In 1931 twelve-year- old Thomas J. Pressly witnessed the lynching of George Smith in Union City, the county seat of Obion County, Tennessee. Now a University of Washington historian and Professor Emeritus, Dr. Pressley describes that lynching in the article below. When I was twelve … Read MoreEyewitness to Terror: The Lynching of a Black Man in Obion County, Tennessee in 1931
Joe Frazier, 20th Century heavyweight boxing champion, is principally known for his rivalry with fellow boxer Muhammad Ali. Frazier was born on January 12, 1944 in Beaufort County, South Carolina. One of eleven children, he moved to New York when he was 15 years old to … Read MoreJoe Frazier (1944-2011)
Primary Documents: To regulate relations between slaves and colonists, the Louisiana Code noir, or slave code, based largely on that compiled in 1685 for the French Caribbean colonies, was introduced in 1724 and remained in force until the United States took possession of Louisiana in … Read More(1724) Louisiana’s Code Noir
Primary Documents: (Slip Opinion) December 4, 2006, Argued June 28, 2007, * Decided SYLLABUS: Respondent school districts voluntarily adopted student assignment plans that rely on race to determine which schools certain children may attend. The Seattle district, which has never operated legally segregated schools or … Read More(2007) Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1
Green Fields, former Seattle City employee, early African American resident of the Queen Anne Neighborhood in Seattle, and soldier with the U.S. Colored Troops during the Civil War, was born a slave in DeSoto, Mississippi, the son of Fannie Jackson and Richard Fields. In 1864 … Read MoreGreen Fields (1840-1914)
With the birth name of Claudia Cumberbatch, Claudia Jones was born on February 21, 1915 in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. Her family migrated to the United States in 1924 and became residents of Harlem, New York. Claudia’s mother was a garment worker and due to the effects … Read MoreClaudia Jones (1915-1964)
U.S. Ambassador Orison Rudolph Aggrey was born in Salisbury, North Carolina, the son of James Emman Kwegyir, an African immigrant who became an American college professor, and Rose Rudolph (Douglass) Aggrey, an African American woman. He earned a B.S. degree from Hampton Institute, where he … Read MoreOrison Rudolph Aggrey (1926-2016 )
Benjamin Tucker Tanner was born on Christmas day of 1835 to Hugh and Isabella Tanner of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As one of twelve children he brought income into the Tanner household by delivering newspapers at age nine. In 1852 Tanner was accepted into Avery College, a … Read MoreBenjamin Tucker Tanner (1835-1923)
In 1849 the U.S. Army established its first military post in the Pacific Northwest at Vancouver, Washington. Known varyingly as Columbia Barracks, Fort Vancouver, and, since 1879, Vancouver Barracks, the post played a leading role in major military actions in the nineteenth century American West, … Read MoreBuffalo Soldiers at Vancouver, Washington Barracks (1899-1900)
Wilma J. Gerdine Webb was born in Denver, Colorado in 1943. She married Wellington Webb in 1969. Wilma Webb attended the University of Colorado at Denver intermittently from 1970 to 1979 but did not obtain a degree. As a State legislator, she attended the John … Read MoreWilma J. Webb (1943- )
