Oprah Winfrey Born in Kosciusko, Mississippi January 29, 1954

In the beginning When Oprah was a little girl she lived with her grandmother who taught her how to read out loud and perform recitations at the age of three. Then when she was six she lived with her mother, in Milwaukee, but at 13 she ran away after suffering abuse.

Hard times She ran to a juvenile detention home but was turned away because all the beds were full. Then she was sent to her father in Nashville.

Life with dad Vernon Winfrey was very strict and made Oprah read a book and write a book report every week.

An early career Oprah’s career started at age 17, when she was hired by WVOL Radio in Nashville. Two years later she signed on with WTVF-TV as a reporter/anchor.

On to bigger and better things In 1976 she moved to Baltimore to join WJZ-TV news as a co-anchor, and found her passion for hosting talk shows in 1978 when she became co-host of WJZ-TV’s “people are talking.”

A star is born In January 1984 she moved to Chicago to host WSL-TV’s “AM Chicago,” a local talk show. In less than a year she turned “AM Chicago” into one of the hottest shows on TV. The format was expanded to one hour, and in September 1985 was renamed “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

Oprah She later went on to star in movies and win several daytime Emmy awards.

Oprah’s law In 1991 partialy motivated by her own memories of childhood abuse, she initiated a campaign to establish a national database of convicted child abusers, and testified before the U.S Senate Judiciary Committee on behalf of a national Child Protection Act. President Clinton signed the “Oprah bill” into the law in 1993.

Oprah’s donations In 2000, Oprah’s Angel Network began presenting a $100,000 “use your life award” to people who are using their life to help other people. Oprah also donates to The Clinton Foundation, Free the Children, Women for Women International, and Project Cuddle.

The Clinton Foundation This is a foundation that was formed by President Clinton after he left the White House and focuses on worldwide issues that need attention like global climate change, HIV/AIDS, childhood obesity, economic opportunity in the U.S, and economic development in Africa and Latin America.

Free the Children Free the Children is the largest children helping children organization, with more than one million youth involved in the programs in 45 different countries. The goals for the organization are to free children from poverty and exploitation and free young people from the idea that they are powerless.

Women for Women International Women for Women International provides women survivors of war, civil strife and other conflicts with the tools and resources necessary to go from crisis and poverty to stability and self sufficiency

Project Cuddle Project Cuddle provides people who are about to abandon their babies with a crisis line and a rescue family for them or if a baby is already abandoned they give it a loving home.

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