Speech:

Shall We Repeat Indian History in Alaska?

Speaker:

Ruth Muskrat Bronson

1941 - 1960 / American Indian Justice
Ruth Muskrat Bronson was born in 1897 as a member of the Cherokee Nation. Bronson described her hometown as “a little place called Whitewater, in Oklahoma, no town, just a lovely little stream out in the hills.” Bronson spent her early years at Cowskin Prairie, Oklahoma, where she lived with her parents James Muskrat and…  Read more.
Speech:

Statement on the Civil Rights Act of 1957

Speaker:

Dalip Singh Saund

1941 - 1960 / Civil Rights and Race Equity
When Dalip Singh Saund came to the United States, South Asian residents were ineligible for citizenship. Saund was born in Punjab, India in 1899, and immigrated to the United States at twenty years of age to further his education. Even though Saund planned to return to India once he finished school, his next trip to…  Read more.
Speech:

Women in Public Life

Speaker:

Anna Arnold Hedgeman

1941 - 1960 / Gender Equity and Race Equity
For nearly seventy years, Anna Arnold Hedgeman advocated for equal rights, education, poverty relief, public health, and Christian service in the United States. Her advocacy was central to her work in a variety of roles—including teacher, nonprofit administrator, consultant, civil rights activist, government official, journalist, political candidate, church leader, and author. As a Black woman,…  Read more.
Speech:

Testimony of Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Assistant Director, Office of Civilian Defense

Speaker:

Eleanor Roosevelt

1941 - 1960 / Civil Rights and National Security
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born on October 11, 1884, in New York City to the wealthy Roosevelt family. After attending secondary school, she became involved with social reform work for the first time at age 18 by teaching children who were part of poorer, immigrant communities and working with the National Consumers League to end…  Read more.
Major Ruth Cheney Streeter
Speech:

Speech Before Giving Oath to Women Being Inducted into Marine Corps

Speaker:

Major Ruth Cheney Streeter

1941 - 1960 / Gender Equity
Colonel Ruth Cheney Streeter was the first Director of the U.S. Marine Corps Women’s Reserve, serving from February 13, 1943 through December 7, 1945. She earned the Legion of Merit for "outstanding services" during World War II. The Marine Corps History Division credits Streeter for “[e]xercising judgment, initiative and ability.” She was also credited for…  Read more.
George Gillette Signs
Speech:

The Garrison Dam Agreement Signing

Speaker:

George Gillette

1941 - 1960 / American Indian Justice
George Gillette was born October 29, 1902, on the Fort Berthold Reservation. He attended Bismarck Indian School and Flandreau Indian School in South Dakota, as well as the Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas, where he studied carpentry. After graduating in 1926, he married Evelyn Wilkinson in 1930. They raised nine children at the Beaver Creek…  Read more.
Edith Abbott
Speech:

Survey Award Acceptance Speech

Speaker:

Edith Abbott

1941 - 1960 / Gender Equity and Health & Social Welfare
The social settlement movement began in the 1880s in London as a response to social problems created by urbanization, industrialization, and immigration. To mitigate the effects of increasing socio-economic stratification, settlement houses acted as a neighborhood welfare agency with the purpose of creating an improved, interdependent community.  Read more.
Paul Robeson
Speech:

Forge Negro-Labor and Unity for Peace

Speaker:

Paul Robeson

1941 - 1960 / Labor Justice and Race Equity
A renowned singer, athlete, actor, and activist, Paul Robeson was perhaps one of the most prominent African American public figures from the 1920s to the 1950s. Born on April 9, 1898 in Princeton, New Jersey, Robeson displayed prodigious academic and athletic talent early in his childhood. Enrolling at Rutgers University at the age of 17,…  Read more.
Speech:

A Voice from the Eastern Shore

Speaker:

Marie Watson

1941 - 1960 / Civil Rights and Gender Equity
Marie Watson, a field worker for the Maryland League of Planned Parenthood, delivered “A Voice from the Eastern Shore” on November 5, 1945. It was the only speech given at the annual meeting of the Prince George’s League for Planned Parenthood in Hyattsville, Maryland. The speech was recorded by Georgia K. Benjamin, a civic leader…  Read more.