Civil Rights activist, American educator, and community religious leader William B. Gibbs, Jr. was born July 26, 1905, in West Chester, Pennsylvania to Lena W. and William Gibbs, Sr. He grew up in West Chester, graduating from West Chester High School and continued his education … Read MoreWilliam B. Gibbs, Jr. (1905-1984)
Alexander P. Ashbourne was an early inventor. He was born into slavery in Philadelphia around 1820. There are very few documented facts about his personal life. He grew up cutting wheat alongside his family members. In his youth, Ashbourne began to think of more efficient … Read MoreAlexander P. Ashbourne (1820-1915)
John Edward James is an Iraq War Veteran, businessman, and former Republican United States Senate candidate from Michigan. James became a rising star in the Republican Party after defeating Sandy Pensler, another Michigan businessman, in the 2018 Michigan GOP Senate primary. James went on to … Read MoreJohn Edward James (1969- )
During World War II, thirty African-American correspondents risked their lives reporting news home from the front-lines of the war. Covering the war took two forms. First, they were reporters of the combat between the Allies and the Axis. Concurrently, they reported on the treatment of … Read MoreDeton Brooks (1909-1975)
The Thibodaux Massacre took place in Thibodaux, Louisiana on November 23, 1887. Black sugar cane workers, determined to unionize for a living wage, chose to combine their minimal power during the crucial harvest season. Instead, their actions sparked a massacre. With echoes of the bondage … Read MoreThe Thibodaux Massacre (November 23, 1887)
Fred “The Hammer” Williamson is an African American actor-director-writer-producer who built and sustained a long career as a black action hero from the “blaxploitation” era of the 1970s to well into the twenty-first century. Born on March 5, 1938 in Gary, Indiana to parents Frank … Read MoreFred Williamson (1938- )
In the article below, Dr. Uchenna Umeh, a former San Antonio, Texas physician, briefly describes how mental health among African Americans was viewed and treated by the American medical community from the antebellum period until today. In the process she describes how those attitudes have … Read MoreMental Illness in Black Community, 1700-2019: A Short History
Politician and educator Judson W. Lyons was born on August 15, 1858 in Burke County, Georgia. In 1871, his family moved to Augusta, Georgia where Lyons was educated at the Augusta Institute. Lyons got involved in Republican Party politics as a young man, being selected … Read MoreJudson W. Lyons (1858-1924)
Uptown Records, one of the earliest hip-hop labels, was founded in 1986. It signed artists such as Mary J. Blige, Jodeci, Heavy D and the Boyz, and Father M.C. Uptown Records was founded by Andre Harrell, a former member of the group Dr. Jackell and … Read MoreUptown Records (1986-1999)
Betty Jean Owens, an African-American woman and Florida A&M University student, was raped by four white men, William Collinsworth, Ollie Stoutamire, David Beagles, and Patrick Scarbourough, on May 2, 1959. Unlike most cases involving white men raping black women in the pre-1970 era, the four … Read MoreBetty Jean Owens (193?- ?)