Organized in 1936 in Dallas, Texas, The Democratic Progressive Voters League is one of the oldest political organizations for African Americans in the state. It developed in the Dallas-Fort Worth area with the goal of ensuring the rights of African Americans around the state to … Read MoreDemocratic Progressive Voters League (1936- )
The Cabrini-Green Housing Project was a Chicago (Illinois) Housing Authority (CHA) managed housing project located on the city’s Near North Side neighborhood. The project was authorized by the Housing Act of 1937 which called for the construction of public housing as part of the effort … Read MoreCabrini Green Housing Project, Chicago, Illinois (1942 -2009)
Rev. Samuel Johnson was a nineteenth-century Anglican priest and historian of the Yoruba ethnic group of Nigeria. Samuel Johnson is most noted for his manuscript The History of the Yorubas, which was posthumously published in 1921. Born to Henry and Sarah Johnson, in Hasting, Freetown, … Read MoreSamuel Johnson (1846-1901)
Eric Walrond was an Afro–Caribbean-American fiction writer and journalist of the Harlem Renaissance era. Born December 18, 1898, in Georgetown, British Guyana, Walrond would write short stories with the interwoven themes of immigration, racial pride, and discrimination as he captured the early urban experience of … Read MoreEric Walrond (1898-1966)
The Pruitt-Igoe Housing Project was located in the predominantly African American and economically depressed Desoto-Carr neighborhood just north-west of downtown St Louis, Missouri. By 1956, the project totaled 33 high-rise buildings that consisted of the Wendell Oliver Pruitt Homes (1,736 units) and the William L. … Read MorePruitt-Igoe Housing Project, St. Louis, Missouri (1956–1976)
The Robert R. Taylor Homes in Chicago, Illinois were named after Robert Rochon Taylor, a black architect and civic leader who became the Chicago Housing Authority’s first African American chairman in 1942. Construction of the Robert R. Taylor Homes began in 1959 and was completed … Read MoreRobert R. Taylor Homes, Chicago, Illinois (1959-2005)
Robert Rochon Taylor was an architect and early housing activist in Chicago, Illinois who became Chairman of the Chicago Housing Authority in 1942. He is the son of Robert Robinson Taylor who was the first African American to graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology … Read MoreRobert Rochon Taylor (1899-1957)
Architect and educator Robert Robinson Taylor was the first African American to graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is the father of architect and Chicago, Illinois business leader Robert Rochon Taylor (1899-1957) and the great-grandfather of Valerie Jarrett (1956- ), senior advisor … Read MoreRobert Robinson Taylor (1868-1942)
Emory Douglas served as the Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party from 1967 to 1980. Originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan, Douglas and his family moved to San Francisco for health reasons in 1951. At age 15 Douglas was sent to the Youth Training … Read MoreEmory Douglas (1943- )
