History buffs--help!

[KristieW]

I know that I started a thread on this (for another theme) for last year's program, but I can't find it, so I'll give intro here instead.

Anyway, I'm an 8th grade history teacher. Each year, my students participate in the National History Day (http://www.nhd.org) program. We did pretty well this year but didn't take any kids to nationals, and now that the kids have had a break, I've already had a few talk to me about next year.

Anyway, here's where you come in. The theme next year is "The Individual in History." I'm trying to compile a list of people who have somehow changed history. Yes, I know that's broad. It doesn't matter where they lived or when they lived--it could be anyone from Aristotle to Cindy Sheehan. Since I'm not an expert on many (most!) historical time periods, I'd love to pick your brain for important historical figures. They can be local (specific to the development of, say, Illinois), national, or world. Any time period works, as long as the kids will be able to find something, anything, through research. Obviously I can get the big ones, like Thomas Jefferson or Leonardo Da Vinci. What I'm hoping for are those pivotal ones that are somewhat lesser known, especially to 8th graders. I've started a short list here (http://famously-fruity.livejournal.com/1203759.html), which would be longer if I hadn't lost the post-it note I had the rest of my thoughts written on. :p

Anyway, feel free to respond here or in my journal, feel free to keep coming back with ideas, feel free to be as random or obscure as you want... I could use the help!

THANK YOU!!!

[Tandis]

My personal favorite is Johannes Gutenberg. :)

Some others are:

Catherine de Medici
Eleanor of Aquitaine
William the Conqueror
Oliver Hazard Perry
Marie Curie

[pontmarie]

Anne Boleyn
Rasputin
Alexandra Fyodorovna

[ManteoChik]

Sir Walter Raleigh
Amelia Earhart

[salysaturn]

Fidel Castro

[salysaturn]

How about any famous court cases?

Brown vs Board of Education would be big

[Jenzen01]

Wow. That's an immense topic with immense possibilities.

For music, I would include the following:

Beethoven - moved music from classical to romantic era
Debussy
Mozart
Stravinsky

Those are some of the names that bridged the gaps between musical eras.

[KristieW]

You all rock! Keep 'em coming!

[KristieW]

How about any famous court cases?

Brown vs Board of Education would be big

Because of the theme, they could use Brown or specific members of the BoE, but they couldn't use the case itself.

[KristieW]

Wow. That's an immense topic with immense possibilities.



It absolutely is. This year's was Conflict and Compromise in history, which at least gave the kids a little more focus. Next year's is going to be a bear. Or really good, depending on your point of view. :)

[salysaturn]

Because of the theme, they could use Brown or specific members of the BoE, but they couldn't use the case itself.

Well that's what I mean, but by just saying Brown, you may not known what I was talking about. :)

[bensgirl1222]

I'm no history buff but my DH is! This is from him...

Harriet Tubman- Mother of the underground railroad from the Eastern Shore, Maryland.

[Ellyn]

How about a few artists (in no particular order) from an art teacher ;)

Artemisia Gentileschi
Jackson Pollock
Georgia O'Keeffe
Andy Warhol
Judy Chicago (may not be all that appropriate for 8th graders though)
Salvador Dali
Rodin
(and then the "obvious" ones... Michelangelo, Monet, Rembrant, Seurat, etc.)

[salysaturn]

I.M. Pei

[Niobe]

Solon, founding father of Athens
Alexander the Great
Emperor Augustus
Emperor Constantine
Charlemagne
Martin Luther
Queen Elizabeth I
Rene Descartes
Peter the Great
Charles Louis Secondat, Count de Montesquieu
Adam Smith
Napoleon Bonaparte
Francois-Dominique Toussaint Louverture
Otto von Bismark
Tsar Nicholas II
Francisco Franco
Charles De Gaulle
Mikhail Gorbachev

[R_mageddon]

Laura Secord
Dr Benjamin Rush
Sir Wilfred Laurier
Nicholas of Myra
Mary Magdalene
Rosa Parks


hmmmm....If I think of any more I'll post them.

[HeatherH]

Margaret Thatcher
Mother Teresa
Helen Keller
Princess Diana
Marilyn Monroe
Eleanor Roosevelt
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Sojourner Truth
Susan B. Anthony
:)

[KristyK]

Florence Nightingale
Clara Barton

[Photobug]

Some early 19th century folks for you:

PT Barnum - the ultimate showman
Sylvester Graham -advocate for temperance and vegetarianism
Abigail Kelley Foster (or Stephen Foster) - abolitionists
Fanny Kemble - actress and abolitionist (& she was married to a slave owner)
Charles Goodyear - vulcanized rubber
Lucy Stone - woman's rights advocate & abolitionist
Lydia Maria Child - Author of children's stories and of advice books.
William Henry Harrison - the father of modern political campaigning (ran the first mud-slinging campaign)

[gayle]

Leonardo DaVinci
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Franklin
Bill Gates
Florence Nightengale
Queen Elizabeth I
FDR
Martin Luther King

There are so many noteworthy people that compiling a list could go on and on endlessly!

[NYN]

Some really random, local heroes that we learned a lot about when I was growing up:
Nellie Bly
Deborah Moody
Conrad Poppenhusen

These would fall into the "very obscure" category, lol.

[starfishdog]

Oh what an awesome topic!!!

John Brown, from Harpers Ferry, WV. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown_(abolitionist)

I have too many to mention but John Brown is probably one of my top favorites due to the fact it was so ironic for a white man in those days to do all he did and to die for his cause like he did. Actually, Harpers Ferry WV is a truly amazing place to me. I'm facinated by it.

Suz'e

[sparkle&shine]

Sandra Day O'Connor ~ The first woman to serve on the Supreme Court.

[Niobe]

Jackie Robinson. :)

[ambula704]

Im a history teacher also, here is what I thought of. I cant see the list you had in the first post -so these may already be on it!

W.E.B Du Bois
Andrew Carnegie
John D. Rockefeller
James J. Hill
Queen Liliuokalani
George Eastman
Homer Plessy
William Marcy "Boss" Tweed
Samuel Gompers
Booker T. Washington
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Langston Hughes
Marcus Garvey
Charles Lindbergh
Al Capone
Eleanor Roosevelt
Joseph McCarthy
Cesar Chavez
Geraldine Ferraro
Jesse Jackson
Hillary Clinton

Gotta go...bell just rang! Good luck!

[KristieW]

You are ALL amazing--thank you SO much!! (Not that I'll say no to more...)

Well that's what I mean, but by just saying Brown, you may not known what I was talking about.


Oh what an awesome topic!!!

John Brown, from Harpers Ferry, WV. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown_(abolitionist)

I have too many to mention but John Brown is probably one of my top favorites due to the fact it was so ironic for a white man in those days to do all he did and to die for his cause like he did. Actually, Harpers Ferry WV is a truly amazing place to me. I'm facinated by it.

Suz'e
LOL--we JUST finished that chapter in our SS book and for some reason I didn't add him. Silly me!

Some really random, local heroes that we learned a lot about when I was growing up:
Nellie Bly
Deborah Moody
Conrad Poppenhusen

These would fall into the "very obscure" category, lol.
Obscure is PERFECT, though. I did some basic analysis of the projects from our state that went on to nationals, and 2/3 of them could be considered "obscure." I think it's because it forces the kids to go searching for really good sources about them, rather than just taking one of the 800 websites out there on, say, Rosa Parks.


Thank you ALL, again!!!!!! (And like I said, whatever else you come up with... I'll take it!)

[sublime311]

John Cabot
Steve Jobs
John Lennon
Joan of Arc
J.K. Rowling
Galileo Galilei
Ruby Bridges
Voltaire
Eva Peron
Dalai Lama
Pele
Billie Jean King
Mohammed Ali
Confucius
Steven Spielberg
King Arthur
Sri Khrishna
Judy Blume
Charles Schultz
Colin Powell
Golda Meir
Lou Gehrig
Babe Ruth
Joe Lewis
Michael Jordan
Chief Sitting Bull
Howard Hughes
Coco Chanel
Billie Holiday
Dian Fossey
Oprah Winfrey
Madonna
Bob Dylan
Bob Marley
Maya Angelou
Robert Jarvik
Richard Pryor
Walt Disney
Crazy Horse
Oskar Schindler
Hitler
Malcom X
Marco Polo

[alisong]

How about a couple of public health heroes?

There's Ignaz Semmelweis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis), who worked out that washing hands was really, really important for the control of infectious disease.
Also, there's John Snow (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Snow_%28physician%29), considered by many to be the father of epidemiology, or even the more well-known Louis Pasteur (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasteur).