On The Road by Jack Kerouac

Des Moines, Iowa

Easily one of the best books in the English language, this book captures the best of the beat generation and builds on the tradition of the evocative American adventure tale.

Britta

JAWS

Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts

'JAWS' is an American Icon. The novel is great but I say the film is more of icon than the book. 'JAWS' is the Moby Dick of films. A modern version of old sea tales. Filmed on location in Martha's Vinyard Massachusetts and the first film to start the summer blockbuster craze. Directed by an American original himself ...Steven Spielberg.

Shane

This Land is Your Land

Okemah, OK & New York, NY

This simple, but eloquent song by Woody Guthrie, sung by school children across the U.S., has brought Americans from all backgrounds together for 70 years. It is at once patriotic but also a song of protest for labor and various civil rights movements. In 2007, when my daughter and I were in an orphanage in the interior of China, our hosts asked us to sing a typical American song. “This Land” was not only the only song we could think to sing, the Chinese children and staff joined in on the 2nd verse!

Doug

Thunder Road

Bruce Springsteen's Song

If you believe the story told during concerts, the idea began in an isolated desert -- two friends traveling across the country, becoming awakened to the breadth of America. That incident was translated into the quintessential song of the dreams of youth, the wonder of escape, and what people become from their memories. Then and it foreshadows the humility of the human experience and the inevitable acceptance of home. This song stands as the relic of a regular American life lived, and as the emblem of many American lives BEING lived.

Daniel

NY's Chrysler Bldg.

New York City, NY

A compilation of aesthetics, uniqueness and faith in the machine age.

Edda

Barack Obama

Washington, DC

The artwork is a working cover for a children's bio, ISLAND CHILD, about the childhood of our current president. And it is this president that I'm suggesting is our current icon.

"Change we can believe in!" and "Yes, We Can!" and the "Audacity of Hope!" became iconic phrases we all spoke with conviction and enthusiasm only two years ago.

Obama's unique background represents a 21st-century viewpoint regarding family, race, and community responsibility.

Loralee

Lou Reed

New York city

Because no matter what I am going through-happiness or sadness or a combination of the two there is a lyric by Lou Reed that perfectly captures the feeling.

Because he is hard on the outside and soft on the inside like most of us

mary

James Agee

NYC/Knoxville, TN

rarely does a writer so brilliantly describe the South...between A Death in the Family and Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, Agee captured the beauty and the despair of the South. In addition, this writer of The African Queen deserves the recognition of an American Icon.

Lauren

4 way stop sign

every town

When I have lived in other countries and struggled with moving through space, crowds etc.. safely, I realized that so much of our basic US ideals and democratic values are on display at a 4-way stop sign. People mostly behave with a respect for rules, order and a civility. There is sense of fairness when they take turns and acknowledge who goes first.

Amy Gottschalk

Bob Dylan

New York City

I know you did ask for a person, but this one is essential to understanding the US and the culture of the last 60 years. One of the greatest poets, singers, artist of the last 60 years. Everyone knows Dylan.

Phyllis

Times Square

New York City, NY

When you see this iconic place, you can almost be filled with a sense of nostalgia. This LED lit, noise polluted, never ceasing, never slowing, and never stopping intersection filled is filled with posters and advertisements, always changing, always evolving, and moving forward, just like the heart and soul of America. And whether you pass by it everyday or you just happen to be on a trip, for a moment, either if you're waiting for the ball to drop or the light to change, if you take it all in, for a moment, you believe you could be anyone or anything. And isn't that the American Dream?

Rob

Washington Square Arch

15 Washington Square N New York

Such a famous symbol of NYC and the NYU crowd that hangs out there. I hear Andy Warhol ate dinner on top of it once.

Dave

Warhol's Soup Cans

Pittsburgh, PA

The soup cans are probably the most recognizable images in American art, and Warhol intended it that way. He borrowed the Campbell's brand name to help make his own fame. He was part of the Pop revolution that was remaking art - destroying the serious, sublime aspirations of artists like Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. Warhol's paintings remain mysterious, yet admirers consider him in the upper echelon of artists to grace the 20th century.

Studio 360

The Tramp

Hollywood, CA

Charlie Chaplin created silent film's most memorable character - the Tramp. Generations of children and adults alike have laughed at the The Tramp's silly demeanor and his goofy hi-jinks. Chapman said The Tramp was the comic spirit inside of him that had to come out. Today, Chapman's character is an enduring figure in popular culture that never fails to touch everyone's heart and tickle their funny bone.

Studio 360

Fallingwater

Pittsburgh, PA

An architectural landmark once seen as absurd by many was chosen by the American Institute of Architects in 2000 as one of the best American buildings of the 20th century. Fallingwater was created by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Located 70 miles outside of Pittsburgh, the building sits on top of a waterfall in the middle of the woods. Fallingwater was one of Wright's most famous work and exemplified his vision of organic architectural design.

Studio 360

John Henry

Talcott, West Virginia

A telling story of the current times is one of John Henry, a black man who worked himself to death. John Henry's story represents many different things to different people. No matter what he did, he couldn't "fight the system," the system being the steam hammer machine he was racing against, the system being the white man he was working for, the system being the advancement of technology and jobs being shipped overseas. Some of us are "John Henry," working as hard as we can to stay relevant in today's job world.

Studio 360

Kind of Blue

New York City, NY

Kind of Blue is the kind of album that has become so popular it can be heard everywhere from inside supermarkets to the living rooms of jazz buffs. It revolutionized jazz music and introduced the world to all it could be: avant-garde, soulful and hip.

Studio 360

Superman

New York, NY

Superman is very much alive in our culture as the all-American superhero. Who doesn't want a Superman? With his name still being synonymous with heroism and masculinity, the story of "The Man of Steel" will continue to live on.

Studio 360

Gone With The Wind

Atlanta, GA

Gone With the Wind is a classic Southern tale and the second best-selling book next to the Bible. It's also a story rife with racial stereotypes. The racial politics In Gone With The Wind still play out today decades after both the movie and book became a hit.

Studio 360

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Harlem, New York

Timeless, revolutionary, and life-changing are not enough words to describe this autobiography's effect on society. Respected and feared by many, the transformative nature of Malcolm X's life story is still as compelling and controversial as ever.

Studio 360