First published 2024
Sharon McMahon turns her attention to the overlooked figures who built America's character. The government teacher and researcher moves past presidents and aristocrats to focus on telephone operators, schoolteachers, and other ordinary citizens whose courage changed history. McMahon presents twelve Americans through careful research, revealing stories that textbooks missed. Her subjects include a woman riding a white horse down Pennsylvania Avenue, a young boy held at a Japanese incarceration camp, a formerly enslaved woman searching for her daughter, a poet traveling by train, and a teacher who learns to collaborate with former enemies. Explosions occur, fortunes are made and lost, and some characters gain wealth that extends beyond money. McMahon argues these improbable champions represent the true foundation of American greatness, offering readers both historical insight and inspiration for creating a more just world.
Genres: biography, historical-fiction, 20th-century, american, 21st-century, american-history
Vibes: inspirational, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, underdog
Setting: Pennsylvania Avenue
Period: 19th-Century, 20th-Century
307 pages · Hardcover · Thesis