Figure Choice Rationale

Notable State Figures Card Set - 12 cards, 5x7 inches each. Each card shows one notable state figure with photo or illustration, dates, community heritage, and one-paragraph G4-appropriate biography highlighting state contribution. The 12 figures span at least 5 communities. CONCRETE EXAMPLE (California): (1) Toypurina - Tongva spiritual leader, 1761-1799, led resistance at Mission San Gabriel; (2) Mariano Vallejo - Californio politician, 1807-1890; (3) Allen Allensworth - African American founder of Allensworth, 1842-1914; (4) Bridget 'Biddy' Mason - African American formerly enslaved nurse and philanthropist, 1818-1891; (5) Cesar Chavez - Mexican American labor leader, 1927-1993; (6) Dolores Huerta - Mexican American labor leader, 1930-present; (7) Larry Itliong - Filipino American labor leader, 1913-1977; (8) Sylvia Mendez - Mexican American/Puerto Rican civil-rights figure, 1936-present (Mendez v. Westminster 1947); (9) Yuri Kochiyama - Japanese American civil-rights activist, 1921-2014; (10) Robert Lee Foster (Sammy Lee) - Korean American Olympic diver, 1920-2016; (11) Sally Ride - astronaut and first American woman in space, 1951-2012; (12) Greg Sarris - Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria Tribal Chairman and novelist, 1952-present. Critical: figures from at least 5 distinct communities; living figures included; Indigenous figure first AND last to bookend with sovereignty present-tense framing. LOCALIZE to state's 12 figures from at least 5 communities.