Biographies

See also: African American Biographies

Web Sites

These biography sites and collections should provide you with ideas for doing your next biographical research project.

• Academy of American Poets
  You can find a poet (or a poem) on this website. Biographies of major contemporary poets
• Achiever Gallery
  From the Academy of Achievement. Biographies of "extraordinary individuals who have shaped the twentieth century".
• African American Women Writers of the 19th Century
  This Digital Library project from the New York Public Library includes a digital collection of some 52 published works by 19th-century black women writers.
• BBC Radio: Great Lives
  Matthew Parris presents the biographical series in which his guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.
• Biography.com
  Over 25,000 brief entries from the Crystal Reference 2004, Courtesy of A&E Television Networks.
• Canadian Poets
  A collection put together by the University of Toronto English library with information on Biography, Poems, Writing Philosophy, Published Works, and Other Information.
• Conversations with History
  Learn about contemporary newsmakers throughout the world in these personal interviews by the Institute of International Studies at the University of California at Berkeley. View Interviews by Guest Name.
• Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
  A government website that contains over 3,000 biographies of New Zealanders who have 'made their mark' on this country but does not include people who are alive. It is directed particularly towards the New Zealand schools.
• Eric Weisstein's World of Scientific Biography
  very brief interlinked notations on huge number of scientists
• Famous Canadians
  This collection of links to Canadian biographies is from the Community Learning Network.
• First Ladies of the United States
  Information from the White House on all the Presidents' wives.
• Galileo Project: Catalog of the Scientific Community in the 16th and 17th Centuries
  This catalog is a collection of 631 detailed biographies on members of the scientific community during the 16th and 17th centuries with vital facts about each individual and their contributions to science.
• GLBTQ.com: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Encyclopedia
  This encyclopedia has biographical information on many historically important figures in the Arts and Literature.
• Great Canadian Scientists
  A project from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia.
• InfoPlease Almanac: Biography
  Browse alphabetically or by category.
• Internet Movie Database Advanced Name Search
  search the Internet Movie Database for information on anyone in the movies: Movie Actors, Actresses, Directors, Crews
• Inventor of the Week
  A weekly profile of an inventor, with information about his or her education and what he/she invented from the Lemelson-MIT Program.
• Inventors Hall of Fame
  Online biographies of many famous inventors in America from the Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio. You can browse an alphabetical list.
• Library and Archives Canada: Biography and People
  Biographical information about many Canadians from the National Library of Canada.
• Mathematicians
  Over 1100 biographies from the School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, Scotland.
• National Women's Hall of Fame
  Located in Senaca Halls, New York, the National Women's Hall of Fame provides an extensive online collection of biographies of notable women.
• The Nobel Prize
  Information on the Nobel Prize winners in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, peace and economics.
• "The Revolutionaries: On Turning Inspiration into Innovation in Silicon Valley."
  From The Tech Museum of Innovation and San Jose Mercury News. A new look at the inspiration behind more than 18 of Silicon Valley's top technology and science pioneers - the innovators' early interests in science, guidance for young people excited by technology today, and thoughts on the future.
• Time Magazine: Time 100
  Each year, Time profiles 100 remarkable people

Individuals

• Pete Seeger
  In May, 2009, folk singer and songwritier Pete Seeger celebrated his 90th birthday.

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Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania

Directories

• Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania Biography
  The Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania Biography was published irregularly from 1914 to 1967 by the Lewis Publishing Company. The Penn State Digital Collection contains 1914-1923.
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Black History Month: Kids' Corner
  A series of short biographies on Black Americans for February 1998, including some Pittsburghers.
• Pennsylvania Governors
  Learn a little about all of Pennsylvania's governors at the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission website.

Pittsburghers

• Rachel Carson
  The ecologist whose 1962 book Silent Spring launched the modern environmental movement.
• Stephen Foster
  American's first composer of popular music was born in Lawrenceville.