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.
Emmett B. Reed was born in Virginia but moved at age 16 to work in the coal mines of British Columbia. Within 10 years he had become a licensed minister, and in 1919 was called to pastor Calvary Baptist Church of Spokane, beginning a tenure … Read MoreEmmett B. Reed (1878-1961)
An activist, politician, and leader of her community, Sharon Sayles Belton was the first African American and first woman mayor of the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota. A St. Paul native, Belton was born on May 13, 1951. For most of her life she fought for … Read MoreSharon Sayles Belton (1951- )
Alice Ruth Moore Dunbar-Nelson was an educator, poet, activist, and playwright. Moore was born on July 19, 1875 in New Orleans, Louisiana, into a family of mixed black, white, and Indian ancestry. Her mother, Patricia Wright, was formerly enslaved, and worked as a seamstress and … Read MoreAlice Ruth Moore Dunbar-Nelson (1875-1935)
Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington is one of the greatest jazz composers, performers, and bandleaders in American history. His compositions, and the travels of his band, exposed the world to jazz and earned him the nickname, “The Ambassador of Jazz.” Edward Kennedy Ellington was born in … Read MoreEdward “Duke” Ellington (1899-1974)
As a generation of young African Americans broke new artistic and political ground in the Harlem Renaissance during the 1920s, three thousand miles away in Los Angeles, Fay Jackson helped to fuel a similar, if less well known movement. Jackson and her friends, including future … Read MoreFay Jackson (1902-1988)
The black presence in Alaska has been severely under recorded. This is particularly the case for the role of African American women. One of the most remarkable black leaders was Blanche Louise Preston McSmith, a native of Marshall, Texas, who, like the majority of African … Read MoreBlanche McSmith (1920-2006)
Condoleezza Rice has earned distinction as a scholar, expert on international politics, and with her appointments as the first African American woman National Security Advisor and Secretary of State of the United States. Rice was born on November 14, 1954 in Birmingham, Alabama to John … Read MoreCondoleezza Rice (1954- )
Benjamin Sterling Turner, a member of the United States House of Representatives from Alabama during the Reconstruction period, was born on March 17, 1825 in Weldon, North Carolina. He was raised as a slave and as a child received no formal education. In 1830 Turner … Read MoreBenjamin Sterling Turner (1825-1894)
“There’s no life in safety,” said three-time National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Image Award winner Nikki Giovanni who began her own life on June 7, 1943, in Knoxville, Tennessee. She moved with her mother and sister to a small black suburb … Read MoreYolande Cornelia “Nikki” Giovanni (1943- )
Teacher, writer, and women’s activist Hallie Quinn Brown was born on March 10, 1850 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the daughter of former slaves who in 1864 migrated to Ontario, Canada. The Brown family returned to the United States in 1870, settling in Wilberforce, Ohio. Brown attended … Read MoreHallie Quinn Brown (1850-1949)
