made from slave labor, ideological censorship, and not giving a shit about local communities. While his chain may boast always low prices in order to live better, it has brought a very high price for communities, consumers, workers, competitors and others. Today, Wal Mart is the world’s largest retailer and sets the standards on how the rest of the industry does business while his heirs are among the richest people in the country.

As head of the NAACP in Arkansas, Daisy Bates guided and advised the Little Rock Nine when they attempted to enroll at the all white Central High School in 1957. She also used her organizational skills to get the kids in as well as her home as a haven for them. While her efforts initially met opposition from the state government, she persevered and was ultimately successful.

Figure 4: Daisy Bates– civil rights activist, publisher, journalist, and lecturer who as publisher of the Arkansas State Press and president of her state’s NAACP, played a critical role in the Little Rock Nine Integration Crisis of 1957 at Central High School when 9 black students attempted to enroll in an all-white school but were stopped by the Arkansas National Guard under the governor’s orders. Her memoir recounting the crisis, The Long Shadow of Little Rock, won the 1988 National Book Award.

5. California

“Any fool can destroy trees. They cannot run away; and if they could, they would still be destroyed — chased and hunted down as long as fun or a dollar could be got out of their bark hides, branching horns, or magnificent bole backbones. Few that fell trees plant them; nor would planting avail much towards getting back anything like the noble primeval forests. … It took more than three thousand years to make some of the trees in these Western woods — trees that are still standing in perfect strength and beauty, waving and singing in the mighty forests of the Sierra. Through all the wonderful, eventful centuries … God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand straining, leveling tempests and floods; but he cannot save them from fools — only Uncle Sam can do that.” – from American Forests

Figure 1: John Muir– naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, and early advocate of wilderness preservation in the US. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures have been read by millions that continued to be discussed today. Published 12 books and 300 articles. Activism helped preserve the Yosemite Valley, Sequoia National Park, and other wilderness areas. Founded the Sierra Club. Referred to as the “Father of the National Parks” and is a patron saint of 20^th century American environmentalism.

As far as Richard Nixon’s legacy goes, perhaps Stephen Ambrose said it best, “Nixon wanted to be judged by what he accomplished. What he will be remembered for is the nightmare he put the country through in his second term and for his resignation.”

Figure 2: Richard Nixon– US president from 1969-1974 who could’ve been great man of our times if he wasn’t so morally lacking. Rose to national prominence as a leading anti-communist with his pursuit of the Alger Hiss case while his “Checkers Speech” led Eisenhower choose him as his vice president. His presidency saw the end of American involvement in Vietnam, end of the military draft, opening diplomatic relations with China, initiation of détente with the Soviet Union, founding of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Apollo 11 moon landing, Arab oil embargo, and enforced desegregation of Southern schools. Brought down by revelations pertaining to his involvement in the Watergate scandals which cost him political support and led him to resign the presidency in disgrace in the face of certain impeachment and removal from office. His actions pertaining to the Watergate scandal have caused a permanent stain on the presidency, his legacy, and American politics ever since.

As the first African American man to play a major league sport in the modern era, Jackie Robinson challenged the traditional basis of racial segregation through his exceptional talent, his use of nonviolence, and his dignified character. His 10 year career with the Brooklyn Dodgers and off the field activities greatly contributed to the Civil Rights Movement.

Figure 3: Jackie Robinson– Major League Baseball second baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers who became the first African American to play in the major leagues in the modern era. Through his exceptional 10 year career, his character, his use of nonviolence, and his unquestionable talent challenged the traditional basis of segregation which then marked many aspects of American life. Had an impact on the culture and contributed significantly to the Civil Rights Movement. Was also the first black TV analyst in MLB and first black vice president of a major American corporation. In 1997, the MLB universally retired his uniform number across all major leagues, being the first athlete in any sport to be so honored as well as adopted the tradition of “Jackie Robinson Day” in 2004 with every player on every team wearing his No. 42.

“We don’t know how God chooses martyrs. We do know that they give us the most precious gift they possess — their very lives.” Today Caesar Chavez is a national icon to the Latino community. Yet, he has attracted controversy as an icon for organized labor and leftist politics since conservatives were in ire when they named a ship after him.

Figure 4: Caesar Chavez– farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist who with Dolores Huerta, co-founded what is known as the United Farm Workers. His public relations approach to unionism and aggressive but nonviolent tactics made the farm workers’ struggle a moral cause with nationwide support. Has become a major historical icon for the Latino community, organized labor, and leftist politics as well as symbolizes support for workers and for Hispanic empowerment based on grass roots organizing. Catchphrase “Si se puede” (“Yes, it can be done.”) His birthday is a state holiday in California.