What Makes America Great?

Schoolteacher, army nurse,author, founder of the American Red Cross…

Clara Barton1821-1912Oxford, MA

“I have an almost complete disregard of precedent, and a faith in the possibility of something better. It irritates me to be told how

things have always been done.”

Nurses

The “Moses of her people,”she led over 300 slaves to freedom on the Underground railroad, risking her life soothers could be free…

“I never ran my train off the track, and I never lost a passenger.”

Harriet Tubman1822-1913

Eastern Maryland

Liberators

Re-defining the word “frontier” for each generation…

Explorers

they risked their lives so we could have a brighter tomorrow…

from Puritan pilgrims, to wagon trains, to the moon and beyond…

Dr. Jonas Salk 1914-1995

New York, NY

Physician, immunologist, and inventor of the polio vaccine, his work saved the lives of untold numbers of people…

“Our greatest responsibility is to be good ancestors.”

Physicians

Thomas Alva Edison 1847-1931Milan, OH

Inventor and businessman, he gave our eyes the first useable light bulb and our ears the phonograph machine. Then he figured out a way to get electricity into our homes so we could use them…

“If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.”

Inventors

Jackie Robinson 1919-1972Cairo, GA

Six-time All-Star and World Series player, TV sports analyst and successful businessman, he confronted prejudice with an undeniable quality of character and changed a nation…

“Life is not a spectator sport. If you're going to spend your whole life in the grandstand just watching what goes on, in my opinion you're

wasting your life.”

Athletes

Pearl S. Buck 1892-1973

Hillsboro, WV

Raised in China the daughter of missionaries, author and poet, winner of the Nobel and Pulitzer Prizes, educator, defender of womens’, childrens’, elderly, and minority rights, mother of nine adopted children…

“A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God's truth is attacked and yet would remain silent.”

Humanitarians

Billy Graham 1918 -

Charlotte, NC

Pastor, co-founder of Youth for Christ, spiritual advisor to Presidents, he has preached to over 2 billion people and over 2.5 million souls have been won for Christ through his ministry…

“Our days are numbered. The greatest waste in all of our earth… is our waste of the time that God has given us each day.”

People of Faith

George Washington Carver 1864-1943

Diamond, MO

Botanist, educator, inventor, his research into peanuts, soybeans, sweet potatos, and crop rotation improved the lives of untold numbers of poor farmers…

“I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.”

Scientists

Julia Ward Howe 1819-1910

New York, NY

Wife and mother of six, writer of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” founder of Mother’s Day (1870), author, preacher, educator, womens suffragist, and first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters…

“While your life is the true expression of your faith, whom can you fear?”

Housewives

Randy Pausch 1960-2008

Baltimore, MD

Professor, computer scientist, author, founder of the Alice software project, and inspiration…

“The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls

are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough.”

Teachers

We’ll never know their names, but their labors built our cities, cars, and all we use in daily life…

Factory Workers

Louis Armstrong 1901-1971

New Orleans, LA

Big band soloist, movie star, entertainer with an appeal to all generations, he overcame a childhood of poverty to work with the greatest artists of his day…

“What a wonderful world…”

Musicians

The Wright Brothers Dayton, OH

Inventors of the flying machine. And ‘they’ said it couldn’t be done…

“More than anything else the sensation is one of perfect peace mingled with an excitement that strains every nerve to the utmost, if you can conceive of

such a combination.” – Wilbur Wright

Aviators

Pride in America isn’t built on fear, hatred, violence or destruction…

What makes America great…

…is her people…

…and their commitment to something greater than themselves.

So today…

…give thanks to Godfor the men and women

who defend our freedoms…

…and also thank God…

…for all the people who makefreedom a thing worth having.

Music: “Ashokan Farewell” performed by Mark Connor