PBL OUT OF THE DUST

1. “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond to
it.”

2. Born in New York City on October 11,
1884, Eleanor Roosevelt—the niece of
Theodore Roosevelt—was one of the
most outspoken women in the White
House. She married Franklin D.
Roosevelt in 1905. During her
husband's presidency, Eleanor gave
press conferences and wrote a
newspaper column. After his death,
she served at the United Nations,
focusing on human rights and
women's issues.

3. Born on January 30, 1882, in Hyde
Park, New York, Franklin D.
Roosevelt was stricken with polio in
1921. He became the 32nd U.S.
president in 1933, and was the only
president to be elected four times.
Roosevelt led the United States
through the Great Depression and
World War II, and greatly expanded
the powers of the federal
government through a series of
programs and reforms known as the
New Deal. Roosevelt died in Georgia
in 1945.

4. Born on February 27, 1902, in
Salinas, California, John Steinbeck
dropped out of college and worked as
a manual laborer before achieving
success as a writer. His 1939 novel,
The Grapes of Wrath, about the
migration of a family from the
Oklahoma Dust Bowl to California,
won a Pulitzer Prize and a National
Book Award. Steinbeck served as a
war correspondent during World War
II, and was awarded the Nobel Prize
for Literature in 1962. He died in New
York City in 1968.

5. During the Great Depression, Dorothea
Lange photographed the unemployed
men who wandered the streets. Her
photographs of migrant workers were
often presented with captions featuring
the words of the workers themselves.
Lange’s first exhibition, held in 1934,
established her reputation as a skilled
documentary photographer. In 1940,
she received the Guggenheim
Fellowship.

6. Louis Armstrong, nicknamed "Satchmo,"
"Pops" and, later, "Ambassador Satch,"
was born on August 4, 1901, in New
Orleans, Louisiana. An all-star virtuoso,
he came to prominence in the 1920s,
influencing countless musicians with both
his daring trumpet style and unique
vocals. Armstrong's charismatic stage
presence impressed not only the jazz
world but all of popular music. He
recorded several songs throughout his
career, including he is known for songs
like "Star Dust," "La Via En Rose" and
"What a Wonderful World." Armstrong
died at his home in Queens, New York, on
July 6, 1971.

7. Duke Ellington was born April 29,
1899, in Washington, D.C. A major
figure in the history of jazz music, his
career spanned more than half a
century, during which time he
composed thousands of songs for the
stage, screen and contemporary
songbook. He created one of the most
distinctive ensemble sounds in
Western music and continued to play
what he called "American Music"
until shortly before his death in 1974.

8. Woody Guthrie wrote more than 1,000
songs, including "So Long (It's Been
Good to Know Yuh)" and "Union Maid."
After serving in WWII, he continued to
perform for farmer and worker groups.
"This Land Is Your Land" was his most
famous song, and it became an
unofficial national anthem. His
autobiography, Bound for Glory (1943),
was filmed in 1976. His son Arlo also
achieved success as a musician.

9. With only an eighth grade education and
natural business acumen, Jesse Holman
Jones set off for Houston, Texas in 1894 on a
journey that would take him to the heights
of wealth and power. Jones made his mark
in real estate and banking, and transformed
the city of Houston into a hub of
international commerce for the South.
During the Great Depression he bailed out
the banks, railroads and the farms. He also
prepared the country for World War II,
enabling industry to build the "arsenal of
democracy." The nation has much reason to
thank Jesse Jones for his service during
some of its most perilous times.

10. Born February 27, 1897, in
Philadelphia, Marian Anderson
displayed vocal talent as a child, but
her family could not afford to pay for
formal training. Members of her
church congregation raised funds for
her to attend a music school for a
year, and in 1955 she became the
first African American singer to
perform as a member of the
Metropolitan Opera in New York
City.

11. American industrialist John D.
Rockefeller was born July 8, 1839, in
Richford, New York. He built his first
oil refinery near Cleveland and in
1870 incorporated the Standard Oil
Company. By 1882 he had a near-
monopoly of the oil business in the
U.S., but his business practices led to
the passing of antitrust laws. Late in
life, Rockefeller devoted himself to
philanthropy. He died in 1937.