Lacinda Mennenga, Author at

Independent Historian

Lacinda Mennenga is an undergraduate student at the University of Washington. She is majoring in history, and hopes to graduate in 2009, at which time she will begin work on her masters degree. Lacinda considers history to be a vital part of understanding current world events, and intends to teach history as a study of activism.

Horace Pippin (1888-1946)

Horace Pippin, a soldier in World War I and later a painter, was born on February 22nd, 1888 in West Chester, Pennsylvania, but his family moved to Goshen, New York when he was three. His grandparents were slaves, and his parents worked as domestics. Pippin … Read MoreHorace Pippin (1888-1946)

William Stanley Beaumont Braithwaite (1878-1962)

William Stanley Braithwaite, the acclaimed poet and anthologist, was born in Boston on December 6, 1878. He was the second of five children born to William Smith Braithwaite and Emma Dewolfe Braithwaite. William Stanley Braithwaite’s father, originally from British Guiana, was a man of mixed … Read MoreWilliam Stanley Beaumont Braithwaite (1878-1962)

Alberry Allson Whitman (1851-1901)

Alberry Allson Whitman was a romantic poet and a clergyman of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. Whitman was born enslaved in Hart County, Kentucky. He became a freedman in 1863, but his family was unable to enjoy their freedom for long as his parents … Read MoreAlberry Allson Whitman (1851-1901)

Victor Séjour (1817-1874)

Victor Séjour was a playwright born in New Orleans, Louisiana on June 2, 1817. His parents were Louis Victor Séjour Marou, a free colored man from Saint-Domingue (Haiti), and Héloise Philippe Ferrand, a quadroon from New Orleans. Although Victor was born in 1817, and his … Read MoreVictor Séjour (1817-1874)

Pearl Primus (1919-1994)

Pearl Primus, dancer and choreographer, was born on November 29th, 1919, in Trinidad. Her parents, Edward and Emily Primus, immigrated to the United States in 1921 when Pearl was still a small child. Primus was raised in New York City, and in 1940 received her … Read MorePearl Primus (1919-1994)

Marion Barry, Jr. (1936-2014)

Marion Barry Jr., a civil rights activist and later three term mayor of Washington, D.C., was born on March 6, 1936, in Itta Bena, Mississippi. His parents, Marion Barry and Mattie Barry, were sharecroppers; the family lived in relative poverty. When Marion was eight years … Read MoreMarion Barry, Jr. (1936-2014)

Camille Thierry (1814-1875)

Camille Thierry was a prolific Francophone poet, born to a French father and octoroon mother in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1814. Thierry’s family had significant holdings as wholesale liquor merchants. This wealth provided Thierry with advantages in education and the opportunity to pursue his own … Read MoreCamille Thierry (1814-1875)

Ferdinand Joseph La Menthe “Jelly Roll” Morton (1885-1941)

Ferdinand Joseph La Menthe Morton, more popularly known as “Jelly Roll” Morton, was an influential early 20th Century composer and pianist. Jelly Roll, the son of Creole parents, E.P. La Menthe and Louise Monette, was born in Gulfport, Mississippi in 1885. His father, E.P. Morton, … Read MoreFerdinand Joseph La Menthe “Jelly Roll” Morton (1885-1941)

Robert S. Duncanson (1817-1872)

Robert S. Duncanson was a landscape and portrait painter born in northern New York in 1817. His father was Scottish and his mother was a mulatto. While Robert was technically born free due to manumission laws, he still faced the enormous prejudice against African Americans … Read MoreRobert S. Duncanson (1817-1872)

Laura Wheeler Waring (1887-1948)

Painter and educator Laura Wheeler Waring was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1887. The fourth child of six born to Reverend Robert Foster and Mary Wheeler, Laura was unusual in some respects because she had the advantage of a superior education and middle and upper … Read MoreLaura Wheeler Waring (1887-1948)