Take a behind-the-scenes look at American creativity and amazing inventions that began right here in the United States.
Welcome to America Comes Alive!, a site I created to share little-known stories of America’s past.
These stories are about Americans—people just like you—who have made a difference and changed the course of history. Look around the site and find what inspires you.
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George Washington Carver (ca. 1865-1943), Internationally Known Scientist and Educator
Developed crop-rotation methods which changed the nature of agriculture;- Discovered multiple different uses for crops such as the peanut; the peanut plant enriches the soil but then farmers needed ways to sell the additional peanut crops they were producing.
- Internationally known educator who also worked for racial equality
George Washington Carver was born into a slave family in Diamond Grove, Missouri. His father died in an accident shortly before his birth, and when he was still an infant, Carver and his mother were kidnapped by slave raiders who hoped to sell them for money. George was rescued by a neighbor and returned to Moses and Susan Carver, the owners of the farm where his family had lived. His mother was never seen again.
Carver’s older brother worked in the fields with Moses but George was a frail child so he helped Susan with household chores and gardening. He became quite knowledgeable about plants, and local people would consult him on what to do when a particular plant or crop was not doing well.
When Gasoline-Powered Cars Were First Used, Where Did They Get Gasoline?
This fall I taught a class at the Osher Institute at UCLA; the class was called American Moments and one day I was talking about early automobiles and why gas-powered engines became the norm instead of electric-powered, which were also being made in the early 1900s.
When Point-and-Shoot Began: The Brownie Camera
Today we don’t even need to remember to take our cameras. We simply pull out our phones and take pictures of anything from a tourist site we’re visiting to an item in a store where we’d like to send it to someone for an opinion. Point-shoot-and-send… picture-taking has become so easy.
Then and Now: International Harvester Trucks
The other day at The Autry National Center of the American West in Los Angeles, I came upon this wonderful International Harvester truck, and I thought it would be fun to post a “then” and “now.”
Mae West Life Preserver: Countless Owe Lives to It
Most of the time, it’s the little things that count.
America As It Once Was: A Daily Gift
Author and historian David C. McCullough has said, “History is who we are and why we are the way we are.”
