American Quotations by William J. Federer 2024

William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860-July 26, 1925) was the Democratic candidate for President in 1896, 1900, 1908. He had been a Colonel in the Spanish-American War, a U.S. Representative from Nebraska, 1891-95, and U.S. Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson. He was the editor of the Omaha World Herald, and founded The Commoner journal. He was celebrated for having successfully participated in the prosecution during the John Scopes evolution trial in Tennessee. His statue is in the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall. Williams Jennings Bryan gave over 600 public speeches during his Presidential campaigns, with his most famous being...

Katherine Lee Bates (August 12, 1859-March 28, 1929) was an American poet and educator. She was professor of English literature at Wellesley College, 1891-1925. In 1892, after seeing the inspiring view from atop Pike's Peak in Colorado, she penned the patriotic song America the Beautiful. This song became so popular that in 1920 it almost became the U.S. National Anthem: <O Beautiful for Spacious Skies, For Amber Waves of Grain, For Purple Mountain Majesties Above the Fruited Plain! America! America! God Shed His Grace on Thee And Crowned Thy Good with Brotherhood From Sea to Shining Sea! O Beautiful for Pilgrims...

Oregon (February 14, 1859) was the 33rd State admitted to the Union. The Constitution of the State of Oregon, adopted 1857, stated: <Bill of Rights, Article I, Section 2. All men shall be secure in the Natural right, to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their consciences.> 1859OR001 -- American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement. Endnotes: 1859OR001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Oregon, 1857, Constitution, Bill of Rights, Article I, Section 2. Charles E. Rice, The Supreme Court and Public Prayer (New York: Fordham University Press, 1964), p....

Minnesota (May 11, 1858) was the 32nd State admitted to the Union. On August 7, 1789, President George Washington signed into law an Act of Congress which prohibited slavery from entering the territory, titled: <An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio, Article VI.> 1858MN001 Congress enabled the establishment of the government of Minnesota, provided it followed the general tenets of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. The Northwest Ordinance stated: <SECTION 13. And, for extending the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these republics, their laws and...

Howard Atwood Kelly (February 20, 1858-January 12, 1943) was an American surgeon and premier gynecologist in the early 20th century. He founded Kensington Hospital for Women in Philadelphia; was Professor of Obstetrics at the University of Pennsylvania; and was Professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics at Johns Hopkins University for over 20 years, 1889-1919. He established a sanatorium in Baltimore, Md., which was later named the Howard A. Kelly Hospital. Among his over 500 articles to medical journals, he wrote many authoritative medical books, among which was one titled: <A Scientific Man and His Bible.> 1858HK001 -- American Quotations by William J....