Political activist Earl Mann was born on June 8, 1886 in Lyons, Iowa. He joined the army and fought in World War I in France and Germany. He was promoted to First Lieutenant of the Infantry, which was a rare accomplishment for an African American … Read MoreEarl Mann (1886-1969)
Denver, Colorado’s Five Points community originated in the 1880s as an upper middle-class neighborhood for professional and business men. The city built one of its first cable streetcar lines into the area and numerous neighborhood businesses emerged along its tracks. White residents initially occupied the … Read MoreFive Points, Denver, Colorado (ca. 1885- )
Dr. DeNorval Unthank, a civil rights advocate and a highly respected leader in the black community of Portland, Oregon, was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania on December 14, 1899. After his mother died, Unthank’s father sent him to live with an aunt and uncle in Kansas … Read MoreDeNorval Unthank (1899-1977)
The Spokesman-Review of March 6, 1910 featured this headline: ‘Spokane Negroes Buy Land Tract to be Developed by Black Labor Only.’ The article continued, “For the purpose of giving the Negroes of Spokane an opportunity to demonstrate a fitness to survive in this northwest… a band … Read MoreDeer Lake Park, Deer Lake, Washington
David Abner, black Texas legislator, was born enslaved in Selma, Alabama, in 1826 and brought to Texas in 1843 by the daughter of his master who, with her husband, settled in Upshur County. Abner remained there until after the Civil War. In 1866 he moved … Read MoreDavid Abner Sr. (1826-1902)
Andrew Young, Jr., came into prominence as a civil rights activist and close associate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., during the modern civil rights movement in the United States. Young worked with various organizations early in the movement, but his civil rights work was … Read MoreAndrew Young (1932- )
Constance Allen Pitter Thomas, the eldest of the Pitter Sisters, was born July 13, 1917, to Edward A. Pitter and Marjorie Allen Pitter, in the East Madison Street district of Seattle, Washington. She grew up in a very close-knit family and community, in which she … Read MoreConstance Allen Pitter Thomas (1917-2006)
Coacoochee (Ko AH koo chee), known to Americans as Wild Cat and to Mexicans as Gato del Monte, is best known as a Seminole resistance leader during the American invasion of Seminole lands in Florida in the 1830s. He led a celebrated escape from a … Read MoreCoacoochee (c. 1808-1857)
Cottrell Lawrence Dellums was born in Corsicana, Texas and came to the San Francisco Bay area as a young man. He became a major African American trade union activist, and was the uncle of Ron Dellums, who represented Oakland in the U.S. Congress for many … Read MoreC.L. Dellums (1900-1989)
Clayton D. Russell was an important religious and political leader in the African American community in Los Angeles in the middle of the twentieth century. For much of his life Russell was associated with the People’s Independent Church of Christ, one of the largest congregations … Read MoreClayton D. Russell (1910-1981)
