H is for Hepburn

  

                                                            Katherine Hepburn

                                                            Years Lived Before 1921: Twelve

                                                            Years Lived After 1921: Eighty Two

Let's switch things up just a little today. Instead of delving into the biography of Katherine Hepburn.  I will list one movie from each decade of her film career.

1930's Little Women (1933) 

1940's Philadelphia Story (1940)

Nominated for Academy Award for Best Actress

1950's African Queen (1951)

 

Nominated for Academy Award for Best Actress

1960's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) 

Won  Academy Award for Best Actress

1970's Rooster Cogburn (1975)

1980's On Golden Pond (1981) 

Won Academy Award for Best Actress

In all, Hepburn was nominated 12 times for the Academy Award for best actress  and won 4 times which is pretty good for someone once dubbed box office poison.

A TO Z Easter Eggs

A To  Z Extra

 H is for Hundred at Random Acts of Roller. Discover 10 things that happened in 1921.  

After you've looked at the additional content from my other blogs head back to the challenge.

G is for George

 

George Washington Carver

Year lived before 1921: Fifty-seven

Years lived after 1921: Twenty-two

George Washington Carver was born into slavery in Missouri in 1864. He was an educator , a  life long learner, a man of faith and science,   an accomplished artist and musician and a great humanitarian. He did not invent peanut butter as is often attributed to him. However, his work at The Tuskegee institute did not only help the African American students there it helped poor southern farmers, black and white, to be less dependent on farming one crop (generally cotton) and diversifying to crops such as but not limited to sweet potatoes and peanuts.

In 1894 Carver became  the first African American to earn a Bachelor's degree in science. He followed that up prior to the turn of the century  by earning his Masters of Agricultural degree at what was then called Iowa State Agricultural School.

In his almost 50 years at Tuskegee put all that science to practical use.  He would explain to his students and to local farmers that crops like peanuts and sweet potatoes would revitalize the soil ravaged by years of growing cotton.  Another problem with growing only cotton is that is not a food crop, so the farmers would need to borrow money for sustenance.  By switching to food crops, the farmer could sustain themselves with plenty remaining to sell at market.

When I decided on people who lived in 1921 for my theme for this years A to Z Challenge, George Washington Carver was the person I wanted to include most on the list.  When I was homeschooling my children I bought them a number of biographies written by janet & Geoff Benge.  

My kids enjoyed reading them and I enjoyed reading them as well.  Last year I found that the George Washington Carver biography was available at my library as a downloadable audio book.  I listened to it and rediscovered why I appreciated Carver when I learned about him in grade school.  

That does it for today's edition.  I'm just nutty about George Washington Carver. As you can tell by that horrible pun, I am also just nutty. Click here to return to the A to Z challenge.

F is for Fisher

Aileen Fisher

Years lived before 1921: Fifteen

Years Lived after 1921: Eighty-one

I never try out my ideas on children, except on the child that I used to know...and that -- was me! Fortunately, I remember pretty well what I used to like to read, think about, and do. I find, even today, that if I write something I like children are apt to like it too.  I guess what it amounts too is I never grew up.  Over the years I  have discovered you really don't have to grow up. - Aileen Fisher

Aileen Fisher is one of my daughter's favorite poets and she quickly became mine.   There are many excellent posts dedicated to Aileen in the blogosphere.  One of the best is from the blog Poetry for Children on the occasion of what would have been her hundredth birthday.

Not only was Miss Fisher a great poet she also wrote non fiction and fiction for children. In 1978, she was the 2nd recipient of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) award for Excellence in Poetry for Children.  

Here are two poems of hers with the illustrations to give an idea of a bit of her style.

 

A To Z Easter Eggs

 A to Z Archives: Poems at Alice's Bunny Blog. Alice is my oldest daughter's build-a-bear (full disclosure she's a bunny) Alice was quite the blogger back in the day and she wrote this nifty post about 2 of her favorite poems both about bunnies with one being the best poem I think Aileen Fisher ever did write.  Check it out!

 Inaugural Holiday Poetry Reading at Dave Out Loud. This past Christmas I read several of my own poems and then ended with Aileen Fisher's Do Rabbits Have Christmas. 

After you've looked at the additional content from my other blogs head back to the challenge and  continue exploring.