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Life in the 1800's for Women

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Lives of Women in the 1800s - Pride and Prejudice

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Jewish population estimated at 2,500 (.04 percent of total population)

First Ashkenazic synagogue in America, Rodeph Shalom (Pursuit of Peace), is established in Philadelphia

First American Jewish orphan care agency, the Hebrew Orphan Society, is incorporated in Charleston, South Carolina

Florida is purchased from Spain

The Savannah becomes the first steamship to cross the Atlantic

Isaac Leeser, later to become a leader of the traditional wing of American Jewry, arrives in the United States

Mordecai Manuel Noah founds Ararat, a Jewish city of refuge on Grand Island in the Niagara River near Buffalo, New York

Reformed Society of Israelites is established in Charleston

Construction of first railroad, Baltimore-Ohio, in the U.S.

Noah Webster publishes his American Dictionary of the English Language

Penina Moise's Fancy's Sketch Book, the first book by an American Jewish woman, is published in Charleston, South Carolina

Jews are accused of murdering a Franciscan friar in the Damascus (Syria) blood libel, an ancient slander alleging that Jews murder Christians to obtain blood for Passover or other ritual use

Jewish population reaches 15,000 (.09 percent of total population)

Abraham Rice, America's first ordained rabbi, emigrates from Bavaria.

First organized movement by American Jewry to protest Damascus blood libel

B'nai B'rith, a national Jewish fraternal organization, is organized in New York

The influential monthly periodical, The Occident and Jewish Advocate, edited by Isaac Leeser, appears

Isaac Mayer Wise, later a leader of the Reform wing of American Jewry, arrives in the United States

A mutual aid society for Jewish women, later known as the United Order of True Sisters, is founded in New York, with lodges in major cities. It becomes the first national Jewish women's organization

U.S.-Mexican War

Political upheaval in Central Europe

Influx of Jews from German lands, spurred by political unrest in central Europe

California Gold Rush begins

First women's rights convention in U.S. is held in Seneca Falls, New York

Washington Hebrew Congregation is established, the first synagogue in the District of Columbia

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe is published

Isaac Leeser publishes his translation of the Bible from the Hebrew into English

Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species by Natural Selection is published

In response to the Mortara Affair, the Board of Delegates of American Israelites, American Jewry's first national "defense" organization, is formed

Rabbi Morris Jacob Raphall becomes the first Jewish clergyman to deliver a prayer at the opening of a session of the House of Representatives

Jewish population: between 125,000200,000 (.40.63 percent of total population)

Serfs are emancipated in Russia

Judah P. Benjamin is appointed Secretary of State of the Confederacy

Jacob Frankel is appointed first Jewish chaplain in the United States Army

General Ulysses S. Grant issues General Order No. 11 expelling Jewish civilians from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi

Gettysburg Address

President Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation abolishing slavery

International Red Cross is founded in Geneva, Switzerland

Louis Pasteur invents pasteurization

Transatlantic cable is successfully laid

Abraham Lincoln is assassinated

Civil War ends

Karl Marx's Das Kapital is published

U.S. buys Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million

Suez Canal opens

Ghetto of Rome, established in 1555, is abolished

Franco-Prussian War begins

Joseph Seligman, a prominent New York banker, is barred as a Jew from registering at the Grand Union Hotel in Saratoga, New York, marking the growth of social anti-Semitism in America

New Hampshire grants Jews political equality

Thomas A. Edison invents the phonograph

Emile Berliner's invention of the microphone makes the telephone practical and radio possible

Pogroms (massacres often with government collusion) and anti-Jewish persecution in Russia after assassination of Czar Alexander II and the ascension of his successor, Czar Alexander III

The Hebrew Educational Aid Society, antecedent of the Educational Alliance is founded on the Lower East Side to assist Eastern European Jewish immigrants

Social worker Lillian Wald founds Henry Street Settlement on New York's Lower East Side

The American Jewess is published, the first English language periodical for American Jewish women

First modern Olympic games (Athens)

Theodore Herzl publishes The Jewish State

Supreme Court, in Plessy v. Ferguson, issues ruling that "separate but equal" facilities for whites and blacks are constitutional

Henry Ford builds his first car

First Zionist Congress is held in Basel, Switzerland

Yiddish Socialist Labor party (the Bund) is founded in Russia

The Yiddish language Jewish Daily Forward is founded in New York

The Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary begins training Orthodox rabbis

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From Haven to Home: 350 Years of Jewish Life in America Timeline 1800s

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Jewish population estimated at 2,500 (.04 percent of total population) First Ashkenazic synagogue in America, Rodeph Shalom (Pursuit of Peace), is established in Philadelphia First American Jewish orphan care agency, the Hebrew Orphan Society, is incorporated in Charleston, South Carolina Florida is purchased from Spain The Savannah becomes the first

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History of Insane Asylums

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An Illustrated History of the Mental Asylum

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Check out our photos of An Illustrated History of the Mental Asylum.

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Women in the 19th Century: Crash Course US History #16

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The United States Secret Service is one of the oldest federal law enforcement agencies in the country and ranks among the most elite in the world. With its origin dating back to the end of the American Civil War, the Secret Service was originally founded to combat the then-widespread counterfeiting of U.S. currency. In 1901, the agency was asked to begin its protective mission after the assassination of President William McKinley - the third sitting U.S. President to be assassinated. Today, the Secret Service proudly continues to protect both national leaders and visiting foreign dignitaries while helping to secure the nation's financial infrastructure through financial and cybercrime investigations.

The men and women who make up the Secret Service - both past and present - have embodied a tradition of excellence through integrity, commitment and honor. Their stories are the Secret Service's history - a proud history that continues to evolve and grow with every passing year.

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The United States Secret Service is one of the oldest federal law enforcement agencies in the country and ranks among the most elite in the world. With its origin dating back to the end of the American Civil War, the Secret Service was originally founded to combat the then-widespread counterfeiting of U.S.

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History of U.S. Currency | U.S. Currency Education Program

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By tracing our currency back to the colonial era, we can explore how American history has helped shape the way we design, issue, and process modern U.S. banknotes.

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Jewish population estimated at 2,500 (.04 percent of total population)

First Ashkenazic synagogue in America, Rodeph Shalom (Pursuit of Peace), is established in Philadelphia

First American Jewish orphan care agency, the Hebrew Orphan Society, is incorporated in Charleston, South Carolina

Florida is purchased from Spain

The Savannah becomes the first steamship to cross the Atlantic

Isaac Leeser, later to become a leader of the traditional wing of American Jewry, arrives in the United States

Mordecai Manuel Noah founds Ararat, a Jewish city of refuge on Grand Island in the Niagara River near Buffalo, New York

Reformed Society of Israelites is established in Charleston

Construction of first railroad, Baltimore-Ohio, in the U.S.

Noah Webster publishes his American Dictionary of the English Language

Penina Moise's Fancy's Sketch Book, the first book by an American Jewish woman, is published in Charleston, South Carolina

Jews are accused of murdering a Franciscan friar in the Damascus (Syria) blood libel, an ancient slander alleging that Jews murder Christians to obtain blood for Passover or other ritual use

Jewish population reaches 15,000 (.09 percent of total population)

Abraham Rice, America's first ordained rabbi, emigrates from Bavaria.

First organized movement by American Jewry to protest Damascus blood libel

B'nai B'rith, a national Jewish fraternal organization, is organized in New York

The influential monthly periodical, The Occident and Jewish Advocate, edited by Isaac Leeser, appears

Isaac Mayer Wise, later a leader of the Reform wing of American Jewry, arrives in the United States

A mutual aid society for Jewish women, later known as the United Order of True Sisters, is founded in New York, with lodges in major cities. It becomes the first national Jewish women's organization

U.S.-Mexican War

Political upheaval in Central Europe

Influx of Jews from German lands, spurred by political unrest in central Europe

California Gold Rush begins

First women's rights convention in U.S. is held in Seneca Falls, New York

Washington Hebrew Congregation is established, the first synagogue in the District of Columbia

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe is published

Isaac Leeser publishes his translation of the Bible from the Hebrew into English

Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species by Natural Selection is published

In response to the Mortara Affair, the Board of Delegates of American Israelites, American Jewry's first national "defense" organization, is formed

Rabbi Morris Jacob Raphall becomes the first Jewish clergyman to deliver a prayer at the opening of a session of the House of Representatives

Jewish population: between 125,000200,000 (.40.63 percent of total population)

Serfs are emancipated in Russia

Judah P. Benjamin is appointed Secretary of State of the Confederacy

Jacob Frankel is appointed first Jewish chaplain in the United States Army

General Ulysses S. Grant issues General Order No. 11 expelling Jewish civilians from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi

Gettysburg Address

President Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation abolishing slavery

International Red Cross is founded in Geneva, Switzerland

Louis Pasteur invents pasteurization

Transatlantic cable is successfully laid

Abraham Lincoln is assassinated

Civil War ends

Karl Marx's Das Kapital is published

U.S. buys Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million

Suez Canal opens

Ghetto of Rome, established in 1555, is abolished

Franco-Prussian War begins

Joseph Seligman, a prominent New York banker, is barred as a Jew from registering at the Grand Union Hotel in Saratoga, New York, marking the growth of social anti-Semitism in America

New Hampshire grants Jews political equality

Thomas A. Edison invents the phonograph

Emile Berliner's invention of the microphone makes the telephone practical and radio possible

Pogroms (massacres often with government collusion) and anti-Jewish persecution in Russia after assassination of Czar Alexander II and the ascension of his successor, Czar Alexander III

The Hebrew Educational Aid Society, antecedent of the Educational Alliance is founded on the Lower East Side to assist Eastern European Jewish immigrants

Social worker Lillian Wald founds Henry Street Settlement on New York's Lower East Side

The American Jewess is published, the first English language periodical for American Jewish women

First modern Olympic games (Athens)

Theodore Herzl publishes The Jewish State

Supreme Court, in Plessy v. Ferguson, issues ruling that "separate but equal" facilities for whites and blacks are constitutional

Henry Ford builds his first car

First Zionist Congress is held in Basel, Switzerland

Yiddish Socialist Labor party (the Bund) is founded in Russia

The Yiddish language Jewish Daily Forward is founded in New York

The Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary begins training Orthodox rabbis

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From Haven to Home: 350 Years of Jewish Life in America Timeline 1800s

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Jewish population estimated at 2,500 (.04 percent of total population) First Ashkenazic synagogue in America, Rodeph Shalom (Pursuit of Peace), is established in Philadelphia First American Jewish orphan care agency, the Hebrew Orphan Society, is incorporated in Charleston, South Carolina Florida is purchased from Spain The Savannah becomes the first

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Origins of Counterfeit Money

Counterfeit currency has been in circulation for nearly as long as currency itself. Long before bills were used a form of money, counterfeiters would alter others forms of currency to gain more value than the traded item was worth. One of the first instances of this was during the foundation of the American colonies, when Native Americans would trade shells known as wampum as a form of currency. Blue-black shells, which were more rare, had more value than their white counterparts. As a result, some traders would die the white shells a blue-black color and pass them off at higher value.

Counterfeit Coins

Shells were eventually replaced with coins made out of gold and silver. Each coin was weighted to be precisely the same, the value of the coin based on the weight. However, counterfeiters began to shave the sides of coins to collect the valuable metal. Before the coins were removed from circulation, sometime during the early 1700's, counterfeiters had managed to reduce the weight and value of the original coin by at least half. Have you ever wondered why quarters and dimes have ridged sides? It was during this time that practice was developed, to make it more noticeable when a coin had been clipped.

Early Counterfeiters

A number of individuals in history have become famous as counterfeit money producers, although some have paid the price for their crime. Going as far back as the 5th century, Alexander the Barber was one of the first, famed counterfeiters. He became so well known in fact that instead of being punished by the ruler of that time, Emperor Justinian, he was instead employed by the state finance department. Other famed counterfeiters were less fortunate. The Bonny and Clyde of counterfeit money, Thomas and Ann Rogers, were hanged, drawn, quartered, and burned alive after their coin clipping activity was discovered.

Samuel Upham

Samuel Upham may be one of the most successful counterfeiters in history. A one time journalist that began producing counterfeit money in an attempt to make a political statement, he eventually found more value in the lack of values, and began printing fake money for profit. At the end of his operation he claimed to have printed more than $15,000,000 worth of counterfeit currency.

One of the unique stories out of Samuel Upham's history of producing fake currency is that he sold tons of fake money from his shop as a recreational item. He claimed that at the end of his career he sold more than $50,000 of the fake money he produced. His production became so well known that Congress made a ruling that counterfeiting had become a crime and someone caught guilty of counterfeiting could be given the death penalty!

The Secret Service and Counterfeit Money

On April 14, 1865, one of President Abraham Lincoln's last acts was signing a bill authorizing the Secret Service. Ironically President Lincoln signed the legislation on the same day which he would later be assassinated on, by John Wilkes Booth and the Secret Service would not be being assigned to help protect the United States President until 36 years after.

When the Secret Service was signed into law, its mission was to suppress currency counterfeiting. This was in part a response of the rampant money counterfeiting that was happening after the Civil War. It was estimated that at the time around one third to half of the money in the United States was counterfeit which overtime led to money having more security features to analyze bills like they do today.

Fighting Fake Bills with Currency Redesigns

In 1995 the United States Government announced a substantial redesign of the nation's currency in an attempt to stay ahead of modern day counterfeiters. While technology has improved to keep fake money out of circulation however, a large amount of counterfeit money still exists.

It was estimated in early 2000 that more than $60 million of counterfeit money was removed from circulation. Modern day tactics to establish valid currency include high quality printing, seals by the Federal Reserve and Treasury, printed serial numbers, and a very specific type of paper that has tiny red and blue fibers embedded throughout.

Even the reproduction of the type of paper used to make federal currency is considered an illegal act, but counterfeiters still attempt to replicate the color of the material by using fine red and blue dots in the printing process.

Money Counterfeiting Nowadays

Despite grand attempts by the government to stay ahead of the counterfeit game, since the early foundation of the American colonies, there has always been at least a few counterfeiters that have succeeded in their trade. While it is unknown exactly how much fake money is in circulation, there are estimates of up to $3 billion USD in counterfeit money in circulation at any given time.

To this day it is reported that Secret Service appropriates tens of millions in counterfeit dollars annually. showing that counterfeit money still can have a significant impact on people in the United States and other countries. This is the reason why counterfeit money detectors are so popular. Businesses are the second line of defense against the trade of fake money. It is essential for them to protect themselves and customers from the crafty counterfeiters of today.

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Counterfeit currency has been in circulation for nearly as long as currency itself. Long before bills were used a form of money, counterfeiters would alter others forms of currency to gain more value than the traded item was worth.

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Welcome to West Oakland: A Changing Neighborhood | KQED News

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Same Crime, Different Race, Different Punishment...

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Same Crime, Different Race, Different Punishment...

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Recent research shows that black men who commit the same crimes as white men receive sentences nearly 20 percent longer. (Video: Victoria Walker/The Washington Post)

Black men who commit the same crimes as white men receive federal prison sentences that are, on average, nearly 20 percent longer, according to a new report on sentencing disparities from the United States Sentencing Commission (USSC).

These disparities were observed "after controlling for a wide variety of sentencing factors," including age, education, citizenship, weapon possession and prior criminal history.

The black/white sentencing disparities have been increasing in recent years, the report found, particularly following the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Booker in 2005. Booker gave federal judges significantly more discretion on sentencing by making it easier to impose harsher or more lenient sentences than the USSC's sentencing guidelines called for.

Before that decision, federal judges were generally required to abide by those sentencing guidelines.

According to the Sentencing Commission's report, the black/white sentencing disparities are being driven in large part by "non-government sponsored departures and variances" - in plain English, sentencing choices made by judges at their own discretion.

Judges are less likely to voluntarily revise sentences downward for black offenders than for white ones, in other words. And even when judges do reduce black offenders' sentences, they do so by smaller amounts than for white offenders.

That finding suggests that giving judges more discretion in sentencing, as the Booker decision did in 2005, allows more racial bias to seep into the process. But Marc Mauer, executive director of the Sentencing Project, a group working to reduce bias in the criminal justice system, says there's more to it than that. He says that decisions by federal prosecutors - whether to seek a charge carrying a mandatory minimum sentence, for instance - are also driving the disparities.

"What we see is that the charging decisions of prosecutors are key," he said via email. "Whether done consciously or not, prosecutors are more likely to charge African Americans with such charges than whites."

A 2014 University of Michigan Law School study, for instance, found that all other factors being equal, black offenders were 75 percent more likely to face a charge carrying a mandatory minimum sentence than a white offender who committed the same crime.

"It's possible that if a prosecutor now recognizes that a judge is not constrained by the [pre-Booker] guidelines," Mauer said, "he or she may charge a case as a mandatory sentence to ensure that a certain amount of prison time is imposed, with no possible override by the judge."

The United States currently houses the world's largest prison population, with an incarceration rate of roughly 666 inmates per 100,000 people. Among whites, the rate is 450 inmates per 100,000 people. The incarceration rate for blacks is over five times higher, at 2,306 inmates per 100,000 people.

The USSC report indicates that sentencing decisions are a big driver of those numbers. And according to the University of Michigan study, at the federal level alone simply eliminating the sentencing disparity would reduce the number of black men in federal prisons by about 9 percent and save taxpayers at least $230 million a year.

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Black men sentenced to more time for committing the exact same crime as a white person, study finds

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These disparities were observed "after controlling for a wide variety of sentencing factors," including age, education, citizenship, weapon possession and prior criminal history.

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What Happened When Hitler Hosted the Olympics 80 Years Ago

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What Happened When Hitler Hosted the Olympics 80 Years Ago

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What Happened When Hitler Hosted the Olympics 80 Years Ago

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As Hitler rose to power in Germany and barred Jewish athletes from competing in the summer games, many considered skipping the Olympics

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The Boys Who Challenged Hitler by Phillip Hoose

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The Boys Who Challenged Hitler by Phillip Hoose

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FREE COMPANION CLASS ACTIVITY: http://www.philliphoose.com/books/the-boys-who-challenged-hitler/ The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Pederson and the Churchill Club by Phillip Hoose At the outset of World War II, Denmark did not resist German occupation. Deeply ashamed of his nation's leaders, fifteen-year-old Knud Pedersen resolved with his brother and a handful of schoolmates to take action against the Nazis if the adults would not. Naming their secret club after the fiery British leader, the young patriots in the Churchill Club committed countless acts of sabotage, infuriating the Germans, who eventually had the boys tracked down and arrested. But their efforts were not in vain: the boys' exploits and eventual imprisonment helped spark a full-blown Danish resistance. Interweaving his own narrative with the recollections of Knud himself, here is Phillip Hoose's inspiring story of these young war heroes. THE BOYS WHO CHALLENGED HITLER KNUD PEDERSON AND THE CHURCHILL CLUB By Phillip Hoose Published by Farrar Straus Giroux BYR An imprint of Macmillan Children's Publishing Group www.mackids.com BOOK TRAILER Produced by Curious City Video Production by James Bailey Sound Production by Mind's Eye Production Music Licensed by Mind's Eye Production Voice by William Dufris

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The Boys Who Challenged Hitler by Phillip Hoose

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FREE COMPANION CLASS ACTIVITY: http://www.philliphoose.com/books/the-boys-who-challenged-hitler/ The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Pederson and the Churchill Club by Phillip Hoose At the outset of World War II, Denmark did not resist German occupation. Deeply ashamed of his nation's leaders, fifteen-year-old Knud Pedersen resolved with his brother and a handful of schoolmates to take action against the Nazis if the adults would not.

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Back to main Face the Facts page

Equality and freedom from discrimination are fundamental human rights that belong to all people, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or because they are intersex.

The Sex Discrimination Act 1984 makes if unlawful to discriminate on the basis of a person's sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status against the law. However, there are religious exemptions.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) people in Australia still experience discrimination, harassment and hostility in many parts of everyday life; in public, at work and study, accessing health and other services and securing proper recognition of their sex in official documents.
Download in PDF
Download in Word

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Face the facts: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex People

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Back to main Face the Facts page Equality and freedom from discrimination are fundamental human rights that belong to all people, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or because they are intersex. The Sex Discrimination Act 1984 makes if unlawful to discriminate on the basis of a person's sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status against the law.

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25 Haunting Photos Of Life Inside New York’s Tenements

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25 Haunting Photos Of Life Inside New York’s Tenements

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New York City Housing Was Absolutely Awful In The Early 20th Century [25 PHOTOS]

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Dozens of people would pack into a space half the size of a subway car.

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The Churchill Club of Denmark: A Young Rebellion on Bicycles

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The Churchill Club of Denmark: A Young Rebellion on Bicycles

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You can make a difference at any age. Consider the Churchill Club: a rogue group of teenagers that frustrated the Nazi occupation in Denmark.

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Gender identity is typically defined as the concept of the self as male or female. But the reality of gender identity is far more complex since gender variance is not uncommon. For example, gender identity may differ from an individual's birth-assigned gender. Transgender people include those whose gender identity does not match their assigned gender. And transgender people differ. While some experience distress and want to live as the other gender, this is not true of all transgender individuals (Cohen-Kettenis & Pfafflin, 2010). And gender identity is different than sexual orientation (e.g., a transwoman who identifies as a woman although their birth sex was male, may be straight, gay, or bisexual).

It is also important to recognize that not everyone is clearly biologically male or female. Approximately 17 of every 1,000 people are intersex and possess chromosomal and anatomical features of both males and females. And even those whose gender identities correspond to their birth-assigned gender vary in how compatible and contented they are with their gender group, how central their gender identity is relative to their other identities, and how they express their gender identification.

Like most things human, gender identities arise from a combination of biological and social factors. Although uncertainty remains regarding the neurobiological basis of gender identity, it appears that prenatal intrauterine hormonal exposure in the second half of pregnancy interacts with multiple genes to influence brain development in ways that impact gender identification (Bao & Swaab, 2011). During puberty, sex hormones further activate sex-differentiated brain differences (Steensma et al., 2013). Because sex differentiation of the brain takes place later in fetal development than sexual differentiation of the genitals, gender identity may be incongruent with an individual's biological sex. Gender identity variation is unsurprising when you consider this complex biological formula and how the ingredients and their combinations may vary.

Developmentally, most children identify themselves as a "boy" or a "girl" by age three. By middle childhood, children have fairly stable conceptions of how well they fit their gender category, how content they are with their gender assignment, and how much they are expected to conform to gender stereotypes (Egan & Perry 2001). Gender schema theory posits that once children internalize societal "gender lenses," gender becomes an organizing cognitive framework and the child is motivated to construct their gender identity accordingly (Bem, 1993).

Although most children come to identify with their natal (birth) sex, some experience gender incongruence with their birth-assigned gender and some are gender dysphoric (experience a sense of discomfort with their biological sex and assigned gender role), and at an early age (sometimes as early as two years), express dissatisfaction with their assigned gender. This occurs to varying degrees with some indicating they want to become the other gender and some expressing anatomic dysphoria (dissatisfaction with their sex-specific anatomy) (Cohen-Kettenis, 2006). However, less than a quarter of such children remain gender dysphoric in adolescence (Steensma, Biemond, de Boer, & Cohen-Kettenis, 2011). Gender dysphoria also occurs during and after puberty though underlying mechanisms remain uncertain (Steensma et al., 2013).

But despite diversity in gender identification and expression, and that intersex individuals are not uncommon, most cultures perceive gender as a clear-cut male/female binary to which we must conform. As a psychologist I am concerned about socially constructed gender binarism because it contributes to norms supportive of stigmatization, harassment, discrimination, marginalization, and violence towards those with non-conforming gender identities and expressions. Such minority stress negatively affects the well-being of many gender non-conforming people and leads many of us to suppress parts of the self associated with the other gender.

Pathologizing non-traditional gender identities is also problematic from a human rights perspective since it leads to violations of the human right to health and negatively impacts other rights, including the rights to housing, employment and education (see the Yogyakarta Principles on the Application of International Human Rights Law in Relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity).

I know that some people find the idea that gender variance is normal and acceptable jarring. Like Archie Bunker, they long for the days when "girls were girls and men were men." They are uncomfortable with non-traditional expressions of gender (like women presenting as "masculine" or men displaying "feminine" traits). They get grumpy and frustrated when they can't easily identity someone as female or male, gay or straight. They see gender variance is a problem to be fixed with psychotherapy, surgery ("Pick a side!"), or by simple conformity to traditional gender identity expressions ("Why don't you just get with the gender binary program!).

But when it comes to gender identity, I think more like Pop-eye ("I am what I am!"). As a psychologist, I think the solution is to flex our gender conceptions to make room for those that do not fit the gender binary. Think about it this way: perhaps it is not gender variant people that are in need of fixing. Rather, what needs fixing is how we think about gender identity and gender identity expression.

REFERENCES

Bao, Ai-Min and Dick F. Swaab. 2011. "Sexual differentiation of the human brain: relation to gender identity, sexual orientation and neuropsychiatric disorders." Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, 32: 214-226. DOI:10.1016/j.yfrne.2011.02.007

Bem, Sandra Lipsitz (1993). The Lenses of Gender: Transforming the Debate on Sexual Inequality. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Cohen-Kettenis, Peggy. 2006. "Gender identity disorders." In A Clinician's Handbook of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, edited by Christopher Gillberg, 695-725. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Cohen-Kettenis, Peggy and Friedemann Pfäfflin. 2010. "The DSM diagnostic criteria for gender identity disorder in adolescents and adults." Archives of sexual behavior 39: 499-513.

Egan, Susan. K., and David G. Perry, 2001. "Gender identity: A multidimensional analysis with implications for psychosocial adjustment." Developmental Psychology, 37: 451-463. DOI: 10.1037//0012-I649.37.4.45I

Fausto-Sterling, Anne. 2000. "The five sexes revisited." Sciences, 40:18-24.

Lorber, Judith. 2000. "Using gender to undo gender: A feminist degendering movement." Feminist Theory, 1: 79-95.

Martin, Carol Lynn, Diane N. Ruble, and Joel Szkrybalo. 2004. "Recognizing the centrality of gender identity and stereotype knowledge in gender development and moving toward theoretical integration: Reply to Bandura and Bussey (2004)." Psychological Bulletin, 130: 702-10. DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.130.5.702.

Money, John, and Anke A. Ehrhardt. 1972. "Man and woman, boy and girl: Differentiation and dimorphism of gender identity from conception to maturity." (1972). Oxford, England: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Newman, Louise. 2012. "Questions about gender: Children with atypical gender development." In: Disorders of Sex Development: An Integrated Approach to Management, Edited by John M. Huston, Garry L. Warne, & Sonia R. Grover, 31-39. Heidelberg: Springer Berlin:

Steensma, Thomas D., Roeline Biemond, Fijgie de Boer, and Peggy Cohen-Kettenis. 2011. "Desisting and persisting gender dysphoria after childhood: A qualitative follow-up study." Clinical Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 16: 499-516. doi: 10.1177/1359104510378303

Steensma, Thomas D., Baudewijntje P.C. Kreukels, Annelou L.C. de Vries, and Peggy Cohen-Kettenis. 2013. "Gender identity development in adolescence." Hormones and Behavior, 64: 288-297.

Yogyakarta Principles. 2007. Retrieved on February 20, 2014.

http://www.yogyakartaprinciples.org

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Understanding the Changing Landscape of Gender Identity

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The current proliferation of gender identity labels (e.g., androgynous, bi-gender, intersex, gender fluid, Trans woman, Trans man, cisgender, etc.) is turning gender conceptions upside down. But the reality is that gender identities are diverse and do not necessarily fit common gender binaries. It's time to broaden our conceptions of gender identity and expression.

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Children During the Holocaust

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The Nazis and their collaborators killed as many as 1.5 million children.

Children were especially vulnerable in the era of the Holocaust.

The Nazis advocated killing children of "unwanted" or "dangerous" groups either as part of the "racial struggle" or as a measure of preventative security. The Germans and their collaborators killed children for these ideological reasons and in retaliation for real or alleged partisan attacks.

The Germans and their collaborators killed as many as 1.5 million children. This number included over a million Jewish children and tens of thousands of Romani (Gypsy) children, German children with physical and mental disabilities living in institutions Polish children, and children residing in the occupied Soviet Union. Some Jewish and some non-Jewish adolescents (13-18 years old) had a greater chance of survival, as they could be used for forced labor.

The fates of Jewish and non-Jewish children can be categorized in the following ways:

1) children killed when they arrived in killing centers
2) children killed immediately after birth or in institutions
3) children born in ghettos and camps who survived because prisoners hid them
4) children, usually over age 12, who were used as laborers and as subjects of medical experiments
5) children killed during reprisal operations or so-called anti-partisan operations.

In the Ghettos

In the ghettos, Jewish children died from starvation, exposure, and a lack of adequate clothing and shelter. The German authorities were indifferent to this mass death. They considered most of the younger ghetto children to be unproductive and hence "useless eaters." Because children were generally too young to be used for forced labor, German authorities generally selected them, the elderly, ill, and disabled, for the first deportations to killing centers, or as the first victims led to mass graves to be shot.

In the Killing Centers

Camp authorities sent the majority of children directly to the gas chambers upon arrival at Auschwitz-Birkenau and other killing centers. SS and police forces in German-occupied Poland and the occupied Soviet Union shot thousands of children at the edge of mass graves.

Sometimes the selection of children to fill the first transports to the killing centers or to provide the first victims of shooting operations resulted from the agonizing and controversial decisions of Jewish council (Judenrat) chairmen. The decision by the Judenrat in Lodz in September 1942 to deport children to the Chelmno killing center was an example of the tragic choices made by adults when faced with German demands. Janusz Korczak, director of an orphanage in the Warsaw ghetto, however, refused to abandon the children under his care when they were selected for deportation. He accompanied them on the transport to the Treblinka killing center and into the gas chambers, sharing their fate.

Non-Jewish Children

Non-Jewish children from certain targeted groups were not spared. Examples include Romani (Gypsy) children killed in Auschwitz; 5,000 to 7,000 children killed as victims of the "euthanasia" program; children murdered in reprisals, including most of the children of Lidice; and children in villages in the occupied Soviet Union who were killed with their parents.

In Concentration and Transit Camps

The German authorities also incarcerated a number of children in concentration camps and transit camps. SS physicians and medical researchers used a number of children, including twins, in concentration camps for medical experiments that often resulted in the deaths of the children. Concentration camp authorities deployed adolescents, particularly Jewish adolescents, at forced labor in the concentration camps, where many died because of conditions.

The German authorities held other children under appalling conditions in transit camps, including Anne Frank and her sister in Bergen-Belsen, and non-Jewish orphaned children whose parents the German military and police units had killed in so-called anti-partisan operations. Some of these orphans were held temporarily in the Lublin/Majdanek concentration camp and other detention camps.

In Occupied Poland and the Occupied Soviet Union

In their "search to retrieve 'Aryan blood,'" SS race experts ordered hundreds of children in occupied Poland and the occupied Soviet Union to be kidnapped and transferred to the Reich. The children were to be adopted by racially suitable German families. Although the basis for these decisions was "race-scientific," often blond hair, blue eyes, or fair skin was sufficient to merit the "opportunity" to be "Germanized."

"Race experts" also determined whether a child would have sufficient German blood. This occurred in situations where female Poles and Soviet civilians who had been deported to Germany for forced labor became pregnant after sexual relations (often under duress) with a German man. If the "race experts" determined that the child would not have enough German blood, the women were forced to have abortions or to bear their children under conditions that would ensure the infant's death.

Resistance and Rescue

In spite of their acute vulnerability, many children discovered ways to survive. Children smuggled food and medicines into the ghettos, after smuggling personal possessions to trade for them out of the ghettos. Children in youth movements later participated in underground resistance activities. Many children escaped with parents or other relatives-and sometimes on their own-to family camps run by Jewish partisans.

Kindertransport (Children's Transport) was the informal name of a rescue effort between 1938 and 1940 which brought thousands of refugee Jewish children (without their parents) to safety in Great Britain from Nazi Germany and German-occupied territories.

Some non-Jews hid Jewish children and sometimes, as in the case of Anne Frank, hid other family members as well. In France, almost the entire Protestant population of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, as well as many Catholic priests, nuns, and lay Catholics, hid Jewish children in the town from 1942 to 1944. In Italy and Belgium, many children survived in hiding.

After the War

After the surrender of Nazi Germany, ending World War II, refugees and displaced persons searched throughout Europe for missing children. Thousands of orphaned children were in displaced persons camps. Many surviving Jewish children fled eastern Europe as part of the mass exodus (Brihah) to the western zones of occupied Germany, en route to the Yishuv (the Jewish settlement in Palestine). Through Youth Aliyah (Youth Immigration), thousands migrated to the Yishuv, and then to the state of Israel after its establishment in 1948.
Reprinted with permission from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's Holocaust Encyclopedia.

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Children During the Holocaust | My Jewish Learning

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Children were especially vulnerable in the era of the Holocaust.The Nazis advocated killing children of "unwanted" or "dangerous" groups either ...

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Structural Racism Timeline

Structural racism involves the cumulative and compounding effects of an array of societal factors including the history, culture, ideology, and interactions of institutions and policies that systematically privilege white people and disadvantage people of color.

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Structural Racism Timeline Structural racism involves the cumulative and compounding effects of an array of societal factors including the history, culture, ideology, and interactions of institutions and policies that systematically privilege white people and disadvantage people of color.

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Timeline of Events - Before 1933 — United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

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How NYC tenements once hid secret sweatshops

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How NYC tenements once hid secret sweatshops

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Story Of Us Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Segment From Episode

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The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911

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The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in New York City occurred 100 years ago this Friday, March 25th. 146 women in the garment industry died. This is a clip from the film, "Three Miracles" (part of "The Living Century" series). The film features 107-year-old Rose Freedman, who was the last survivor of the fire.

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How Nike Solved Its Sweatshop Problem

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It wasn't that long ago that Nike was being shamed in public for its labor practices to the point where it badly tarnished the company's image and hurt sales.

The recent factory collapse in Bangladesh was a reminder that even though Nike managed to turn around its image, large parts of the industry still haven't changed much at all.

Nike was an early target for the very reason it's been so successful. Its business model was based on outsourcing its manufacturing, using the money it saved on aggressive marketing campaigns.

Nike has managed to turn its image around. Nike hasn't been completely successful in bringing factories into line, but there's no denying that the company has executed one of the greatest image turnarounds in recent decades.

Here's the timeline of how Nike became a global symbol of abusive labor practices, then managed to turn things around:

After prices rose and labor organized in Korea and Taiwan, Nike begins to urge contractors to move to Indonesia, China, and Vietnam.

1991: Problems start in 1991 when activist Jeff Ballinger publishes a report documenting low wages and poor working conditions in Indonesia.

Nike first formally responds to complaints with a factory code of conduct.

1992: Ballinger publishes an exposé of Nike. His Harper's article highlights an Indonesian worker who worked for a Nike subcontractor for 14 cents an hour, less than Indonesia's minimum wage, and documented other abuses.

1992-1993: Protests at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, CBS' 1993 interview of Nike factory workers, and Ballinger's NGO "Press For Change" provokes a wave of mainstream media attention.

1996: Kathy Lee Gifford's clothing line is shown to be made by children in poor labor conditions. Her teary apology and activism makes it a national issue.

1996: Nike establishes a department tasked with working to improve the lives of factory laborers.

1997: Efforts at promotion become occasions for public outrage. The company expands its "Niketown" retail stores, only to see increasing protests. Sports media begin challenging spokespeople like Michael Jordan.

Abuses continue to emerge, like a report that alleging that a Vietnamese sub-contractor ran women outside until they collapsed for failing to wear regulation shoes.

Nike tasks diplomat and activist Andrew Young with examining its labor practices abroad. His report is criticized for being soft on Nike. Critics object to the fact that he didn't address low wages, used Nike interpreters to translate, and was accompanied by Nike officials on factory visits. Since Young's report was largely favorable, Nike is quick to publicize it, which increases backlash.

1997: College students around the country began protesting the company.

1998: Nike faces weak demand and unrelenting criticism. It has to lay off workers, and begins to realize it needs to change.

The real shift begins with a May 1998 speech by then-CEO Phil Knight. "The Nike product has become synonymous with slave wages, forced overtime, and arbitrary abuse," Knight said. "I truly believe the American consumer doesn't want to buy products made under abusive conditions."

At that speech, he announces Nike will raise the minimum age of workers; significantly increase monitoring; and will adapt U.S. OSHA clean air standards in all factories.

1999: Nike begins creating the Fair Labor Association, a non-profit group that combines companies, and human rights and labor representatives to establish independent monitoring and a code of conduct, including a minimum age and a 60-hour work week, and pushes other brands to join.

2002-2004: The company performs some 600 factory audits between 2002 and 2004, including repeat visits to problematic factories.

2004: Human rights activists acknowledge that increased monitoring efforts at least deal with some of the worst problems, like locked factory doors and unsafe chemicals, but issues still remain.

2005: Nike becomes the first in its industry to publish a complete list of the factories it contracts with.

2005: Nike publishes a detailed 108-page report revealing conditions and pay in its factories and acknowledging widespread issues, particularly in its south Asian factories.

2005-Present: The company continues to post its commitments, standards, and audit data as part of its corporate social responsibility reports.

Nike wasn't the only or worst company to use sweatshops. But it was the one everybody knew.

Transparency doesn't change ongoing reports of abuses, still-low wages, or tragedies like the one in Bangladesh.

But by becoming a leader instead of denying every allegation, Nike has mostly managed to put the most difficult chapter in it's history behind it and other companies who outsource could stand to learn a few things from Nike's turnaround.

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Nike turned their horrible reputation around with overseas labor and sweatshops. Can other companies follow their lead?

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23 Child Labor Photographs

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Lewis Hine/NYPL

Lewis Hine/NYPL

Lewis Hine/NYPL

Lewis Hine/NYPL

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23 Child Labor Photographs That Changed The Face Of American Industry

In 1908, Lewis Hine became the official photographer of the National Child Labor Committee. Over the next ten years, Hine photographed child workers across the country, from New York to the Carolinas to Pittsburgh, documenting the appalling conditions in which these children worked. Unlike documentary photographers who seek simply to highlight events and conditions, Hine did so with a political goal in mind: to end the practice of child labor.

At the time, business owners across the country reaped sizable profits from child labor and fought against any proposed reforms that would increase worker protections and therefore make them more expensive. In fact, owners often flat-out refused to abide by already existing labor laws, meaning that the executives did not exactly welcome the presence of photographers like Hine.

Accordingly, Hine faced resistance from both police and factory foremen who barred him from their factories, fearing that his photographs would threaten their entire industries, be they canneries or cotton mills.

In order to gain entry into these facilities, Hine often disguised himself -- and faced threats, even threats on his life, if he was found out.

Undeterred, Hine kept shooting and spread his photographs everywhere he could: pamphlets, magazines, photography exhibitions, and lectures. Ultimately, the images he presented of work-weary, injured, impoverished children helped convince the federal government to enact and enforce stricter laws that would protect children in the workplace, rather than exploit them.

Above, you'll find 23 of the historic Lewis Hine photos that helped change American industry forever.
Next, check out Lewis Hine's photos of immigrant life in America. Then, find out what conditions were like in New York City's tenement houses.

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U.S. Child Labor Laws Exist Because Of Haunting Photographs Like These

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Lewis Hine/NYPL Lewis Hine/NYPL Lewis Hine/NYPL Lewis Hine/NYPL Like this gallery?Share it: 23 Child Labor Photographs That Changed The Face Of American Industry In 1908, Lewis Hine became the official photographer of the National Child Labor Committee.

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Who, What, Why: How long can someone survive in a life raft?

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Who, What, Why: How long can someone survive in a life raft?

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A search has been resumed for four British men lost in the Atlantic Ocean. How long is it possible to survive at sea in a life raft, or in the water?

There are extraordinary tales of survival in life rafts. The record-holder is Poon Lim, who survived 133 days on a raft after his ship was torpedoed by a U-boat in 1942. Another well-known case is that of the family of Dougal Robertson who spent 38 days in a raft after their yacht sank.

But Mike Tipton, professor of human and applied physiology at Portsmouth University, points out that lengthy life raft survival episodes almost always take place near the equator where the water is warm. The water where the Cheeki Rafiki yacht is understood to have got in trouble - between Cape Cod in Massachusetts, and the Azores, in the North Atlantic - is much colder, perhaps about 15C. And the weather was bad.

The answer

Lengthy periods of survival in life rafts have happened in warm waters

But in colder waters life rafts can be regularly swamped, making survival difficult

Without a raft, someone in 15C water would be dead within no more than six hours

US Coast Guard 'did all it could'
When people are plunged into a cold sea they suffer from cold-water shock, says Pip Hare, coastal safety manager at the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and an ocean racer. Death can be rapid. "Anything below 15C has an immediate impact on the body - higher blood pressure, increased breathing rate. It incapacitates even fit people who are good swimmers."

Launching a life raft in a controlled fashion means the situation is better. But in cold and choppy seas it is still extremely difficult to survive for any length of time. "You can very quickly become physically incapacitated. If you are in a life raft in these conditions, the chances of it being dry or well insulated [are small]," says Tipton. Immersed to the waist in water, hypothermia can kill relatively quickly - assuming that the raft isn't swamped to the point where the occupants drown.

Tipton says survivors have a "hierarchy of needs":

Air

Viable circulation in the body

Suitable temperature

Fluid

Food

"In the best possible scenario if they are in a life raft and there are frequent rain showers [for drinking water] you can go many, many days," says Tipton. "If you are in freezing cold water and your raft is being swept and flooded then it's hours rather than days."

The US Coastguard was criticised by some for initially calling off the search after 20 hours, but Tipton concurs with the experts who say that if a life raft was launched it would probably have been found by searchers, not least because a location beacon would have been activated. The US Coastguard's computer modelling of drift would have let them search in roughly the right areas. In the event someone ends up in cold water with no raft, the prospects are considerably grimmer. In temperatures of 15C, survival beyond six hours would be extremely unlikely.
Source: Ocean Safety Follow @BBCNewsMagazine on Twitter and on Facebook
A typical 24-hour emergency pack

Two parachute flares, two hand flares, a radar signal reflector, a buoyant smoke flare, a whistle, a mirror and instructions for signalling for help

Water supply

A repair kit, a hand pump, a torch, spare bulb and batteries, two paddles, rescue quoit and line, two drogues (a funnel-shaped device deployed to help control the craft) and 30m of line

Bailers (for bailing out water) and two sponges for drying the raft

Survival instructions, a floating safety knife

Sea sickness bags and anti-sea sickness tablets

Thermal protective clothing

First aid kit

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How long can someone survive in a life raft?

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A search has been resumed for four British men lost in the Atlantic Ocean. How long is it possible to survive at sea in a life raft, or in the water? There are extraordinary tales of survival in life rafts.

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Unbroken Movie Trailer

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Unbroken Official Trailer #1 (2014) - Angelina Jolie Directed Movie HD

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Foods in the Japanese American Internment Camp

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This story map was created with the Story Map Journal application in ArcGIS Online.

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An interview with Louis Zamperini

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Editor's Note: Mr. Zamperini passed away on July 2, 2014 at the age of 97; he is now with the Lord he knows and loves. We are so honored that he graciously granted us this interview only a couple of months prior to his passing.

His storied life is the stuff of which blockbuster movies and bestselling books are made - and for Louis Zamperini, his journey has inspired both. Laura Hillenbrand'sUnbroken is still a world-wide bestseller, four years after the book's 2010 release. And, currently in production, an Angelina Jolie-directed adaptation is set to hit the big screen in late 2014.

The war in the Pacific was fought mostly on - or above - water. In land wars, casualties are usually seen and identified. At sea, when ships went down, there were often other vessels nearby to document the sinking and rescue survivors. But with aircraft, their last-known position could be hundreds of miles from their eventual crash location. Ironically, when Louis' rickety B-24 went down not far from Hawaii, it was on a rescue mission to fi nd a lost bomber. Only two of his 11 crew members survived the crash, and their two rubber rafts drifted 2,000 miles, washing up on a Japanese-held island.

After the search was called off, and a decent interval allowed for any survivors to turn up, Louis' mother Louise received an official death notice in the mail. She refused to believe it. Her youngest son had been cheating death since he was a toddler.

Before Louie's second birthday, the family's house in Olean, New York, caught fire and the little fella didn't get out with his older brother. Dad Anthony ran back in, but couldn't find Louie until he saw a little hand moving under a bed. Running out of the house with his son, the front porch collapsed, burning Anthony's feet. A few weeks later the family was on-board a train pulling out of Grand Central Station, moving to California, when little Louie shook free of his momma's grasp. He ran the length of the train and jumped out the back of the caboose in the middle of New York City. Amazingly, the train stopped, then backed up ... until Louise spotted her boy hopping merrily along the tracks.

How did Louis Silvie Zamperini survive a childhood of juvenile delinquency to make the U.S. Olympic Track team? How did he manage to meet Adolf Hitler? How did he survive the famed air battle over Nauru, the bombing of his air base on Funafuti, the crash of the Green Hornet, 47 days in a rubber raft and over two years of targeted torment by Japanese prison guards? Why did he end up at a Billy Graham Crusade in Los Angeles in 1949? These questions are all answered in Laura Hillenbrand's best-selling book Unbroken and in a forthcoming motion picture, produced and directed by Angelina Jolie. Oh, and by the way, Louis is still going strong at 97 years young and living in Hollywood. Gloria Gaither was honored to interview this remarkable hero.

GLORIA: You were saved several times in your life. As an incorrigible teenager, you were "saved" by running. How did running save you back then, and who was instrumental in changing your direction?

LOUIS ZAMPERINI: I was a pretty fast runner back then but I used my speed to get myself out of trouble. My brother Pete, who was also a runner, saw the potential in me to use that speed for something better than outrunning the law. He became my coach and trainer, and really, my savior at that time.

GLORIA: Americans were able to watch every detail of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia this year. But what were the Olympics like in 1936 Germany?

LOUIS: Well of course it was completely different back then and although the '36 Olympics were the first ever televised, not many people had access to a television. My folks, like everyone else, listened to the radio reports and read the newspaper.

GLORIA: Your sports career and college education were interrupted by a declaration of war. How did you overcome your fear of flying? Can you tell us when that fear turned to the chill and challenge of high altitudes? What were other great fears and how did overcoming them strengthen you for the ultimate challenges you were to later face?

LOUIS: You didn't think about being fearful, you had a job to do and you sucked it up and did the job. Being with my buddies and knowing we were all doing our best and what was asked of us by our country was what got us through every air battle.

I don't know about "great fears." I know that I took a survival course that was offered in Hawaii. It was surprising that there were only a couple of us who took it. But those skills I learned equipped me for much of what we faced on the raft.

GLORIA: There was a friend of yours named Jimmie Sasaki who was accused by J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI of being an informant for the Japanese. How did Sasaki figure into your life after you were captured?

LOUIS: I remember being escorted into a room for interrogation and looking at the back of this head. Then the head turned around and what a shock it was to be face to face with Sasaki. I thought of him as a friend from our USC days and spoke to him about the rough treatment we were receiving in prison camp thinking he might be able to help, but instead he reported me and I was severely punished. I felt betrayed.

GLORIA: To what, would you consider, do you owe your ability to survive the torture and torment you experienced at the hand of your captors?

LOUIS: Being an athlete, you learn determination and experience victory. In your mind and heart you want to win. It was the same on the life raft. You want to win. You want to live. Everything is a challenge. That's when your training comes in.

GLORIA: Do you still have nightmares about those years of your life? What did you feel when you visited Sugamo? What emotions did you have when you saw those who had tortured you like Curley, the Weasel, Kono and Jimmie Sasaki? What happened to the Bird and what did you feel when you learned about his fate?

LOUIS: Once I received Christ as my Savior the nightmares stopped and never returned. When I went to Sugamo I was in God's will and felt only great peace and forgiveness. Sadly, one of the guards who was kind to us, Kano, was imprisoned with the rest of the guards and did not deserve to be there. He was a really good guy.

The Bird escaped the authorities as soon as the war was declared over. He was never caught and brought to justice. Until my conversion all I could think about was getting back to Japan and getting even. But all of that ended once I accepted Christ as my Savior. I would have liked to have met up with him and talked but that wasn't in the cards.

GLORIA: Looking back now, which was worse: being lost at sea and the terrifying experiences battling natural hazards or the things you endured at the hands of other human beings?

LOUIS: If I had to choose, and thank God I don't, I would choose being on the raft. Seeing what human beings are capable of doing to each other works against your humanity. A shark is an animal. A storm is a storm.

GLORIA: What did you learn about God through all of your experiences, and how did you resolve the deep questions of faith that must have plagued you? What would you say to young men and women who are searching for answers in the chaos of life in these times now?

LOUIS: When I look back on the times I nearly died - I mean 48 bullet holes in a tiny raft with three men crammed into it and no one is hit? That's a miracle. Being pulled down in the plane with all those wires wrapped around me and no way to free myself, blacking out only to find myself floating to the surface? A miracle. I didn't realize it then, but later after the war and with my conversion, it seemed that God had a plan for me.

I would say to young men and women today to look for contentment in any situation you find yourself in and believe your life has a purpose. Every life has a purpose. Find yours and don't be afraid to ask for God's help.

GLORIA: You were working on the set of a movie when you first entered the army before all of the adventures of your story happened. Now you are working on a movie about your story. What do you think about the upcoming film? Have you become friends with the director, Angelina Jolie? Are you still friends with Laura Hillenbrand, who so carefully and skillfully wrote your story in the book Unbroken?

LOUIS: From what I've seen so far, the movie looks phenomenal. Angelina is beautiful, brilliant and tough. She read the book twice through and fought to make the movie. She shared with me that she discovered the power of prayer while making the movie and that couldn't make me happier.

Laura, there's another fantastic girl. She's a genius and talk about tough. Here she is, bedridden with chronic fatigue, and she writes Unbroken. I was so impressed with that, I sent her one of my Purple Hearts.

Both women are out of this world and I'm deeply grateful to know them and call them my friends.

GLORIA: Thank you so much for personalizing your amazing story for Homecoming readers. We are eagerly awaiting the unfolding of your life on the big screen. You are an inspiration to us all!

Photos courtesy of Louis Zamperini.

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A Circle Unbroken: The Amazing Life of Louis Zamperini

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Editor's Note: Mr. Zamperini passed away on July 2, 2014 at the age of 97; he is now with the Lord he knows and loves. We are so honored that he graciously granted us this interview only a couple of months prior to his passing.