“Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” The sight and sound of a ringing bell on the Fourth of July symbolizes freedom to most Americans and brings to mind the Liberty Bell, which rang out in Phil­adelphia when the new country was born. The Liberty Bell once hung in the Old […]

From time to time, it is suggested that the song, “America the Beautiful” be made the national anthem, in place of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” [See Flag Day, p. 87] Proponents of this idea argue that “America the Beautiful” is a better national an­them because it praises the whole country, not only the flag, and it […]

FIRST MONDAY IN SEPTEMBER LEVEN-YEAR-OLD Peter McGuire sold papers on the street in New York City. He shined shoes and cleaned stores, and later ran errands. It was 1863 and his father, a poor Irish immigrant, had just enlisted to fight in the Civil War. Peter had to help support his mother and six brothers […]

honors the life and legacy of one of the visionary leaders of the Civil Rights Movement and recipient of the 1964 Nobel Prize for Peace. At a young age Martin Luther King, Jr. showed strong promise, skipping the 9 th and 12th grades and entering Morehouse College at the age of 15. His beliefs in […]

t was 1866, and the United States was re­covering from the long and bloody Civil War be­tween the North (Union) and the South (Confed­erate). Surviving soldiers came home, some with missing limbs, and all with stories to tell. Henry Welles, a drug­store owner in Waterloo, New York, heard the stories and had an idea. He […]