On November 30, 1912, in Fort Scott, Kansas, Sarah and Andrew Parks welcomed their fifteenth child, Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks, into their home. Though struggling against poverty and racism in Fort Scott, young Gordon was nurtured there. His mother was especially influential, and her … Read MoreGordon Parks (1912-2006)
Lorraine Hansberry was one of the most significant and influential playwrights of the 20th Century. Her landmark play A Raisin in the Sun, which opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in New York City, New York in 1959, was the first play written by an … Read MoreLorraine Hansberry (1930-1965)
Ira Frederick Aldridge was the first African American actor to achieve success on the international stage. He also pushed social boundaries by playing opposite white actresses in England and becoming known as the preeminent Shakespearean actor and tragedian of the 19th Century. Ira Frederick Aldridge … Read MoreIra Aldridge (1807-1867)
Hampton University, located on the shore of Chesapeake Bay in Hampton, Virginia, was founded in 1868 by Samuel Chapman Armstrong, the son of a prominent missionary family that settled in Hawaii in the early 1800s. Armstrong was enrolled at Williams College in Massachusetts when the … Read MoreHampton University (1868- )
David Fagen was the most celebrated of the handful of African American soldiers who defected to the Filipino revolutionary army led by Emilio Aguinaldo during the Filipino American War of 1899-1902. Fagen was born in Tampa, Florida around 1875. Details of his life remain sketchy. … Read MoreDavid Fagen (1875-?)
Frank Horne was a Harlem Renaissance poet and a member of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s (FDR) “Black Cabinet.” Throughout his public career, including his years with the U.S. Housing Authority, Horne was an outspoken opponent of racial segregation in public and private housing. Horne was … Read MoreFrank Smith Horne (1899-1974)
Archibald Grimke was born enslaved in Charleston, South Carolina in 1849. After the Civil War, Archibald and his younger brother Francis, enrolled at Lincoln University. Archibald graduated in 1872 and then entered Harvard Law School. After graduation he practiced in Boston. By the 1880s Grimke … Read More(1920) Archibald Grimke, “The Shame of America, or the Negro’s Case Against the Republic”
James Cleveland “Jesse” Owens is best known for his remarkable athletic performance at the 1936 Berlin Olympics where he won four gold medals. Owens was born near Oakville, Alabama, on September 12, 1913, the twelfth child of sharecroppers Henry Cleveland and Mary Emma Owens. Owens, … Read MoreJesse Owens (1913-1980)
Francis J. Grimke was born a slave in Charleston, South Carolina on November 4, 1850. After the war he and his older brother, Archibald, went north to Lincoln University. Francis graduated from Lincoln in 1870. After working briefly at Lincoln, Grimke attended Princeton Theological Seminary … Read More(1918) Rev. Francis J. Grimke, “Victory for the Allies and the United States a Ground of Rejoicing, of Thanksgiving”
Repeatedly on Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world, Oprah Winfrey is a television host, media mogul – in television, radio, film, and print – and philanthropist. Forbes magazine included her in its 2003 list of America’s billionaires, the first … Read MoreOprah Winfrey (1954- )
