historical figures (chronologically!)

Boss Tweed

an American politician most notable for being the political boss of Tammany Hall, the Democratic Party's political machine that played a major role in the politics of 19th-century New York City and State.

Chief Joseph

leader of the Nez Perce tribe, famous for his leadership during the 1877 Nez Perce Warwho advocated for Native American rights and resisted U.S. government policies.

Edwin Drake

an American oil driller credited with being the first to successfully extract crude oil from the ground using a drilling rig in 1859, which initiated the oil industry.

Alexander Graham Bell

Scottish-born inventor and engineer best known for inventing the first practical telephone in 1876, which revolutionized communication.

William Jennings Bryan

American politician and orator, known for his populist stance and strong advocacy for bimetallism, particularly during the 1896 presidential election.

William McKinley

25th President of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901, known for leading the nation during the Spanish-American War and advocating for protective tariffs.

Grover Cleveland

Lost the 1888 election to Benjamin Harrison, but served as the 22 and 24 president

Henry Roth

an American novelist and short story writer who found success later in life after his 1934 novel Call It Sleep was reissued in paperback in 1964.

President Arthur

was the 21st president of the United States, serving from 1881 to 1885. He was a Republican from New York who previously served as the 20th vice president under President James A. Garfield.

Frederick Law Olmsted

an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the United States.

Booker T. Washington

an American educator, author, and orator. 1890-1915 was the primary leader in the African-American community and of the contemporary Black elite, and advocated for self-reliance. 

W.E.B. Du Bois

an American sociologist, writer, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, grew up in a relatively tolerant and integrated community, during the abolitionist era, and advocated for protests and help from the government for change. 

George Eastman

The inventor of the Kodak camera, and not only made it portable (more accessible for the average joe) helped to bring the photographic use of roll film into the mainstream.

Ida B. Wells

an American investigative journalist, sociologist, educator, and early leader in the civil rights movement. She was one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, was fiercely anti-lynching. 

Mark Twain

Best known for Huckleberry Finn, this author named the era the “Gilded Age” because it was shy and golden on the surface, but corrupt and riddled with poverty underneath.

Alex Cartwright

a pioneer of modern baseball and founding member of the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club in the 1840s