Notable Americans — Answer Key
Part A: Fill in the Blank
Write the missing word or number on each line.
1. Sojourner Truth delivered the famous speech Ain't I a Woman in 1851.
Truth advocated for both abolition and women's rights through powerful speeches.
2. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote the antislavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Stowe's novel turned many Northerners against slavery before the Civil War.
3. Jonas Salk developed the first effective vaccine against polio in 1955.
Salk's vaccine ended widespread polio epidemics and saved countless children.
4. Dorothea Dix campaigned to improve treatment for the mentally ill.
Dix established humane hospitals and reformed prisons across many states.
5. John Muir helped create Yosemite National Park and founded the Sierra Club.
Muir's writings convinced presidents to protect America's wilderness areas.
6. Cesar Chavez led the United Farm Workers union for migrant laborers.
Chavez used boycotts and fasts to win better wages and conditions.
7. Marian Anderson was a famous opera singer who broke racial barriers in music.
Her concert drew 75,000 people and challenged segregation in the arts.
8. Sojourner Truth was born into slavery in New York before gaining freedom.
Her firsthand experience gave power and authority to her abolitionist speeches.
9. Jonas Salk refused to patent his polio vaccine, sharing it freely with the world.
Salk wanted the vaccine accessible to everyone, not just the wealthy.
Part B: Matching
Match each item on the left to the correct answer on the right.
1. Match each item to its correct answer.
Sojourner Truth
→ Spoke for abolition and women's rights
Spoke for abolition and women's rights
Harriet Beecher Stowe
→ Wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin novel
Wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin novel
Jonas Salk
→ Created the polio vaccine in 1955
Created the polio vaccine in 1955
John Muir
→ Protected Yosemite and wilderness areas
Protected Yosemite and wilderness areas
Connecting people to achievements helps us remember why these Americans mattered.