Ten Most Famous Americans: What, GW's not included?
Greg Toppo,"High schoolers name women, black Americans 'most famous'," USA Today, 4 February, reports the results of a survey of 2,000 high school juniors and seniors to name the 10 most famous people in American history. Their top 10 and the percentage of students who included each person on their list:
Read entire article at Ralph Luker at HNN blog, Cliopatria
1. Martin Luther King Jr.: 67%
2. Rosa Parks: 60%
3. Harriet Tubman: 44%
4. Susan B. Anthony: 34%
5. Benjamin Franklin: 29%
6. Amelia Earhart: 25%
7. Oprah Winfrey: 22%
8. Marilyn Monroe: 19%
9. Thomas Edison: 18%
10. Albert Einstein: 16%
Our colleague, Sam Wineburg, is quoted in the article and helps to interpret what this means. Still, Marilyn Monroe and no George Washington? Thomas Edison and no Abraham Lincoln? Rosa Parks and no Frederick Douglass? Oprah Winfrey and no Jane Addams?