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.
Ibtihaj Muhammad is an American saber and fencing team member who won a bronze medal in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She became the first Muslim American woman to wear a hijab (headscarf) while competing in the Olympics. Muhammad was born … Read MoreIbtihaj Muhammad (1985- )
John Henderson Cartwright, a minister and university administrator, was born in Houston, Texas, on August 17, 1933. Cartwright graduated from Phillis Wheatley High School in the city in 1950. Upon graduating with honors, Cartwright enrolled in Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, where he received a … Read MoreJohn Henderson Cartwright (1933-2011)
Dr. John Bowman (“J.B.”) Banks was the first Black physician to practice medicine in Natchez, Mississippi. He recruited Dr. Albert Woods Dumas, the second Black physician to practice in the city. Together with four other businessmen, they founded an African American bank in Natchez called … Read MoreJohn Bowman Banks (1862-1911)
Marlin Oliver “The Magician” Briscoe was a football quarterback for the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). When the Denver (Colorado) Broncos drafted him in 1968, Briscoe became the first African American Quarterback in professional football to start on a football team. … Read MoreMarlin Oliver Briscoe (1945-2022)
Pamela Sutton-Wallace is a healthcare executive. In 2022, she was appointed COO of Yale New Haven Health, Connecticut’s largest and most comprehensive healthcare system. Wallace was born in September 1969. She received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science and African American Studies from … Read MorePamela Sutton-Wallace (1969-)
Claudia Lynn Thomas is an orthopedic surgeon, civil rights activist, and change agent. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1950 and raised in Queens, New York. She studied classical ballet with Bernice Johnson at the Bernice Johnson Cultural Arts Center in Queens. Thomas … Read MoreClaudia Lynn Thomas (1950- )
Opera singer Gregory Gardner was born in Norfolk, Virginia, on July 31, 1950, to Earl Gardner, a singer from Aliceville, Alabama, and Dorothy Davis Gardner, a soprano and piano player from Norfolk. Gregory was one of nine kids. He was introduced to piano studies at … Read MoreGregory Gardner (1950- )
Paul Timothy Roberts Sr. is an academic fellow of the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey in Celigny, Switzerland, and an activist. He was born in Stamford, Connecticut, and grew up in the United Methodist Church in Bradenton, Florida. He graduated from Southeast High School in the … Read MorePaul Timothy Roberts Sr. (1963- )
George Alfred Strait, III, an award-winning journalist, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1945. Strait received a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Boston University in 1967 and a Master of Science in Biochemical Genetics from Atlanta University in Georgia in 1969. He is a … Read MoreGeorge Alfred Strait, III (1945- )
Custom motorcycle builder Ben Hardy was born Benjamin F. Hardy on July 25, 1921, in Los Angeles, California. However, historical data regarding his family, upbringing, and obituary have yet to be recovered from the annals of time. After World War II, as the United States … Read MoreBen Hardy (1921-1994)
