Virginia Company left England in 1606 to establish the first colony, Jamestown, in America. Three ships, the Godspeed, the Discovery, and the Susan Constant carried approximately 120 people to their new land. The ships landed May 14, 1607. Older children could read an excellent book, Blood on the River: Jamestown, 1607, by Eliza Carbone. Children could learn more at the National Parks Site: Jamestown.
Louisiana Purchase
Louisiana Purchase was finalized in 1803. The United States bought more than a million square miles of land from France for about twenty dollars a square mile. Children could find out why France sold the land to the United States. What is that land worth now? Children could find more information at: Louisiana Purchase.
Sacagawea died in 1812 at Fort Manuel on the Missouri River. Her exact birth is unknown; most experts agree on the year 1787. Sacajawea was an interpreter for the Lewis and Clark Expedition. She was a Shoshone Indian who had been captured by enemies. She was sold as a slave to a French-Canadian trapper. She and the trapper joined the expedition. Idea: Many experts believe the expedition would have failed if she had not gone along. Children could investigate and list all that she accomplished by visiting: Sacagawea. They could also read Sacajawea: Crossing the Continent with Lewis and Clark by Emma Carlson Berne.
Montgomery Bus Boyctt
Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott ended in 1956. A Supreme Court decision forced the bus company to end segregation. The boycott had begun December 5, 1955, over a year before. Children can learn more at: Bus Boycott.
Richard Atwater (born Chicago, Illinois, 1892; died Chicago, Illinois, August 21, 1948) was a children’s author. He and his wife, Florence Atwater, are famous for writing Mr. Popper’s Penguins. The book won a 1939 Newbery Honor Award.
Sandra Cisneros (born Chicago, Illinois, 1954) is an author. She has written at least eight books, and she has contributed to several anthologies. She is best known for The House on Mango Street, published in 1984.
Lulu Delacre (born Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, 1957) writes and illustrates bilingual books for children. She published Arroz Con Leche: Popular Songs and Rhymes from Latin America in 1989. She has won three Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor Awards: The Bossy Gallito (1996), Arrorró, Mi Niño : Latino Lullabies and Gentle Games (2006), and The Storyteller’s Candle: La velita de los cuentos (2010). The Storyteller’s Candle is about Pura Belpré. Children can visit Delacre’s website and find some “fun freebies” at: Lulu Delacre.
Harvey Samuel Firestone
Harvey Samuel Firestone (born Columbiana, Ohio, 1868; died Miami Beach, Florida, February 7, 1938) created Firestone Tire & Rubber Company. At first he produced solid rubber tires. Then he experimented and developed air-filled tires. He, Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford sponsored joint projects regarding synthetic rubber.
Dennis Brindell Fradin (born Chicago, Illinois, 1945; died Evanston, Illinois, August 29, 2012) wrote over 300 nonfiction children’s books. One excellent, excellent book is The Signers: The 56 Stories Behind the Declaration of Independence.