Think carefully about the topic you select for your paper. Many students choose a topic related to our home, New York City. The topic you select should be something that interests you since you will be spending a lot of time with it. BUT, just because a subject interests you, it doesn't mean it's a good paper topic. There has to be material written about your topic that you can find and understand. If there isn't, it's NOT a good topic and you'll wind up frustrated. What are good sources for a paper? Here are some examples: books, encyclopedia articles, newspaper articles, and reputable websites. Be sure to explore the topics in this tab and in the other TOPICS tab above.
Louis Armstrong
Influential jazz musician, nicknamed "Satchmo."
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Graffiti-inspired artist and one-time Saint Ann's student.
Henry Ward Beecher
Anti-slavery activist and pastor of Plymouth Church when it was a stop on the Underground Railroad.
Nellie Bly
Investigative journalist who did lots of cool things, like report on a mental institution from within, and travel around the world in 72 days.
Shirley Chisholm
From Brooklyn, the first African American woman elected to Congress, and to run for president in a major political party.
Alexander Hamilton
Founding father whose amazing life story was the inspiration for the Broadway smash hit.
Jim Henson
Creator of the Muppets and Sesame Street.
Harry Houdini
Famous escape artist, illusionist, and stunt performer.
Langston Hughes
Poet and writer during the Harlem Renaissance.
Jacob Lawrence
Harlem-inspired artist who documented migration of African Americans from the South to the North.
Spike Lee
African American filmmaker, founder of 40 Acres and a Mule production company.
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Creator of Hamilton: An American Musical
Isamu Noguchi
Japanese American artist and architect, survivor of an internment camp.
Jacob Riis
Reporter and photographer who exposed NYC poverty through his images.
Jackie Robinson
First African American to play in Major League Baseball.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Twentieth-century diplomat, human rights activist, and First Lady of the US.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Longest-serving President of the US, brought country out of the Depression with The New Deal.
Theodore Roosevelt
Police commissioner of NYC, Governor of NY, President of the US, supported National Parks Service, teddy bear was named after him.
Babe Ruth
"The Bambino," one of the greatest baseball players of all time.
Susan McKinney Steward
First African American woman doctor in New York State.
Typhoid Mary
Irish-born cook who unknowingly infected dozens of people with typhoid fever in the first known outbreak in the US.
E.B. White
New Yorker writer and author of Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little.
Jacqueline Woodson
Brooklyn-based award-winning author of dozens of books for children and adults.
African Burial Ground
An estimated 20,000 free and enslaved Africans were buried in Lower Manhattan from the 1690s until 1794. This cemetery was only discovered in the 1990s and a memorial was established.
Central Park
Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux in the late 1850s, the park consists of 843 acres in the center of Manhattan.
Ebbets Field
Ballpark of the legendary Brooklyn Dodgers from 1912-1957.
Ellis Island
From 1892 to 1924 it was America's largest and most active immigration station. Over 12 million immigrants were processed there.
Governor's Island
A 172-acre island 800 yards of the shore of Lower Manhattan.
Green-Wood Cemetery
Four-hundred seventy-eight acres in Brooklyn filled with history, nature, and famous dead people (like Jean Michel Basquiat, Mae West, and Leonard Bernstein).
Lower East Side
At the turn of the 20th century this area was home to many recent immigrants (mostly Jewish) and packed with tenements, factories, and docklands.
Rikers Island
Small island in the East River, it has NYC's largest jail complex. After years of criticism, there is a plan to shut it down.
Seneca Village
The first community in the city founded by free Black Americans, in what is now Central Park.
Brooklyn Bridge
Completed in 1883, it was known as "the eighth wonder of the world."
Carnegie Hall
How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice!
Chrysler Building
Perhaps the world's most famous skyscraper.
The Dakota
Built in 1884, many famous people have lived here (including John Lennon and Judy Garland).
Empire State Building
Or is this the world's most famous skyscraper?
Grand Central Station
Transportation hub and architectural landmark.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Largest art museum in the US.
New York Public Library
Two-and-a-half million volumes and two very famous lions.
Rockefeller Center
Twenty-two acres of buildings, an ice-skating rink, and sometimes a Christmas tree.
Statue of Liberty
Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.
World Trade Center
It's more than just the famous Twin Towers that were destroyed in 2001. There are seven buildings in the complex!