Central Kansas Library System

There wasn't anything that George Washington Carver couldn't grow. He took the common goober--today's peanut--and created hundreds of useful products from it, turning goobers into a very profitable staple for the South. At the same time, this very special man passed on to everyone who knew him the importance of following one's own dreams.

A brief biography of Henry Ford with emphasis on how he came to develop fast, sturdy, and reliable racing cars that eventually gave him the idea for his Model T.

A biography of the Afro-American farmer and self-taught mathematician, astronomer, and surveyor for the new capital city of the United States in 1791, who also calculated a successful almanac notable for its preciseness.

In the 1870's, surgery was a crude affair performed on the patient's kitchen table. In the frontier town of Rochester, Minnesota, Dr. W. W. Mayo brought his young sons, Will and Charlie, to assist him with operations. Fifty years later, Rochester became a medical mecca as the Mayo brothers were established as world-class surgeons. With a firm belief in sharing information and learning from others, the Mayo brothers proved the benefits of cooperation...

Traces the life of the immigrant Jewish peddler who went on to found Levi Strauss & Co.

Recounts the story of the German printer credited with the invention of printing with movable type.

Covers the life of the famed nineteenth-century author from his childhood in Hannibal, Missouri, through his careers.

Abigail Adams lived through the Revolutionary War and became the First Lady of the second president of the United States. Though women of her time could not vote, govern, or own property, Abigail believed that women should not be ruled by laws they did not make. Although she did not see these rights come to women, she never gave up talking, writing, and perhaps most important, believing that women were equal to men. Her courage and strength enabled...

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings dreamt of becoming a famous writer from the time that she was a young girl. After several years of searching for adventure and success, Marjorie finally found inspiration in the wild country of central Florida. While living there, she produced several popular works of fiction, including the Pulitzer Prize - winning novel The Yearling.

Born a slave, Frederick Douglass grew up facing hunger, hard work, and terrible beatings. After overhearing that reading was the key to freedom, Frederick became determined to learn to read. Against all odds, he did learn and escaped from slavery. A powerful and inspirational speaker, Frederick spoke and wrote about his remarkable life and fought for the freedom and equal rights of African American men and women.