Florida J. Wolfe, also known as “Lady Flo,” was one of the most remarkable, resilient, albeit mysterious Black women to live in El Paso, Texas. Consort and common law wife to Irish Lord Delaval James Beresford, who owned cotton plantations and cattle ranches in Canada, … Read MoreFlorida J. Wolfe (ca. 1867-1913)
Following the Union Army victory at Antietam, Maryland on September 17, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued a preliminary emancipation proclamation. This document gave the states of the Confederacy until January 1, 1863 to lay down their arms and peaceably reenter the Union; if these states … Read MoreEmancipation Proclamation (1863)
James Madison Nabrit, Jr. was a renowned civil rights lawyer, Howard University president, and United Nations deputy ambassador. During his legal career, he argued for the voting rights of blacks as well as school desegregation. Nabrit was born September 7, 1900, in Atlanta, Georgia. The … Read MoreJames M. Nabrit, Jr. (1900-1997)
Eldrewey Joseph Stearns, political activist, and student organizer was born in Galveston, Texas, on December 21, 1931, to Devona and Rudolph Stearns. He spent his formative years during the 1930s and 1940s in San Augustine, Texas, but returned to Galveston in 1945 and graduated from … Read MoreEldrewey Joseph Stearns (1931-2020)
Hobart T. Taylor, Jr, a government official and lawyer, was born to Charlotte and Hobart Taylor, Sr., on December 17, 1920 in Texarkana, Texas. Taylor graduated from Prairie View College in Texas with a B.A. degree in 1937. He received an M.A. degree from Howard … Read MoreHobart T. Taylor, Jr. (1920-1981)
John Stanford was the superintendent of Seattle Public Schools from 1995 until his untimely death from leukemia in 1998. He was born on September 14, 1938 in Darby, Pennsylvania. Stanford graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He joined the … Read MoreJohn Stanford (1938-1998)
Tyree Scott was a Seattle civil rights and labor leader who opened the door to women and minority workers in the construction industry. Scott was born in Hearne (Wharton County), Texas and before moving to Seattle in 1966, he served in the U. S. Marine … Read MoreTyree Scott (1940-2003)
Johanna July, a black Seminole, was born around 1857 in Nacimiento de Los Negros, the settlement established in northern Mexico following the emigration of Indian and black Seminoles from the Indian Territory in 1849. By 1870, the U.S. Army, desperate for translators and scouts familiar … Read MoreJohanna July (ca. 1857-ca. 1946)
Freedman Caesar Bowlegs rose to prominence among the Seminole Indians and freedmen during the late 19th century. Born around 1843 in the Seminole Nation (present day Oklahoma), he was a slave of Eliza Bowlegs, as were both his parents. During the Civil War, Bowlegs rode … Read MoreCaesar Bowlegs (ca. 1843-1912)
In 1934, Arthur Wergs Mitchell became the first African American Democrat elected to Congress from any state. Mitchell served four terms as a Representative in Congress for the state of Illinois (1935-1943). Mitchell was born near Lafayette Alabama on December 22, 1883 and was educated … Read MoreArthur Wergs Mitchell (1883-1968)
