Carla Garner, Author at • Page 3 of 4

Independent Historian

Carla W. Garner is an independent researcher in Barrington, Illinois. She has a BA in English from Northwestern University and an MLIS from San Jose State University. The Racine, Wisconsin native has worked in the private sector for Bose Corporation, Heritage Wisconsin Corporation, and the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce. Her research has looked at information exchange among farm women, librarianship during the Depression, and library development in the rural Midwest.

Sadie T. M. Alexander (1898-1989)

Born two decades before American women won the right to vote, Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander overcame obstacles as a woman and also as an African American in the elite profession of law. In 1927 she became the first black woman to gain admission to the … Read MoreSadie T. M. Alexander (1898-1989)

Clay Evans (1925- )

Evangelist and civil rights leader Reverend Clay Evans founded the Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago, Illinois in 1958 and was the founding national board chairman of Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity, later changed to People United to Serve Humanity) in 1971. Rev. … Read MoreClay Evans (1925- )

Eugene James “Jacques” Bullard (1895-1961)

Eugene James (Jacques) Bullard, the first African American combat aviator, was known as the “black swallow of death” for his courage during missions. He led a colorful life, much of it in Europe. Bullard was born in Columbus, Georgia, on October 9, 1895, the seventh … Read MoreEugene James “Jacques” Bullard (1895-1961)

Augusta Braxston Baker (1911-1998)

Librarian, author, and storyteller Augusta Braxston Baker was the first African American woman to hold an administrative position with the New York Public Library (NYPL). She was a pioneering advocate of the positive portrayal of blacks in children’s literature, and beginning in the 1930s removed … Read MoreAugusta Braxston Baker (1911-1998)

BlackPast.org (2007- )

Blackpast.org (www.blackpast.org) is the largest web-based free content reference center currently on the Internet that is dedicated primarily to the understanding of African American history and the history of people of African ancestry. The website’s most popular feature is an online encyclopedia which includes nearly … Read MoreBlackPast.org (2007- )

Bennie G. Thompson (1948- )

Bennie G. Thompson, United States Representative from Mississippi’s Second Congressional District, is the chair of the House Homeland Security Committee and as such is one of the most influential African American members of Congress. Thompson was born in Bolton, Mississippi on January 28, 1948 to … Read MoreBennie G. Thompson (1948- )

Samuel R. Pierce, Jr. (1922-2000)

Lawyer, judge and businessman Samuel Riley Pierce Jr., was the first African American partner in a major New York law firm, the first African American member of a Fortune 500 board, and one of the first African Americans to argue a case before the U.S. … Read MoreSamuel R. Pierce, Jr. (1922-2000)

Alphonso R. Jackson (1945- )

Alphonso R. Jackson cultivated a three-decade career in public service that included an appointment as head of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under the administration of his long-time friend, President George W. Bush. Born in Marshall, Texas, on September 9, 1945, … Read MoreAlphonso R. Jackson (1945- )

Louis Wade Sullivan (1933- )

After witnessing poverty and discrimination in Depression-era Georgia, Louis Wade Sullivan committed his career to education and public service, rising to become Secretary of Health and Human Services under President George H.W. Bush. He also was the founder and long-time president of Morehouse College School … Read MoreLouis Wade Sullivan (1933- )

Brooklyn, Illinois (ca. 1823- )

In the early 1820s, eleven African American families, some free, some fugitive, crossed the Mississippi River from the slave-state of Missouri to the free state of Illinois to found the first black town in the United States. According to oral tradition, the group was led … Read MoreBrooklyn, Illinois (ca. 1823- )