This collection for children tells the stories of 16 African Americans who helped make America what it is today. African Americans can take pride in the heritage of these contributors to society. Biographies are given for the following: (1) Sojourner Truth, preacher and abolitionist; (2) Frederick Douglass, abolitionist; (3) Harriet Tubman, leader in helping slaves escape; (4) Ida B. Wells-Barnett, journalist; (5) Mary McLeod Bethune, educator; (6) Booker T. Washington, educator and founder of Tuskegee Institute; (7) W. E. B. Du Bois, scholar and advocate of black rights; (8) George Washington Carver, botanist; (9) Jackie Robinson, baseball star; (10) Thurgood Marshall, Supreme Court Justice; (11) Shirley Chisholm, Congresswoman; (12) Martin Luther King, Jr., civil rights leader; (13) Malcolm X, black rights leader; (14) Marian Wright Edelman, child advocate; (15) Jesse Jackson, civil rights leader; and (16) Maya Angelou, author and poet. Questions and activities for further learning and guidelines for teachers are included. (SLD)