Abigail Smith Adams (November 11, 1744 – October 28, 1818), wife of President John Adams and mother of President John Quincy Adams. She and her husband enjoyed a close and companionable relationship. She ran the home and farm while he was away serving in the Continental Congress. In May of 1776, Abigail wrote to her husband in Philadelphia from their home in Quincy: "I long to hear that you have declared an independency--and by the way... I desire that you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Ladies will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation...(sic)"In a letter to John Quincy Adams dated May 5, 1816, she wrote of her religious beliefs: "I acknowledge myself a unitarian—Believing that the Father alone, is the supreme God, and that Jesus Christ derived his Being, and all his powers and honors from the Father ... There is not any reasoning which can convince me, contrary to my senses, that three is one, and one three."
Pocahontas (c.1595 – March 21, 1617) was a Virginia Indian chief's daughter notable for having assisted colonial settlers at Jamestown in present-day Virginia. She married the English settler John Rolfe and they traveled to London, where she became famous in the last year of her life. In a letter asking Queen Anne to treat Pocahontas with dignity on her visit to London, Captain John Smith said he was about to be executed by Chief Powhatan but Pocahontas saved him when she was only 10 years old.
Sacagawea (1788-1812) was born in what is now Idaho. She served as a guide to the famous Corps of Discovery led by Captains Lewis and Clark, while caring for her newborn son. She also assisted the exploration party by introducing them to roots and other indigenous foods, showing the men how to make leather clothes and moccasins, and saving important papers from a capsized canoe. She was one of the "Snake People," otherwise known as the Shoshone. Her image is on the U.S. one dollar coin.
Lucy Mack Smith (July 8, 1775 – May 14, 1856) is most noted for writing an award-winning memoir: Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and His Progenitors for Many Generations. She was an important leader in the LDS movement during the life of her son, Joseph Smith, Jr. Six years after her marriage, Lucy was diagnosed with tuberculosis. She spent the night pleading with the Lord to spare her life so she could bring up her children and "be a comfort" to her husband. She vowed that, if her life was spared, she would serve God with all her heart, whereupon she heard a voice advising her, "Seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you. Let your heart be comforted; ye believe in God, believe also in me." From that point on, Lucy's piety and principles were major moral influence in the lives of her eleven children and those who knew her.
Suzanne Collins (age 47) is the daughter of an Air Force officer, whose career in the military allowed her to better understand poverty and the effects of war. She now lives in Connecticut with her husband and their two children. Collins's career began in 1991 as a writer for children's television shows, including Little Bear. She was also the head writer for Scholastic Entertainment's Clifford's Puppy Days. Her current trilogy, The Hunger Games, was partly inspired by the Greek myth of Theseus, in which the city of Athens was forced to send young men and women to Crete to be devoured by the Minotaur. She explains, "Crete was sending a very clear message: 'Mess with us and we'll do something worse than kill you. We'll kill your children.'" The Hunger Games has been on the New York Times Best Seller list for more than 60 weeks in a row. Collins was named one of Time magazine's most influential people of 2010.
Joseph Smith, Jr. (December 23, 1805 – June 27, 1844) was the quintessential American. Emerging from very humble origins, Smith embodies the American ideal of the self-made man. He had democracy deep his bones: notwithstanding his extraordinary revelations, he did not put on airs; he wanted all of his followers to receive revelations. He also recognized the need for authority to prevent individual revelations from fracturing the community. In the process, he set up a priesthood, a hierarchy with one final authority and rituals which connect believers to divine mysteries. Joseph Smith had great faith in his country and its constitution. Even when that country treated him badly, he believed that its institutions would bring him vindication. Above all, Joseph Smith exemplified the American can-do spirit. When they drove him out of Missouri, he started over again in Illinois with an even bolder vision. That is the American spirit.http://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Smith-Rough-Stone-Rolling/dp/1400042704
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) served as the 16th President of the United States from March 1861 to April 1865. Raised in poverty and self-educated, he successfully led his country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery. In 1861 Lincoln justified the war in terms of legalisms: the Constitution was a contract and for one party to get out of a contract, all the other parties had to agree. As Lincoln matured, and especially during his term as president, the idea of a divine will directing human affairs increasingly influenced his public expressions. He believed, “Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), well known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. At the age of 15, he began working as a typesetter and contributor of articles and humorous sketches for the Hannibal Journal, a newspaper owned by his brother, Orion. When he was 18, Twain left Hannibal and worked as a printer in New York City, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Cincinnati. He educated himself in public libraries in the evenings. In his early twenties, he worked as a Mississippi Riverboat captain. Twain and his brother, Orion, traveled for more than two weeks on a stagecoach across the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains, visiting the Mormon community in Salt Lake City along the way. These experiences inspired Roughing It, and provided material for The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, an immediate hit. Twain was very popular and his keen wit and incisive satire earned praise from critics and peers. Upon his death he was lauded as the "greatest American humorist of his age" and William Faulkner called Twain "the father of American literature."
Carl Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American writer and editor, best known for his poetry. Sandburg quit school following his graduation from eighth grade in 1891 and spent a decade working a variety of jobs. He delivered milk, harvested ice, laid bricks, threshed wheat in Kansas, and shined shoes in Galesburg's Union Hotel before traveling as a hobo in 1897. Sandburg's experiences working and traveling greatly influenced his writing. He won three Pulitzer Prizes, two for his poetry and another for a biography of Abraham Lincoln. H. L. Mencken called Carl Sandburg "indubitably an American in every pulse-beat."
Ezra Taft Benson (1899-1994) served in both public office and national religious positions. Born in Whitney, Idaho, he was a farm economist and Boise church leader. He served as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from 1953 to 1961 in the Eisenhower Administration. Benson opposed the system of government price supports and aid to farmers which he was entrusted by Eisenhower to administer, arguing that it amounted to unacceptable socialism. Nonetheless, he survived in his cabinet position for all eight years of Eisenhower's presidency. He was selected as the administrator-designate of the Emergency Food Agency, part of a secret group that became known as the Eisenhower Ten. The group was created by Eisenhower in 1958 to serve in the event of a national emergency. Benson was an author and outspoken opponent of communism and socialism. He was named the 13th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1985 and served in that position until his death in 1994. Benson brought a renewed emphasis to the distribution and reading of the Book of Mormon and is also remembered for his general conference sermon condemning pride.
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966) was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer and philanthropist. At the age of 16, Walt joined the Red Cross and was sent overseas to France, where he spent a year driving an ambulance and chauffeuring Red Cross officials. His ambulance was covered from stem to stern, not with stock camouflage, but with Disney cartoons. Disney is particularly noted for being a film producer and innovator in animation and theme park design. He has won 26 Academy Awards, including a record four in one year, giving him more awards and nominations than any other individual. His worldwide popularity was based upon the ideals which his name represents: imagination, optimism, family values and self-made success in the American tradition.NEXT WEEK: 10 Things You’d Grab If Your House Was on Fire
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