Amy Jacques Garvey became the second wife of famous United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) leader Marcus Garvey in July 1922, only a few months after his divorce from his first wife, Amy Ashwood. Ironically Jacques was not only a friend but the maid of honor … Read MoreAmy Jacques Garvey (1896-1973)
Amy Ashwood Garvey was born in Port Antonio, Jamaica, but spent most of her childhood in Panama where her father supported the family as a businessman. She returned to Jamaica as a teen and attended Westwood High School in Trelawney, where she met her future … Read MoreAmy Ashwood Garvey (1897-1969)
Sam Cooke has been described as one of the most influential rhythm and blues singers to emerge in the 20th Century. Cooke could exude soul-stirring sensuality that went from the sacred to the profane in the same breath. The son of a Baptist minister, Sam … Read MoreSam Cooke (1931-1964)
As cofounder and Chairman of the Black Panther Party, Bobby Seale was an important leader of the Black Power movement. Born in Texas, Seale joined thousands of African Americans when his family migrated to Oakland, California during World War II. At the age of 18, … Read MoreBobby Seale (1936–)
Born in Monroe, Louisiana on February 17, 1942, Huey P. Newton was named after the populist governor Huey Long. His parents moved to Oakland, California during World War II seeking economic opportunities. Newton attended Merritt College, where he joined Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity and met … Read MoreHuey P. Newton (1942-1989)
With the beginning of World War II African Americans would get their chance to be in “the toughest outfit going,” the previously all-white Marine Corps. The first recruits reported to Montford Point, a small section of land on Camp Lejeune, North Carolina on August 26, 1942. By October, only 600 recruits had … Read MoreMontford Point Marines (1942-1949)
Wesley Brown earned distinction in 1949 as the first African American to graduate from the United States Naval Academy. Wesley Brown grew up in Washington, D.C. and attended Dunbar High School. A “voracious reader,” Brown joined the Association for the Study of Negro Life and … Read MoreWesley Brown (1927-2012)
Little is known about the early life of Nancy Gardner Prince, except from what she reveals in her 1853 autobiography, A Narrative of the Life and Travels of Mrs. Nancy Prince. Prince was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Her father, Thomas Gardner, was a seaman from … Read MoreNancy Gardner Prince (1799-ca. 1856)
Lewis Hayden was born a slave in Lexington, Kentucky on December 2, 1811 into the household of the Rev. Adam Runkin, a Presbyterian minister. In 1840 he married fellow slave, Harriet Bell (c.1811-1893). The Haydens successfully escaped slavery in 1844. They traveled to Ohio, Canada, … Read MoreLewis Hayden (1811-1889)
James “Jim” Kelly, born in Williamson County, Texas, was the son of manumitted slaves, “Uncle Amos” and “Aunt Phoebe” Kelly, who had belonged to the Olive clan, a family of powerful Texas cattlemen. After 1865 Kelly worked for Isom Prentice (Print) Olive, a former Confederate … Read MoreJames Kelly (ca. 1839-1912)
