About the Book

Lawton B. Evans, a Georgia schools superintendent famous for his storytelling, published America First: One Hundred Stories from Our Own History in 1920, illustrated by Milo Winter.

His creed, from the introduction: when children ask 'is it true?' — 'the look of gratification, when told that it actually happened,' is why history should be taught as living stories.

The hundred stories run from Leif the Lucky to the modern age, each short enough for one sitting and true enough to defend at school.

This site reproduces the complete text of the original 1920 edition, digitized page by page from the original printing. The book is in the public domain.