Tagged Biography & Autobiography
At These Crossroads: The Legacies of Frederick Douglass and W.E.B. Du Bois
Like others of their generations, and ours, Frederick Douglass and W. E. B. Du Bois found themselves at the crossroads of belonging and not, of loving their nation and feeling rejected by it, of being both black and American. This…
George Packer | Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century
George Packer won the 2013 National Book Award for The Unwinding , a biographical examination of the seismic shifts in economics and politics over the past three decades that have brought the United States to the brink. A longtime New…
Lorene Cary | Ladysitting: My Year with Nana at the End of Her Century
“A powerful storyteller, frankly sensual [and] mortally funny" ( New York Times ), Lorene Cary is the author of the novels Pride , The Price of a Child , If Sons, Then Heirs , and the memoir Black Ice . A senior lecturer in…
Nicole Weisensee Egan | Chasing Cosby: The Downfall of America’s Dad
A 14-year veteran crime reporter for the Philadelphia Daily News , Nicole Weisensee Egan was the first journalist to delve into Andrea Constand’s 2005 sexual assault allegations against Bill Cosby. As other news organizations lost…
Melinda Gates | The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World
AUDITORIUM SOLD OUT; SIMULCAST SEATS AVAILABLE Couples Ticket Ranked by Forbes as the third most powerful woman in the world, Melinda Gates has been on a 20-year mission to solve some of the world’s most pressing…
Mark Bowden | The Last Stone: A Masterpiece of Criminal Interrogation
“One of the most intense, visceral” ( Philadelphia Inquirer ) writers of our time, Mark Bowden is a national correspondent for The Atlantic and Vanity Fair and is the author of numerous New York Times bestselling books of…
Janny Scott | The Beneficiary: Fortune, Misfortune, and the Story of My Father
Janny Scott, a 15-year reporter for The New York Times , was part of a team that won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting. She is also the author of the “meticulous” ( Washington Post ) biography A Singular Woman:…
Mary Norris | Greek to Me: Adventures of the Comma Queen
“A rollicking adventure into the origins of the apostrophe, the proliferation of profanity in American culture, and everything in between” ( San Francisco Chronicle ), Mary Norris’s bestselling Between You and Me:…
Patricia Marx and Roz Chast | Why Don't You Write My Eulogy Now So I Can Correct It?: A Mother's Suggestions
Couples Ticket A 30-year contributor to The New Yorker , Patricia Marx is the author of several books including Starting From Happy and Him Her Him Again the End of Him , both of which were Thurber Prize finalists. A former writer for…
Kwame Onwuachi | Notes from a Young Black Chef: A Memoir
A former Top Chef star, the executive chef at Washington D.C.’s popular Kith and Kin, and a Forbes and Zagat’s 30 Under 30 honoree, Kwame Onwuachi is one of America’s most acclaimed young culinary personalities.…
Richard Blanco | How to Love a Country: Poems
Richard Blanco made history four times at Barack Obama’s second presidential inauguration: He was the first immigrant, the first Latino, the youngest person, and the first openly gay person to be the U.S. inaugural poet. Exploring…
Dave Barry | Lessons from Lucy: The Simple Joys of an Old, Happy Dog
A 30-year writer at the Miami Herald whose column was syndicated in more than 500 newspapers, humorist Dave Barry won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1988. His more than 30 New York Times bestselling books include I’ll Mature…
Robert A. Caro | Working: Researching, Interviewing, Writing
In conversation with Dick Polman , "Writer in Residence" at the University of Pennsylvania, national political columnist at WHYY News and contributor to The Atlantic Standing at “the summit of American historical…
Valerie Jarrett | Finding My Voice: My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward
AUDITORIUM SOLD OUT. IN-HOUSE SIMULCAST TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE. Couples Ticket “The ultimate Obama insider” ( New York Times ), Valerie Jarrett was the longest serving advisor in the 44th President’s administration.…
Cecile Richards | Make Trouble: Stand Up, Speak Out, and Find the Courage to Lead—My Life Story
Couples Ticket In conversation with Tamala Edwards , anchor, 6ABC Action News morning edition A “heroine of the resistance” ( Vogue ), Cecile Richards was the president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the…
Albert Woodfox | Solitary: Unbroken by Four Decades in Solitary Confinement. My Story of Transformation and Hope
In conversation with award-winning journalist Tracey Matisak. Falsely accused and convicted of a 1972 robbery in which a white guard was killed, Albert Woodfox served more than four decades in solitary confinement in Louisiana’s…
Carolyn Forché | What You Have Heard Is True: A Memoir of Witness and Resistance
In conversation with Beth Kephart, the award-winning author of twenty-four books, including Going Over , Handling the Truth: On the Writing of Memoir , and Flow: The Life and Times of Philadelphia’s Schuylkill River . “An…
Lidia Bastianich | My American Dream: A Life of Love, Family, and Food
Couples Ticket Renowned chef and restaurateur Lidia Bastianich is the owner and co-owner of celebrated Italian restaurants in Manhattan, Pittsburgh, and Kansas City. The author of a baker’s dozen cookbooks, a judge on Masterchef…
Through this Lens: African American Photographers
This exhibition of books and other materials from the collections of the Art Department offers a look at the camera work of African American artists from the earliest days of photography to today. In addition to photographers like…
Pete Buttigieg | Shortest Way Home: One Mayor’s Challenge and a Model for America’s Future
In conversation with Tamala Edwards , anchor, 6ABC Action News morning edition The multifaceted, 36-year-old progressive mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg is a Rhodes Scholar and Harvard graduate. Nearly a decade ago he left…
Famous Asian Americans
Biographies and collective biographies on Asian Americans.
LGBTQ - Biographies and Autobiographies
Biographies and Autobiographies of important and influential members of LGBTQ community.
Memoirs and Reminiscences by African American Authors
Autobiographical selections.
Research in Context *
Discover reliable and trusted information on a variety of topics to support middle school student research for government, U.S and world history, geography, literature, sciences, and social issues. Research In Context offers…
LitFinder *
Discover literature content from more than 150,000 full-text poems, 840,000 poem citations and excerpts, 7,100 full-text short stories and novels, 3,800 full-text essays published in the 16th-20th centuries, 2,400 full-text speeches, and…
Literature Criticism Online
This extensive compilation of literary commentary represents a range of modern and historical views on authors and their works across regions, eras, and genres. Covers Children’s, Classical, Contemporary, Drama, Poetry, Shakespearean,…
Kids InfoBits *
Elementary students in kindergarten through grade five will find age-appropriate content covering a broad range of educational topics such as animals, arts, geography, health, literature, people, social studies, technology, etc. Kids…
Gale Literary Sources (formerly Artemis)
Cross-search all of Gale’s literature databases from a single digital space to find biographies, primary sources, contextual reference, and criticism. Includes Dictionary of Literary Biography, Something About the Author, LitFinder,…
Books & Authors *
Discover fiction and non-fiction books that match your interests! Books and Authors (powered by Gale's popular What Do I Read Next? series) is for readers from every level of reading proficiency and enables users to explore the endless…
Biography in Context
Comprehensive online biographical reference database in the areas of literature,science,multicultural studies,business,entertainment,politics,sports,government,history,arts and newsmakers from around the world and throughout history.