The Biloxi Wade-In civil rights protests were conducted by local African Americans on the beaches of Biloxi, Mississippi between 1959 and 1963. Physician Gilbert R. Mason Sr. led the demonstrations to desegregate beaches on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The Biloxi Wade-Ins was the first major … Read MoreBiloxi Wade-Ins (1959-1963)
Educational administrator Lyman Beecher Brooks, the first president of Norfolk State University, was born on May 27, 1910, in Blakes, Virginia, to a farmer and pianist, John Robert Brooks, and Mary Anna Burrell Brooks, a schoolteacher, and graduate of Virginia Union University. He began reading … Read MoreLyman Beecher Brooks (1910-1984)
Vaudeville performer Esther Jones was known on stage by many names, including “Baby Esther,” “Little Esther,” “Farina’s Kid Sister,” and “Miniature Florence Mills,” is widely, although not universally, credited with being the inspiration for the Betty Boop cartoon character. Jones was born Esther Lee Jones … Read MoreEsther Jones (1918-1984)
Media critic Eric Deggans was born on November 6, 1965, in Washington, D.C. to Chuck Deggans and Carolyn Jean McClellan Deggans Williams, a life member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. Deggans was reared, however, in Gary, Indiana, and graduated from Andrean High School, a … Read MoreEric Deggans (1965- )
Verdun S. Perry is a venture capitalist currently employed with Blackstone Strategic Partners, one of the world’s largest private equity funding firms principally in real estate. He also serves on the advisory board of numerous third-party funds, and is the Investment Committee chair for each … Read MoreVerdun Perry (1972- )
R&B bass guitarist and 6’ 9” professional basketball player Wayman Lawrence Tisdale was born on June 9, 1964, in Fort Worth, Texas, the youngest of six children of Louis Tisdale, a minister, and Deborah “Momma Tiz” Mathias Tisdale. He was reared, however, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, … Read MoreWayman Lawrence Tisdale (1964-2009)
Lena Lowery Sawner was Oklahoma’s first Black public school principal as well as its first female public school principal. She was also prominent in state and national Black educational organizations. Lena Lowery rose from humble beginnings. Her father, Julius Lowery was born in North Carolina … Read MoreLena Lowery Sawner (1874-1949)
Venture Capitalist Laurence (Larry) Morse was born July 2, 1951, in Birmingham, Alabama. Little is known about his years in Birmingham but beginning in 1969, he enrolled at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and graduated four years later with a B.A. degree in economics. He … Read MoreLaurence C. Morse (1951- )
The Black Maroons of Florida, also known as Black Seminoles, Seminole Maroons, and Seminole Freedmen, were a community derived from Runaway slaves who integrated into American Indian culture. They were mostly Gullah fugitives who escaped from the rice plantations in South Carolina and Georgia who … Read MoreThe Black Maroons of Florida (1693-1850)
Educational administrator Albert Walter Dent was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on September 25, 1904, to Daisy Dent. Information was not available regarding his father. He had two sisters. Dent graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Morehouse College in Atlanta in 1926. … Read MoreAlbert Walter Dent (1904-1984)
