“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson — My Background I like to think of myself as a storyteller. As a historian who has spent hours cooped up in research rooms, enveloped in the rich documents and monumental photographs in front of me, I have immersed myself in the art of sharing the stories of pivotal figures in history who…

How the trials and tribulations of Harry Truman’s early life shaped the character of the future president — “A true heart, a strong mind, and a great deal of courage and I think a man will get through the world.” ~ A High School Composition by Harry Truman One summer’s day, a young Harry Truman was riding the new pony his father, John Anderson Truman, had just bought…

More than six decades after the iconic singer-songwriter’s voice first hit the airwaves, her prolific and truthful songs remain as relevant as ever. — “I put my whole heart and soul and body into my writing. I wrote about how I feel and what I am. I guess when you boil it all down, every song is about me. It’s my eyes that are seein’ what I write about. And my heart that’s feelin’…

How Charley Pride pushed through racial barriers to become one of the most iconic voices in country music — “No one had ever told me that whites were supposed to sing one kind of music and Blacks another — I sang what I liked in the only voice I had.” ~ Charley Pride Charley Pride was always a dreamer. In his later years, when he was known as one…

When Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt rallied an anxious nation in the midst of crisis. — On a cold, winter’s Sunday night, Eleanor Roosevelt sat in the NBC studios in Washington, D.C. glancing over the script she had hastily rewritten for her weekly radio show, Over Our Coffee Cups. Although the first lady knew that this would be the most crucial broadcast she had delivered, there…

How the only child of two Italian immigrants went from the streets of Hoboken to the bright lights of New York. “They had in the bar a piano with a roll in it, you put a nickel in it and played the songs, and occasionally one of the men in…

How living in the shadow of his strong, robust brother defined the character of a young, sickly Jack Kennedy — “You must think of this little boy, sick so much of the time, reading history, reading the Knights of the Round Table, reading Marlborough. For Jack, history was full of heroes.” — Jacqueline Kennedy When John F. Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917, in Brookline, Massachusetts, there were few…

Seventy-six years after the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, his timeless words continue to elicit hope during times of darkness — “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith.” ~ President Franklin D. Roosevelt, April 1945 It was a warm spring day in April of 2014. I was alone and preparing for the next day’s big…

How the world’s greatest sex symbol proved she was no pushover — “They tell you to cry one tear, and if you feel two and cry two, it’s no good. If you change “the” to “a” in your lines, they correct you. An actress isn’t a machine, but they treat you like one.” — Marilyn Monroe At the start of 1953, Marilyn…