Famous Figures/Character Traits

Alexander Graham Bell was a teacher of the deaf. He used his knowledge of the human voice to help invent the telephone. Bell told his family that he would rather be

remembered as a teacher of the deaf than an inventor of the telephone.

• cooperative

• joyful

• humble

Eleanor Roosevelt was the wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. As first lady, she worked to help the young and the underprivileged, and she fought for equal rights forminority groups.

• active

• daring

• creative

Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly many epic flights, such as flying solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She wanted to be the first woman to fly around the world, but her plane disappeared

midflight.

• considerate

• daring

• cowardly

Rachel Carson was a biologist and writer. Her research proved that dangerous chemicals were poisoning the earth. Carson wrote a book about her findings that encouraged the government to create laws to

protect the environment.

• careless

• observant

• shy

Rosa Parks was a Black American civil rights activist. In 1955, she refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger and was arrested for it. Rosa’s actions helped lead to the civil

rights movement in the United States.

• loyal

• adventurous

• courageous

Jonas Salk was a research scientist in the field of medicine. He used his knowledge to develop the first successful vaccine to prevent the spread of polio, a disease that can lead to paralysis.

• selfish

• intelligent

• courteous

John F. Kennedy was the president of

the United States until his assassination in1963. He

was the youngest man ever elected president. In his

inaugural speech, he declared that “a new generation of Americans” had taken over leadership of the country.

• confident

• intolerant

• disrespectful

John H. Glenn Jr. was the first American to

orbit the earth. This historic flight took place in 1962.

Then, in 1998, Glenn again rocketed into the sky on

the shuttle Discovery, becoming the oldest human to

fly in space.

• respectful

• honest

• pesistent

Martin Luther King Jr. was a Black American Baptist minister and leader of the civil rights movement in the United States. King won the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent approach to solving conflict.

• peaceful

• inventive

• cheerful

Wilma Rudolf was a Black American athlete. She worked tirelessly to overcome a handicap in her leg caused by polio and scarlet fever. Wilma became the first American woman to win three gold medals at a single Olympic Game.

• determined

• dependable

• responsible