1001 People Who Made America - Alan Axelrod [22]
Child, Lydia Maria (1802–1880) Child was a pioneering abolitionist author, whose 1833 An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans contained a comprehensive history of slavery and appealed not only for abolition but for equality of education and employment for blacks. The first book of its kind, its publication created a sensation. Child continued to campaign for abolition until the end of the Civil War, after which she wrote An Appeal for the Indians (1868) and other works advocating just treatment for Native Americans. Chisholm, Shirley (1924–2005) The daughter of immigrant parents from British Guiana (now Guyana) and Barbados, Chisholm grew up in Brooklyn, where she later taught school and became active in the civil rights movement and in Democratic politics. She was elected to Congress in 1968—the first African-American woman to serve in the House—and was a powerful liberal voice in that body until her retirement in 1983. She subsequently became a lecturer and college professor.
Chomsky, Noam (1928– ) Chomsky’s 1955 work, entitled Transformational Analysis, established “transformational grammar.” This theory holds that grammar is not merely learned but grows from an innate human faculty for understanding the grammatical structures of language. During the 1960s and 1970s, Chomsky, already famed as a linguist, became known for his strident political activism, first directed against the Vietnam War and then more generally critical of American foreign policy. He is regarded as one of the most important voices of the American left.
Chopin, Kate (1851–1904) Chopin wrote about what she knew best: the colorful people in and around New Orleans in the late 1800s, but she is best remembered today for her 1899 novel The Awakening, a story about the sexual awakening of a young wife and mother, who seeks to escape stifling social convention by abandoning her husband and children. Condemned in its own time, it was rediscovered in the 1950s and is considered a precursor of modern feminist literature.
Chrysler, Walter P. (1875–1940) Chrysler’s first job was as an apprentice in a railroad machine shop; from this, he worked his way up to the presidency of the Buick Motor Company in 1916. After building Buick into the strongest unit of General Motors, Chrysler resigned to become director of the Willys-Overland Company and of Maxwell Motor Company, Inc., which he transformed into the Chrysler Corporation in 1925. For his new company, Chrysler personally designed a car with the first commercially available high-compression engine. Chrysler became the only major domestic competitor of Ford and GM.
Church, Benjamin (1639–1718) Born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, Church was one of New England’s ablest military commanders and was instrumental in defeating the forces of Indian chief King Philip in King Philip’s War 1675–1676)—in proportion to population, the deadliest war in American history.
Church, Frederick (1826–1900) Church was one of the greatest of the Hudson River School painters, who specialized in magnificent panoramas. In addition to portraying great romantic American scenes (such as Niagara, 1857), Church painted in North and South America as well as Europe.
Clark, George Rogers (1752–1818) Although the battles fought on the settled East Coast are the most famous engagements of the American Revolution, most of the fighting took place in the interior, on the frontier, and Clark was one of the leading American commanders in this theater. His victories were largely responsible for Britain’s cession of the Old Northwest to the United States in the Treaty of Paris, which ended the war.
Clark, Mark W. (1896–1994) After graduating from West Point in 1917, Clark served in France during World War II. His biggest assignment during World War II was as commander of the Fifth Army, the principal force fighting the Italian Campaign, which proved far more costly than anticipated. British prime minister Winston Churchill called Clark the “American Eagle.”
Clark, William