Memorable Americans:
Hanover College Students, 2004-2018

 

First Question

The following are the names that Hanover students have supplied on being asked to name the first ten people who come to mind for American history through the Civil War. The list is organized with the most often cited names first. Seventeen classes (composed mostly of first-year students) have taken this survey since Fall 2004, for a total of 205 students.  This year, 16 students took the survey. The numbers in parentheses represent the number of students (out of this year's 16 and out of the total 205) who include that name on their list.



Lincoln, Abraham (15 of 16; 165 of 205)
Washington, George (14 of 16; 158 of 205)

Franklin, Benjamin (10 of 16; 107 of 205)
Jefferson, Thomas (9 of 16; 106 of 205)

Adams, John (11 of 16; 74 of 205)

Grant, Ulysses S. (1 of 16; 58 of 205)
Lee, Robert E. (5 of 16; 55 of 205)

Hancock, John (1 of 16; 45 of 205)

Tubman, Harriet (4 of 16; 35 of 205)
Columbus, Christopher (3 of 16; 29 of 205)
Madison, James (3 of 16; 24 of 205)
Revere, Paul (3 of 16; 23 of 205)

Smith, John (2 of 16; 20 of 205)
Jackson, Stonewall (2 of 16; 19 of 205)
Booth, John Wilkes ( of 16; 18 of 205)
Jackson, Andrew (3 of 16; 18 of 205)
Hamilton, Alexander (5 of 16; 16 of 205)
Douglass, Frederick ( of 16; 14 of 205)

Adams, Sam (1 of 16; 12 of 205)
Lewis & Clark (1 of 16; 12 of 205)
Adams, John Quincy (1 of 16; 11 of 205)
Adams, Abigail ( of 16; 10 of 205)
Pocahontas (1 of 16; 9 of 205)

Arnold, Benedict ( of 16; 7 of 205)
Sacagawea (2 of 16; 7 of 205)
Davis, Jefferson (2 of 16; 7 of 205)
Paine, Thomas ( of 16; 6 of 205)
Washington, Martha ( of 16; 6 of 205)
Sojourner Truth ( of 16; 5 of 205)
Boone, Daniel (1 of 16; 5 of 205)
George III (of England) (2 of 16; 5 of 205)
Clark (no first name) (2 of 16; 5 of 205)
Lewis (no first name) (2 of 16; 5 of 205)

Four of 205 students included the following:
Adams, no first name
Jackson (no first name)
Shays, Daniel
Sherman, W. T.
Burr, Aaron (3 of 16)

Three of 205 students included the following:
Ross, Betsy
Stowe, Harriett Beecher
Clay, Henry
Henry, Patrick
Jay, John
Lewis, Meriwether (see also Lewis & Clark)
Lincoln, Mary Todd
Taylor, Zachary

Two of 205 students included the following:
Anthony, Susan B.
Buchanan, James
Crockett, Davy
Custer, George Armstrong
Dickinson, Emily
Graham, no first name
Hayes, Rutherford B. 
Johnson, Andrew
Polk, James
Whitney, Eli
Tecumseh (1 of 16)

One of 205 students included the following:
Adams, James 
Allcott, Louisa May 
Attucks, Crispus 
Barton, Clara 
Bibb, Henry 
Bradford, James 
Burnside, Ambrose 
Calhoun, John C. 
Chamberlain, Joshua 
Clark, George Rogers 
Cornwallis, Charles 
Early, Jubal 
Emerson, Ralph Waldo 
Fillmore, Millard 
Harrison, Benjamin (1 of 16)
Hatfield, Anderson 
Howe, William 
James, Jesse 
Keckly, Elizabeth? [Heckley, Elizabeth] 
Kenton, Simon 
Key, Francis Scott 
LaFayette, Marquis de 
Lee, Henry 
Madison, Dolly 
McCoy, Randall 
Meade, George 
Monroe, James 
Monroe, John (1 of 16)
Penn, William
Poe, Edgar Allen
Powhatan
Rolfe, John
Sherman, George
Squanto
Stanton, Elizabeth Cady
Thoreau, Henry David
Vanderbilt family
Wheatley, Phillis



Fifteen students (1 of 16) listed Thomas Edison, who doesn't fit the time limits.

Topics, groups, events, or objects (instead of people) were listed eleven times.

Ten students (1 of 16) listed Theodore Roosevelt, who doesn't fit the time limits.

Six students listed Martin Luther King, Jr., who doesn't fit the time limit.

Five students listed Henry Ford, who doesn't fit the time limits.

One to four students listed the following people who don't fit the geographical or time limits: 
Jane Addams, Alexander Graham Bell, George W. Bush, Rhett Butler, Jimmy Carter, Jon Carter , George Washington Carver, Bill Clinton, Leonardo Da Vinci, Walt Disney, Robert Douglas, Albert Einstein, Dwight Eisenhower, Elizabeth (no last name), Friedreckson (no first name), John Henry, Samuel Jackson, Sarah Orne Jewett, John (no last name), Helen Keller, John F. Kennedy, King Henry VIII, John Locke, Ferdinand Magellan, Malcolm X, Thurgood Marshall, William McKinley, Margaret Mitchell, Napoleon, Florence Nightingale, Richard Nixon, Barack Obama, Scarlett O'Hara, Lee Harvey Oswold, Mr. & Mrs. Albert Parker, Rosa Parks, Alice Paul, Ronald Reagan, Jackie Robinson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Roosevelt (no first name), Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Col. Harlan Sanders, Margaret Sanger, John Taylor, Amerigo Vespucci, Betsy White, Woodrow Wilson



Second Question

The following are the names that Hanover students have supplied on being asked the follow-up question, "What are the first ten names that come to mind, if you exclude presidents, generals, statesmen, or other figures in official public life?" The list is organized with the most often cited names first.  Seventeen classes (composed mostly of first-year students) have taken this survey since Fall 2004, for a total of 205 students. This year, 16 students took the survey. The numbers in parentheses represent the number of students (out of this year's 16 and out of the total 205) who include that name on their list.


Tubman, Harriet (2 of 16; 40 of 205)

Booth, John Wilkes (18 of 205)
Columbus, Christopher (1 of 16; 17 of 205)
Lewis & Clark (15 of 205)
Smith, John (14 of 205)
Sacagewea (2 of 16; 13 of 205)

Douglass, Frederick (11 of 205)
Revere, Paul (1 of 16; 10 of 205)
Ross, Betsy (1 of 16; 10 of 205)

Adams, Abigail (1 of 16; 8 of 205)
Franklin, Benjamin (8 of 205)
Pocahontas (8 of 205)
Washington, Martha (8 of 205)
Paine, Thomas (1 of 16; 7 of 205)

Barton, Clara (4 of 205)
Clark, George Rogers (4 of 205)
Dickinson, Emily (4 of 205)
Lincoln, Mary Todd (1 of 16; 4 of 205)
Stowe, Harriet Beecher (4 of 205)
Squanto (1 of 16; 4 of 205)
Crockett, Davy (3 of 205)
Scott, Dred (3 of 205)

Two of 205 students included the following:
Attucks, Crispus
Bell, Alexander Graham
Boone, Daniel
Lewis, Meriwether (see also Lewis & Clark)
Pitcher, Molly
Powhatan
James, Jesse (1 of 16)
Tecumseh (1 of 16)
Truth, Sojourner
Twain, Mark

One of 205 students included the following:
Alcott, Louisa May
Anthony, Susan B.
Arnold, Benedict
Bowie, Jim
Brown, John
Cornwallis, Gen.
Dare, Virginia
Edmonds, Sarah
Emerson, Ralph Waldo
Hamilton, Eliza Schuyler
Hawthorne, Nathanial
Hatfield, Anderson
Hemmings, Sally
Kenton, Simon
Key, Francis Scott
Madison, Dolly
McCoy, Randall
Northup, Solomon
Osceola
Penn, William
Poe, Edgar Allen
Sitting Bull
Stanton, Elizabeth Cady
Stewart (no first name)
Tecumseh
Thoreau, Henry David
Underground railroad woman
Vanderbilt family
Velaquez, Loretta
Wade, Jenny
Wheatley, Phillis
Whitney, Eli



Six students listed Thomas Edison (who does not fit the time limits).

Four students listed Henry Ford (who does not fit the time limits).

Three students listed topics, groups, events, or objects (instead of people).

Three students listed Martin Luther King, Jr. (who does not fit the time limits).

One or two students listed the following people who don't fit the occupational, geographical, or time limits:

Jane Addams, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Calamity Jane (Canary), George Washington Carver, Willa Cather, Joshua Chamberlain, Crazy Horse, Jim Crowe, Madame Curie, Walt Disney, Albert Einstein, Anne Frank, Betty Friedan, student's grandparents, John Hancock, Doc Holiday, Rose Hulman, Zora Neale Hurston, Thomas Jefferson, Sarah Orne Jewett, John (no last name), Helen Keller, Martin Luther King, Jr., John Locke, James Madison, Billy the Kid (McCarty), Michelangelo, Margaret Mitchell, Marilyn Monroe, Florence Nightingale, Scarlett O'Hara, Lee Harvey Oswald, Rosa Parks, Alice Paul, Tom Petty, Pablo Picasso, John Procter, John D. Rockefeller, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Babe Ruth, Margaret Sanger, Upton Sinclair, Ida Tarbell, Amerigo Vespucci, Madame C.J. Walker, Booker T. Washington, Watson & Crick, Ida B. Wells, Betsy White, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Wright Brothers


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