Errin Jackson

Independent Historian

Errin Octavia Jackson is a third year undergraduate student at the University of Washington’s Seattle campus majoring in the field of Sociology. Jackson hopes to earn her masters degree in Social Work to become a social worker, or administrator for a women’s social health and services organization. Jackson is also a law school hopeful and serves as the Vice President of Campus Relations for the Minority Pre-Law Society at the University of Washington. Jackson is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated and is presently Vice President of the Beta Theta (Seattle) chapter. While working toward her undergraduate and masters degrees, Jackson plans on writing and publishing essays and editorials on both sociological and political issues concerning race, gender and class in American society.

Unita Blackwell (1933-2019)

Image Courtesy of Washington University Libraries, Film and Media Archive Unita Blackwell, a civil rights activist and the first black female mayor in the state of Mississippi, was born the daughter of sharecropping parents in Coahoma County, Mississippi on March 18, 1933. She worked throughout … Read MoreUnita Blackwell (1933-2019)

Alexander Crummell (1819-1898)

Image Ownership: Public Domain Alexander Crummell, an Episcopalian priest, missionary, scholar and teacher, was born in New York City in 1819 to free black parents. He spent much of his life addressing the conditions of African Americans while urging an educated black elite to aspire … Read MoreAlexander Crummell (1819-1898)

Lawrence Douglas Wilder (1931- )

Born in Richmond, Virginia on January 17, 1931, Lawrence Douglas Wilder was the first African American to be elected governor in the United States of America. For four years Wilder served as the governor of Virginia (1990-1994). He later served as mayor of Richmond, Virginia. … Read MoreLawrence Douglas Wilder (1931- )

Yvonne Braithwaite Burke (1932- )

Born Perle Yvonne Watson on October 5, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, Yvonne Burke became the first black woman elected to the California legislature (1966), the first black woman elected to Congress from California (1972), and the first black woman to serve as Chair of … Read MoreYvonne Braithwaite Burke (1932- )

Alyce Faye Wattleton (1943- )

Alyce Faye Wattleton, born in St. Louis, Missouri on July 8, 1943, became both the youngest person and the first African American president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, a post she held from 1978 to 1992. As only the second woman president of … Read MoreAlyce Faye Wattleton (1943- )

Dorothy Irene Height (1912-2010)

Born on March 24, 1912, Dorothy Irene Height would become an activist, administrator, and educator dedicated to seeing racial and women’s equality in the United States. Born in Richmond, Virginia, to parents James Height, a building contractor, and Fannie (Burroughs) Height, a nurse, she moved … Read MoreDorothy Irene Height (1912-2010)

Nannie Helen Burroughs (1883-1961)

Nannie Helen Burroughs was born in Orange, Virginia on May 2, 1879 to parents John and Jennie Burroughs. Young Burroughs attended school in Washington, D.C. and then moved to Kentucky where she attended Eckstein-Norton University and eventually received an honorary M.A. degree in 1907. Despite … Read MoreNannie Helen Burroughs (1883-1961)

Shirley Graham DuBois (1896-1977)

Musicologist, playwright, novelist and political activist Lola Shirley Graham, born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1896, became the second wife to W.E.B. DuBois in 1951. Lola Shirley Graham was taught at a young age to stand up to injustice. She wrote her first editorial to an … Read MoreShirley Graham DuBois (1896-1977)