San Diego Scottish Highland Games

2024 Highland Games June 22-23

2024 Highland Games June 22-23

5 Famous Scottish-Americans

We are going to talk about some of the more famous Scottish-Americans who have created a major influence, changed the world or created a name for themselves and brought Scotland great honor. 

  1. Andrew Carnegie:
    Andrew was a Scottish-American industrialist, philanthropist and entrepreneur who lead the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century. He went on to gain the title as one of the richest Americans in history. Born in Dunfermline, Scotland in 1835 later immigrated to the United States with his parents in 1848. After arriving to the United States, he started working as a telegrapher and by the 1860s he had built up a nest egg for himself to be able to invest. He invested in railroads, sleeping cars for the railroad and bridges. He built Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Steel Company till he sold it to J.P. Morgan in 1901. Because of this man’s ability to plan, invest and dream in the industrial future the United States is where it is today.
  2. Alexander Graham Bell:
    You know that fancy cell phone that you carry with you everywhere and check 1,000 times a day? It is because of Alexander Graham Bell that you have that cell phone in your pocket now. The father, inventor and engineer of the telephone. That company that every also knows, AT&T, do you know what that stands for? American Telephone and Telegraph Company, which Mr. Bell founded in 1885. Born March 3rd, 1847 in Edinburgh Scotland, both Alexander’s father and grandfather both worked in the education field with speech development. Conversations were very important to be had within the Bell household and Alexander took it to heart because both his mother and his wife were deaf. Many believe that because of the influencing women in his life were deaf that this also influenced his life’s work. Alexander Graham Bell was known for many other great inventions in his life, all surrounding the telecommunicate fields but one we can be most grateful for is his invention of the telephone.
  3. Robert Frost:
    Born in San Francisco, his roots came to America on the boat. His father of English descent and his mother was a Scottish Immigrant. Robert Frost is known as one of the great American authors throughout history. Writing poems, letters, books and plays Robert Frost won four Pulitzer Prizes throughout his writing career: 
  • 1924 for “New Hampshire: A Poem with Notes and Grace Notes” 
  • 1931 for Collected Poems
  • 1937 for A Further Range 
  • 1943 for A Witness Tree 

Though Robert Frost studied at two separate colleges he never officially earned a degree at either one and yet was still known as one of the great literary minds of the century. 

  1. “Uncle Sam” based on Samuel Wilson.
    Uncle Sam is the national embodiment of the United States, more specifically the American government, with the first usage of the term dating from the War of 1812. The American icon “Uncle Sam”, was based on a real man. A small businessman from Troy, New York, Samuel Wilson. His parents sailed to America from Greenock, Scotland, has been officially recognized as the original Uncle Sam. He was a heavy-handed benefactor to the army with beef and pork during the War of 1812. During the time the barrels were labeled with the stamp “U.S.” for the United States, but later was said jokingly said that the letters stood for “Uncle Sam.” Soon, Uncle Sam was the iconic symbol for the United States and the United States government.
  2. David Dunbar Buick:
    The last name might stick out to you right away, yes this is the founder of Buick Motor Company. Born in Arbroath Angus Scotland in 1854 his family immigrated to Detroit at the age of two with his family. Showing promise early as an inventor and creator, it didn’t take long for Buick to turn his face towards the internal combustion engines which were making quite a splash in the early 1890s and wanted to be part of the action. In 1902, Buick Manufacturing Company was founded and though the company soon was in financial trouble, his work with designing his own model of engine drew countless investors and today you can see still see these comfortable and luxury cars driving on the roads next to you today. 
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