Showing titles in Cultural Heritage

If not for a stint in reform school, young Louis Armstrong might never have become a musician. It was a teacher at the Colored Waifs' Home who gave him a cornet, promoted him to band leader, and saw talent in the tough kid from the even tougher New Orleans neighborhood called Storyville. But it...

'On his passport he was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. The poet Rabindranath Tagore gave him the title Mahatma - the great soul- but he was rather uncomfortable with that. Nelson Mandela calls him a sacred warrior , others describe him as the the saint of the spinning wheel and we now declare him...

Sunita Williams' story is one of having to settle for second choices. She grew up wishing to become a professional swimmer. Then she wanted to train as a vet. Instead she went on to join the Naval Academy and serve as a pilot. Before long, however, space was calling. A new dream had been born in...

Muddy Waters was never good at doing what he was told. When Grandma Della said the blues wouldn't put food on the table, Muddy didn't listen. And when record producers told him that no one wanted to listen to a country boy playing country blues, Muddy ignored them as well. This tenacious streak carried Muddy from the hardscrabble fields of Mississippi to the smoky juke joints of Chicago and finally to a recording studio where a landmark record was made.

Benjamin Banneker wasn't just a scientist. He was also an author, astronomer, and mathematician. Young listeners will discover how this self-taught man came to be one of the first important African American intellectuals.

Chief Joseph wanted peace for his people. But the US Army had different ideas. As the headman and spokesperson for the Nez Perce, Chief Joseph tried to do what was best for his people. Join him as he leads his people over vast plains and rugged mountains on the run from the US Army.

The life of astronaut John "Danny" Olivas.

How did Tammy Duckworth become a Senator? Listeners will learn all about this great Asian American politician and the significant events in her life in this low-leveled biography.

Майя Плисецкая—балерина, хореограф, актриса, известная во всем мире. Она знаменита свой техникой и пластикой, удивительной эмоциональностью в танце. А ещё невероятным характером, упорством, работоспособностью и адекватным отношением к себе и своим силам.

Uniquely perceptive poems follow the life from boyhood to icon of this celebrated poet and prophet of reggae culture, set against a backdrop of original music that echoes the Jamaican countryside where he was born and the world beyond that continues to embrace his legacy today.

Even as American Patriots fought for independence from British rule during the Revolutionary War, oppressive conditions remained in place for the thousands of enslaved and free African Americans living in this country. But African Americans took up their own fight for freedom by joining the British and American armies; preaching, speaking out, and writing about the evils of slavery; and establishing settlements in Nova Scotia and Africa.

MrBeast is the most subscribed YouTube channel in the world! What did it take to reach the top? Learn about Jimmy Donaldson's life and how he has used his fame to help the planet and people in need.

A spirited audiobook biography about composer Aaron Copland and the birth of modern America This is a story about music. But it's also a story about America. Aaron Copland was born in Brooklyn in 1900 at the dawn of a new generation. In a community of immigrants, he had a front-row seat to the...

Here is the dramatic coming-of-age graphic novel memoir of 12-year-old Carlos (who would grow up to become the author’s father), his life during the Cuban Revolution, and his family’s harrowing escape to America. A Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Winner A Graphic Novels and Comics Round...

From award-winning creators, Derrick Barnes, Frank Morrison, and Dr. Christian Gregory comes the true story of comedian and activist Dick Gregory’s remarkable Food Run of 1976. 1 man. 1,011 hours. 3,200 miles. 7 million steps. What would you do? In April of 1976, Dick Gregory sets off on a...

Carrie is a young Navajo dancer who lives in Arizona. When she was in grade school, she decided to become a fancy shawl dancer. Traditional dances are important to the Navajo, a way of praying, healing, and celebrating. Carrie discusses some of the clothing she wears at a powwow.

Srinivasa Ramanujan has been described as a rock-star mathematician. Though he died almost one hundred years ago, his work in mathematics will always be important.

Marcenia “TOMBOY” Stone loved nothing more than baseball. But her parents wanted her to twirl in ice skates, not steal bases in cleats. When their local priest convinced Tomboy’s parents she could play for the church team, she got her chance! Her coaches and teammates made her feel unwelcome because she was Black and a girl. But unstoppable Tomboy ignored their taunts, learned the rule book better than her teammates, and scored runs. When Tomboy grew up, she changed her name to Toni, and her passion for baseball never faded.

August Wilson grew up open to the creative inspiration in everything he encountered: in library books, in music, in artworks, in the lively conversations overheard in the restaurants and barbershops lining the Pittsburgh neighborhood of his childhood. August paid attention. He listened. And when he got older, he got ideas about what to do with everything he’d seen and heard—ideas that would make him one of the greatest playwrights in American history.

Sometimes we throw things away when we no longer want or need them. But what if they’re still good? A man named Nelson Molina wondered about this and did something about it. As a sanitation worker in New York City, Nelson saved more than forty-five thousand items from his garbage truck, including toys, musical instruments, and thingamajigs. He gave them new life and shared them with others at the Treasures in the Trash Museum.