Famous Americans: A Directory of Museums, Historic Sites, and Memorials

by Victor J. Danilov

Overview

People who are considered “famous” can be found in many different fields. This book describes 472 museums, historic sites, and memorials about 409 people in 26 categories:

Actors Explorers Playwrights
Architects First Ladies Poets
Artists/Sculptors Frontiersmen Presidents
Athletes Journalists/Publishers Public Officials/
Author/Writers Medical Innovators Political Figures
Aviators/Astronauts Military Figures Religious Leaders
Business/Industrial/Financial Musicians/Singers/ Scientists/Engineers/
Figures Composers Inventors
Educators Outlaws Social Activists
Entertainers Patriotic Figures Socialites


They include such people as Clark Gable, Judy Garland, Georgia O’Keeffe, Norman Rockwell, Ernest Hemingway, Edgar Allan Poe, Sinclair Lewis, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Will Rogers, Daniel Boone, Buffalo Bill Cody, William Randolph Hearst, Douglas MacArthur, Robert E. Lee, Louis Armstrong, Elvis Presley, Betsy Ross, Carl Sandburg, Jesse James, Benjamin Franklin, Daniel Webster, Billy Graham, Martin Luther King, Jr., Jane Addams, Frederick Douglass, Doris Duke, Helen Keller, Wilbur and Orville Wright, and all the Presidents, including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Among the sites of the museums and other tributes are such places as the Katharine Hepburn Museum, Thomas Hart Benton Home and Studio, Babe Ruth Museum, Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House, Mark Twain House and Museum, Charles A. Lindberg Historic Site, Lincoln Memorial, Morgan Library and Museum, Kit Carson Home and Museum, Clara Barton National Historic Site, Stonewall Jackson’s Home, Marian Anderson Residence/Museum and Birthplace, Stephen Foster Memorial Museum, Tennessee Williams Birthplace/Home, Mount Vernon: George Washington’s Estate and Gardens, Roger Williams National Memorial, Rachel Carson Homestead, Rosa Parks Library and Museum, and Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum.

In addition to the chapters and directory, the book includes a geographical guide to the sites, selected bibliography, index, and 29 photographs.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780810891852
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	09/26/2013
Pages:	456
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.10(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Victor J. Danilov is the president emeritus and retired director of the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, founder and director of the Museum Management Program at the University of Colorado, and the author of 27 books (including 17 on museums).

Table of Contents

Preface
Overview
Directory of Museums, Historic Sites, and Memorials of the “Famous”
Actors
Architects
Artists/Writers
Athelets
Authors/Sculptors
Aviators/Astronauts
Business/Industrial/Financial Figures
Educators
Entertainers
Explorers
First Ladies
Frontiersmen
Journalists/Publishers
Medical Innovators
Military Figures
Musicians/Singers/Composers
Outlaws
Patriotic Figures
Playwrights
Poets
Presidents
Public Officials/Political Figures
Religious Leaders
Scientists/Engineers/Inventors
Social Activists
Socialites
Geographical Guide to “Famous” Sites
Selected Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

This well-written directory showcases the places where visitors can be entertained and educated about the lives, accomplishments, failures, impact, and historical contributions of over 407 Americans and 9 European poets and writers with ties to the United States. The book features museums, historical sites and homesteads, and memorials in 48 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The biographical essays are divided into 26 categories from Actors to Socialites, with Presidents being the largest category, and President Lincoln being honored with the most sites (21). Each biography contains pertinent contact information, hours of operation, admission fees, e-mail and street addresses, and average attendance numbers. A geographical guide follows these categories to facilitate finding sites by location. In addition to literature and government, the famous people featured in this book have affected many fields such as the arts, religion, civil rights, medicine, sports, and industry, just to name a few. Their tributes help researchers and general readers have a better understanding of our nation's history and its role in the world.A selected bibliography of 32 reference sources is included on page 405, and an index begins on page 407. Danilov's directory would be a valuable addition to public, community college, and academic library reference collections.

American Reference Books Annual

This 2013 directory of noteworthy American cultural sites does double duty as an encyclopedia containing brief descriptions of the lives and ‘accomplishments of 409 ‘famous’ people memorialized in museums, historic sites and memorials’.. . .The entries. .. are informative and provide useful context for each site.. . .The book provides a nice. .. road map of American history through the lives and legacies of the “famous”.. .. In museums and historic sites, these American stories are curated in physical space, be it Brigham Young’s house in St. George, Utah or Walt Disney’s Carolwood Barn in LA, and these spaces provide a sort of interactive map of history. This compilation of these sites is enormously useful and certainly interesting.

Reference Reviews

Danilov has previously written nearly 30 books, many of which focus on museums. The introduction to Famous Americans discusses the development and preservation of sites that honor famous and some infamous persons, and offers historical overviews of categories of fame. The directory lists 472 museums, historic sites, and memorials honoring 409 persons. Though the coverage is overwhelmingly American, some non-Americans, e.g., Pancho Villa and Winston Churchill, are included. The entries are organized into 26 categories ranging from 'Actors' through 'Socialites.' Each entry includes historical detail on the person, the site, attendance, location, contact information (address, phone, fax, e-mail and website), hours of operation, and fees. Persons noted for fame in multiple areas have see references. Included are scattered black-and-white photos, a geographical guide to sites, a one-page bibliography, and an index of persons, sites, movements, and events. History buffs, vacationers, and beginning researchers all will find this directory useful. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-level undergraduates; general readers.

Choice Reviews

This listing of locales dedicated to honoring famous American actors, authors, entertainers, presidents, social activists, and more canvasses; 472 museums, historic sites, and memorials of 407 important personages from across the country. Each entry contains pertinent biographical material, descriptions of housing institutions, contact information, hours of operation, and admission prices. As with any volume of this type, the quandaries that will lead to much head-scratching are those institutions not making the cut. But none can argue that every institution listed is deserving of inclusion, whether the J. P. Morgan Library and Museum, in New York City, or the Paul W. Bryant Museum, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. This volume will be great in assisting history buffs and literature readers in making travel plans, and it is recommended for public libraries.

Booklist

Danilov has previously written nearly 30 books, many of which focus on museums. The introduction to Famous Americans discusses the development and preservation of sites that honor famous and some infamous persons, and offers historical overviews of categories of fame. The directory lists 472 museums, historic sites, and memorials honoring 409 persons. Though the coverage is overwhelmingly American, some non-Americans, e.g., Pancho Villa and Winston Churchill, are included. The entries are organized into 26 categories ranging from 'Actors' through 'Socialites.' Each entry includes historical detail on the person, the site, attendance, location, contact information (address, phone, fax, e-mail and website), hours of operation, and fees. Persons noted for fame in multiple areas have see references. Included are scattered black-and-white photos, a geographical guide to sites, a one-page bibliography, and an index of persons, sites, movements, and events. History buffs, vacationers, and beginning researchers all will find this directory useful. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-level undergraduates; general readers.

Choice

This 2013 directory of noteworthy American cultural sites does double duty as an encyclopedia containing brief descriptions of the lives and ‘accomplishments of 409 ‘famous’ people memorialized in museums, historic sites and memorials’. . . .The entries . . . are informative and provide useful context for each site. . . .The book provides a nice . . . road map of American history through the lives and legacies of the “famous”. . . . In museums and historic sites, these American stories are curated in physical space, be it Brigham Young’s house in St. George, Utah or Walt Disney’s Carolwood Barn in LA, and these spaces provide a sort of interactive map of history. This compilation of these sites is enormously useful and certainly interesting.

s

Danilov has previously written nearly 30 books, many of which focus on museums. The introduction to Famous Americans discusses the development and preservation of sites that honor famous and some infamous persons, and offers historical overviews of categories of fame. The directory lists 472 museums, historic sites, and memorials honoring 409 persons. Though the coverage is overwhelmingly American, some non-Americans, e.g., Pancho Villa and Winston Churchill, are included. The entries are organized into 26 categories ranging from 'Actors' through 'Socialites.' Each entry includes historical detail on the person, the site, attendance, location, contact information (address, phone, fax, e-mail and website), hours of operation, and fees. Persons noted for fame in multiple areas have see references. Included are scattered black-and-white photos, a geographical guide to sites, a one-page bibliography, and an index of persons, sites, movements, and events. History buffs, vacationers, and beginning researchers all will find this directory useful. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-level undergraduates; general readers.

CHOICE

This listing of locales dedicated to honoring famous American actors, authors, entertainers, presidents, social activists, and more canvasses; 472 museums, historic sites, and memorials of 407 important personages from across the country. Each entry contains pertinent biographical material, descriptions of housing institutions, contact information, hours of operation, and admission prices. As with any volume of this type, the quandaries that will lead to much head-scratching are those institutions not making the cut. But none can argue that every institution listed is deserving of inclusion, whether the J. P. Morgan Library and Museum, in New York City, or the Paul W. Bryant Museum, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. This volume will be great in assisting history buffs and literature readers in making travel plans, and it is recommended for public libraries.

Booklist

This 2013 directory of noteworthy American cultural sites does double duty as an encyclopedia containing brief descriptions of the lives and ‘accomplishments of 409 ‘famous’ people memorialized in museums, historic sites and memorials’. . . .The entries . . . are informative and provide useful context for each site. . . .The book provides a nice . . . road map of American history through the lives and legacies of the “famous”. . . . In museums and historic sites, these American stories are curated in physical space, be it Brigham Young’s house in St. George, Utah or Walt Disney’s Carolwood Barn in LA, and these spaces provide a sort of interactive map of history. This compilation of these sites is enormously useful and certainly interesting.

"American Reference Books Annual"