Leonard Bernstein was a major force in twentieth century music. His exuberant and dramatic style caught the heart of America, bringing classical music to thousands of people from diverse backgrounds.
Delightfully quirky and compassionate in sensibility, Al Hirschfeld has immortalized the icons of American theater and film for the better part of the twentieth century.
Paul Robeson was an exceptional athlete, actor, singer, cultural scholar, author, and political activist. His talents made him a revered man of his time, yet his radical political beliefs all but erased him from popular history.
Robert Rauschenberg imagined himself first as a minister and later as a pharmacist. While in the U.S. Marines that he discovered his aptitude for drawing and his interest in the artistic representation of everyday objects and people.
She was a writer at a time when writers were celebrities and their recklessness was admired Lillian Hellman was a smoker, a drinker, a lover, and a fighter. Hellman maintained a social and political life as large and restless as her talent
Unlike the intellectualized mysteries of earlier detective novels, Hammett's less-than-glamorous realism transformed the genre into a serious response to the urban culture of the times.
With its concentration of theaters and publishing houses, New York became the center of the music world and at the center of New York was a small area called Tin Pan Alley where musicians would play their songs for publishers.
