The Port Royal Experiment, the first major attempt by Northerners to reconstruct the Southern political and economic system, began only seven months after the firing on Fort Sumter. On November 7, 1861 the Union Army occupied South Carolina’s Sea Islands, freeing approximately 10,000 slaves. As … Read MorePort Royal Experiment (1862-1865)
The 1st Louisiana Native Guard (USA) was one of the first all-black regiments to fight in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The Guard originated in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1862, during its occupation by Union forces. On September 27, 1862, Major General … Read MoreUSA / Corps d’Afrique 1st Louisiana Native Guard (1862-1863)
The 1st Louisiana Native Guard was the first official black regiment in the Confederate Army. The Guard was formed when Louisiana Governor Thomas Overton Moore accepted into the state militia a regiment of approximately 1,100 free African American men. When Governor Moore called for troops … Read MoreCSA 1st Louisiana Native Guard (1861-1862)
Bryant Gumbel was the first African-American co-host of the National Broadcasting Company’s (NBC) The Today Show and is well known as a broadcast journalist and sportscaster. Gumbel was born in1948 in New Orleans, Louisiana to Rhea Alice and Richard Dunbar Gumbel, a city clerk and … Read MoreBryant Gumbel (1948- )
Charles Frank Bolden, Jr., NASA’s first permanent black administrator, was born to Charles Frank and Ethel Bolden, both teachers, on August 19th, 1946 in Columbia, South Carolina. He rose to the rank of Major General in the United States Marine Corps and was a National … Read MoreCharles F. Bolden Jr. (1946- )
Geoffrey Canada is an educator and social activist who has dedicated much of his life to reforming the educational system in Harlem, New York in order to provide poor and disadvantaged children the skills they need to attend colleges and universities. Canada was born on … Read MoreGeoffrey Canada (1952- )
Azie Taylor Morton was a teacher, politician and the only African American to hold the position of Treasurer of the United States. Taylor was born to Fleta Hazel Taylor, who was deaf and mute, on February 1st, 1936 in the small community of St. John … Read MoreAzie Taylor Morton (1936-2003)
Edgar Daniel Nixon, an African American civil rights leader and union organizer, is remembered primarily for helping lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott in Alabama from 1955 to 1956. E.D. Nixon was born to Wesley M. Nixon, a Baptist minister, and Sue Ann Chappell Nixon, a … Read MoreE.D. Nixon (1899-1987)
Ronald Erwin McNair was a physicist and one of the first African American astronauts to go into space. He was also the first black astronaut to die on a space mission. McNair was born to Carl McNair, an auto body repairman, and Pearl McNair, a … Read MoreRonald E. McNair (1950-1986)
Odetta, an American folk singer and social activist during the civil rights movement, was born in Birmingham, Alabama on December 31, 1930. Odetta was born to Rueben, a steel worker, and Flora (Saunders) Holmes. Her father died in 1936, and as a result her mother … Read MoreOdetta (1930-2008)
