Stories of America’s Past

Welcome to America Comes Alive!, a site I created to share little-known stories of regular people who made a difference and changed the course of history. Look around and see what inspires you! — Kate Kelly

Kate Kelly
blank

The Harvey Girls

The Harvey Girls were an important part of opening the American West in the late nineteenth century. Fred Harvey, a British entrepreneur, started a chain of restaurants along the railroad, and he hired educated young women to serve the restaurant patrons, thereby establishing the Harvey Girls. The young women were vital to the Harvey House Company, and the benefits were mutual. At a time when women had few opportunities to work or to leave the…
Read More The Harvey Girls
blank

Tombs Angel: A One-Woman Social Service Agency

Rebecca Foster Salome was a middle-class woman who earned the apt name the “Tombs Angel” for her daily visits to the Manhattan courts and detention center in the 1880s-1890s.  Known as the Tombs, The New York City Halls of Justice and House of Detention, was a surprising place for an upper middle-class wife to find herself. But there were no social service agencies to help the poor and newly incarcerated, and Rebecca Foster learned how…
Read More Tombs Angel: A One-Woman Social Service Agency
blank

Bid Whist and Sleeping Car Porters

Sleeping car porters are a well-known part of history. The card game of Bid Whist is not. Yet the story of the men and the story of the card game are very much intertwined. As the Pullman porters traveled the country, they spread information, music and card games like Bid Whist. (Bid Whist is a trick-taking strategic card game compared to spades and bridge.) Why haven’t more people heard of it? Here’s the story: How…
Read More Bid Whist and Sleeping Car Porters
formal portrait of Charles Drew

Dr. Charles Drew, Medical Pioneer in Blood Work

Dr. Charles Drew was a pioneer in medicine who achieved recognition in a racially divided America for his work with blood collection and storage during World War II. But those who knew him said that his greatest pride was in having mentored many Black surgeons who might never have moved forward in the field of medicine if it hadn’t been for Dr. Drew. Dr. Drew was one of several scientists working on ways to get…
Read More Dr. Charles Drew, Medical Pioneer in Blood Work

On
This
Day

On April 27, 1865, the steamboat Sultana exploded on the Mississippi River, killing 1,700 passengers. During the Civil War, the Sultana carried troops along the lower Mississippi. On this trip, the steamboat left New Orleans, stopping at Vicksburg for repairs. The captain took on many Union soldiers heading north as the government paid well for them. They were soon carrying more than six times capacity. Just above Memphis, the boiler blew, killing hundreds. Only 600 people survived.

Women Leaders

blank

Helen Gahagan Douglas (1900-1980) Actress Turned Congressperson

  • blankElected as Democratic National Committeewoman from California
  • Elected to the House of Representatives in 1944, becoming only one of nine women to serve in the House at that time.
Helen Gahagan Douglas was born in 1900 and was raised in a well-to-do family in Brooklyn, New York. She was not a serious student but loved acting, and by the age of 22 she had been cast in a lead role on Broadway. She never returned to Barnard College where she had been a student.

Love what you’re reading?

Skip the noise and get compelling stories about America delivered to your inbox. Mailings arrive about every other week.

Welcome to America Comes Alive!, a site I created to share little-known stories of regular people who made a difference and changed the course of history. Look around and see what inspires you! — Kate Kelly

Recent Stories

blank

The Harvey Girls

The Harvey Girls were an important part of opening the American West in the late nineteenth century. Fred Harvey, a British entrepreneur, started a chain of restaurants along the railroad, […]
Read More The Harvey Girls

Part of the inspiration for this site comes from this remark: “People do not want to hear about simple things. They want to hear about great things – simply told.”

Nobel Peace Prize winner Jane Addams (1860-1935)
Translate »
Scroll to Top