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.
Born into slavery in Charleston, South Carolina on June 29, 1849, William J. Simmons served as the second president of what would later become Simmons College of Kentucky between 1880 and 1890. He was also a prominent historian and biographer of African American men. Simmons’s … Read MoreWilliam J. Simmons (1849-1890)
Born into slavery in Charles City County, Virginia, Lott Carey (sometimes spelled “Cary”) was one of the first African American Baptist missionaries to preach and work in Africa. Although Carey may have received Christian teachings from his father, a respected member of the Baptist church, … Read MoreLott Carey (Cary) (1780-1828)
Ina Ray Hutton led the Melodears, one of the first all-female swing bands to be recorded and filmed. She passed as white throughout her musical career, as the leader of several bands from the 1930s through the 1960s. But when Hutton was a child, United … Read MoreIna Ray, née Odessa Cowan Hutton (1916-1984)
The brief entry for “Dorcas the blackmore” that appears in the Records of the First Church at Dorchester in New England, 1636-1734 suggests that Dorcas may have been one of the first enslaved persons to be freed in British North America. On April 13, 1641, … Read MoreDorcas the blackmore (ca. 1620-?)
Little is known about Judy W. Reed, considered to be the first African American woman to receive a United States patent. In January of 1884, Reed applied for a patent on her “Dough Kneader and Roller.” The application was for an improved design on existing … Read MoreJudy W. Reed (ca. 1826-?)
Angela Davis, activist, educator, and scholar, was born on January 26, 1944, in the “Dynamite Hill” area of Birmingham, Alabama. The area received that name because so many African American homes in this middle class neighborhood had been bombed over the years by the Ku … Read MoreAngela Davis (1944-)
National Basketball Association (NBA) superstar LeBron James was born on December 30, 1984 in Akron, Ohio to Gloria James who was sixteen and unwed. Gloria, the sole provider for her only son, worked various jobs and lived in numerous apartments with young LeBron throughout Akron. … Read MoreLeBron James (1984- )
Clarence Ray Nagin, Jr., the mayor of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, was born June 11, 1956 at Charity Hospital in the city. His father worked three jobs in order to support the family, starting his days as a fabric cutter at a factory and … Read MoreClarence Ray Nagin, Jr. (1956- )
Henry Johnson was a World War I hero because of his remarkable performance in France. Johnson, born in 1897 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, moved to Albany, New York with his family when he was still a child. At the age of 20, he worked as … Read MoreHenry Johnson (1897-1929)
The first African American Postmaster of a major postal facility, Henry W. McGee, Sr. was born in Hillsboro, Texas, in 1910, and moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1927. McGee was the first person to rise from the ranks of letter carriers to achieve the status … Read MoreHenry Wadsworth McGee, Sr. (1910-2000)
