My Entry to the Smithsonian: An Exhibit on American Greatness

June 03, 2026

My Entry to the Smithsonian: An Exhibit on American Greatness

(Though much of what I post on A Rabbit's Stories is fictional, these are all real stories. This is a work of Non-fiction.)

America is full of heavy hitters who have stepped up to the plate and knocked it out of the park, so to speak. Despite an endless list of those greats, there needs to be a standard, a way to determine who was, or is, great. Let’s argue a hero is someone who has overcome adversity. They must have taken up the fight against humanity or god and have left a legacy.

I submit these men and women for your scrutiny and consideration for an exhibit on American Greatness:

John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) A man of politics, he served as a diplomat, Senator, Secretary of State, the Sixth President of the United States, and a member of the House of Representatives(1). He assertively led the United States to greatness and garnered respect for his nation at home and abroad. After seeing the horrendous treatment of Dorcas, Mary, and Margaret Allen on the slave block near his home, he resolved to stand more firmly against slavery. In 1837, Nathan Allen, a freed Black man, raised $175 (~$4,500 in today’s money(2)) to save Allen’s wife, Dorcas, and their daughters. $50 of the $175 was attributed to John Quincy Adams. Two years later, the Supreme Court heard arguments against a Mende man, Singbe Pieh, and several other Africans who had fought for their freedom aboard the slave ship Amistad. During the case, Singbe Pieh proved the humanity of himself and the others imprisoned with help from several abolitionists, John Quincy Adams, and Kaweli (aka James Covey). Kaweli was a freed Mende linguist and Royal Navy sailor who had been kidnapped and enslaved himself(3,4,5,6). After Singbe Pieh and the other Africans were released, they earned money and eventually paid for their trip home. The case was only one of many confrontations between Abolitionists and a government built on the backs of Black men, women, and children.

Helen Hunt Jackson (1830-1885) A woman of great sorrow, she demonstrated the American spirit perfectly. After having lost her mother, father, first husband, an infant, and a nine year old son, she dealt with her own illnesses. After hearing Ponca Chief Manchú-Nanzhín (aka Standing Bear) speak in 1879, she penned A Century of Dishonor, which contains military documents and first hand accounts of the Delaware, Cheyenne, Nez Perce, Sioux, Poncas, Winnebagoe, and Cherokee(7,8,9,10). Manchú-Nanzhín was a chief of the Ponca people who lived between the Niobrara and Missouri rivers. Due to the Second Treaty of Fort Laramie, what was left of their land was given away to the Sioux people. The U.S. Department of the Interior then forced the Ponca peoples to march to the Indian Territory in Oklahoma. This led to the immediate death of Manchú-Nanzhín’s daughter Prairie Flower and nine other Ponca. During the first winter, his teenage son Bear Shield and several others died because of a lack of food and shelter. When Manchú-Nanzhín and thirty others attempted to return to their land, they were arrested in Nebraska and held at Fort Omaha. In early 1879, Manchú-Nanzhín’s case United States, ex rel. Standing Bear v. George Crook, went to court. After being able to speak for himself through his translator Inshata Theumba (aka Bright Eyes) of the Omaha tribe, the court declared that an indigenous person, or “Indian”, was a person and had Habeas Corpus rights, including that they not be detained without reasonable cause. The thirty other Ponca members were released from Fort Omaha(11,12).

Jane Addams (1860-1935) A woman of education and modest wealth, she lived out Christianity among the paupers of society(13). In 1889, she and Ellen Gates Starr opened the Hull-House Settlement in Chicago’s Nineteenth Ward. Though originally meant to provide an employment office, training for crafting and domestic skills, and daycare, Hull-House eventually offered English classes, education, and hygiene services as well(14). The densely populated Nineteenth was filthy. Manufacturers dumped their waste in the unpaved streets and neighboring Chicago River. Because of bad plumbing and contaminated water, Typhoid Fever, fatal diseases, and sicknesses ran rampant through the overcrowded tenements of immigrants and low-wage workers(15). In the factories, workers also faced hazardous conditions—from toxic fumes and exposed dangerous machinery as shown in Jacob Riis’s 1890 How the Other Half Lives on tenements in New York(16) to fire hazards like those that led to New York’s Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911 that killed 146 people, mostly young immigrant girls and women who were unable to escape the inferno because of locked doors(17). Impoverished and immigrant workers were generally overlooked by society and blamed for their perceived shortcomings despite their lack of access to education, childcare, or even livable conditions. Through sanitation, housing, and labor reform, children were freed from oppressive, dangerous work while adults were given a right to clean, safe communities and workspaces(18).

Bob Fletcher (1911-2013) A man of morals, he became a farmer in Florin, California during WWII when his neighbors were incarcerated. The town had been known for its innovative method of growing strawberries by growing the plant between rows of grapevines. It was a technique pioneered by Japanese-Americans and led to the success of the farming town. Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japanese immigrants and Americans of Japanese descent were labeled enemies and suffered increased racism and ridicule. Theodor Geisel, a cartoonist, inflamed the degenerative dialogue with an illustration of Japanese-Americans standing along the west coast holding dynamite with the caption “Waiting for the Signal”. There was never a formal apology for the racist cartoon. The Tsukamotos, Okamotos, and Nittas, who lived in Florin, asked their neighbor Bob Fletcher to care for their land while they were incarcerated along with roughly 120,000 Japanese immigrants and Americans of Japanese descent in 1942. He farmed the land in order to help them pay the still required mortgage and taxes. If the payments stopped, the law would consider the properties abandoned and thus reposeable by California banks or the state. From 1942 to 1945, Bob Fletcher faced harassment and being shot at. The Japanese-Americans, many of whom lost their homes and livelihoods, were imprisoned in camps like Fort Bliss which was located in the Chihuahuan Desert of Texas and also housed German and Italian immigrants. It was not until 1945, three years after being interned, that the internment was cancelled and the Tsukamotos, Okamotos, and Nittas were allowed to return to their homes and farms(19).

Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde (1959- ) A woman of Faith, she bravely spoke before man and god on January 24th, 2025. In her sermon, she called upon Americans to achieve greatness by living up to the ideals and dreams of America through sacrifice. Even before the founding of the United States, the Declaration of Independence enshrined exceptionalism in that “all men are created equal” and were entitled to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”(20). Being subjected to discrimination is contrary to the very fabric and founding of America. Homelessness and discrimination continues to plague members of the LGBTQI+ community, especially among teenagers(21,22). For the trans community in particular, violence and murder are strikingly high with Black transgender women suffering most(23). A second group highly impacted by hatred and forced to live in fear are Hispanics and Immigrants of color. Raids on work spaces and homes have swept up both citizens and legal residence, some of whom were violently arrested by masked men and detained without a lawyer or court case(24,25,26). The Bill of Rights in the Constitution states that all within the geopolitical border of the United States of America are guaranteed the right to a speedy jury trial with legal counsel, cannot be detained without due cause, and are free from cruel and unusual punishment(27).

As Bishop Budde has said, “But for some, the loss of their hopes and dreams will be far more than political defeat, but instead a loss of equality, dignity, and livelihood…With a commitment to unity that incorporates diversity and transcends disagreement, and the solid foundations of dignity, honesty, and humility that such unity requires, we can do our part, in our time, to help realize the ideals and the dream of America… I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now.”(28)

References-

1 https://www.whitehousehistory.org/bios/john-quincy-adams

2 As of 9/22/2025- https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/1800?amount=175

3 https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-enslaved-household-of-john-quincy-adams

4 https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Cinque

5 https://www.history.co.uk/articles/james-covey-the-african-sailor-who-helped-the-amistad-captives-win-freedom

6 https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/amistad

7 https://www.cogreatwomen.org/project/helen-hunt-jackson/

8 https://www.nps.gov/places/sand-creek-massacre-national-historic-site.htm

9 https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/indian-removal-act/

10 https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/a-century-of-dishonor-by-helen-hunt-jackson.htm

11 https://www.britannica.com/biography/Standing-Bear