The following are short descriptions of the women and men who have contributed to the shaping of African American history. These encyclopedia entries serve as a starting point for much more inclusive descriptions and discussions that appear in other sources. For additional information please consult the print or website sources cited in the entry.
Patrick Mahomes, who is also known as Patrick Lavon Mahomes, Sr. or Pat Mahomes, is a former American professional baseball player. He actively played from 1988 to 2009. Born on August 9, 1970, Mahomes is the son of Johnny and Cindy Mahomes. During his childhood, … Read MorePatrick Mahomes Sr. (1970-)
Sen. Alexander A. Moorhead, Jr. served three terms, from 1971 to 1976, in the 9th through 11th sessions of the Legislature of the United States Virgin Islands, (U.S.V.I.). He was a member of the Independent Citizens Movement, a break-away party established in 1967 by community … Read MoreAlexander A. Moorhead, Jr. (1945-2023)
Thelma Marie Claybrooks Harper, born in Brentwood, Davidson County, Tennessee, on December 2, 1940, was the first African American woman State Senator in Tennessee. She was born to the Rev. William Claybrooks, Sr., and Clora Thomas Claybrooks, a sharecropper who parented eleven children. Her early … Read MoreThelma Harper (1940-2021)
Newark’s first Black woman municipal court judge, Golden Elizabeth Johnson, was born April 10, 1944, in Newark, New Jersey, to LeRoy Johnson, a civil rights activist and tenant president of a housing project, and Lucy Melton Johnson from Wilson, North Carolina. Golden had two sisters, … Read MoreGolden Elizabeth Johnson (1944-2010)
Nora Holt was an important figure in the history of Black music in Chicago in the 1930s and was a noted musician, composer, and renowned singer and performer during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1940s. While employed as a music critic for the Chicago Defender … Read MoreNora Holt (1885 – January 25, 1974)
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Leonard Bragg, Jr. made history in 2023 with the indictment of former President Donald J. Trump for crimes committed in relation to his 2016 Presidential campaign. Born in the Manhattan borough of New York on October 21, 1973, Bragg grew up … Read MoreAlvin Leonard Bragg, Jr. (1973-)
Frank S. Greene, Jr. is an inventor, scientist, venture capitalist investor, educator, and the first African American to graduate from the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps. He is also responsible for developing the world’s fastest microchip in the 1960s. Greene was born on October … Read MoreFrank S. Greene, Jr. (1938-2009)
Carol Johnson-Dean was the first black woman superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools. She held that post from 1997 to 2003. Johnson-Dean was born 1948 to Mrs. Willie Rawls and Buddy Rawls. She grew up in Brownsville, Haywood County, Tennessee about 50 miles northeast of Memphis. … Read MoreDr. Carol Johnson-Dean (1948-)
Richard Allen Tucker, born on February 13, 1850, was an ordained minister, educator, and poet. He was the son of Reverend Lewis Tucker, the first African-American ordained Baptist minister in the City and Elizabeth “Betsey” Hunter, a seamstress. Richard’s parents were free Blacks before the … Read MoreRichard Allen Tucker (1850-1924)
