Independent Historian

Yonaia Robinson was born and raised in Washington State. She is currently a master’s student in the Department of Education at the University of Washington, Seattle. She plans to obtain her Ph.D. and go on to pursue a teaching career at the university level. Her initial interest peaked after having taken an African American history course on slavery and reconstruction when she first came to the university as an undergraduate. Her devotion to researching and learning about Black history and that of other minoritized groups lies in the failing of educational systems around the U.S to provide a more accurate and inclusive curriculum. She believes that all students would benefit from a more holistic approach, one that acknowledges the codes of power enacted in daily classroom life, provides them with alternative viewpoints, and includes the contributions people of color have made throughout this nation’s history.  Yonaia is essentially an advocate for telling it like it is, and fully intends to do so in her future endeavors as a professor.

Alice Allison Dunnigan (1906-1983)

Alice Allison Dunnigan was the first African American female correspondent at the White House and the first black female member of the Senate and House of Representatives press galleries. Dunnigan was born April 27, 1906, in Russellville, Kentucky, to Willie and Lena Pitman Allison. Her father worked as … Read MoreAlice Allison Dunnigan (1906-1983)

Dovey Johnson Roundtree (1914–2018)

Born Dovey Mae Johnson on April 17, 1914, in Charlotte, North Carolina, Dovey Johnson Roundtree was an African American civil rights activist, attorney, and ordained minister who won the 1955 Interstate Commerce Commission case on segregated bus terminals. She was the second oldest of four children born to James Elliot Johnson, a printer … Read MoreDovey Johnson Roundtree (1914–2018)

Stephanie Diana Wilson (1966- )

Stephanie Diana Wilson is an American NASA astronaut, engineer, and is the second African American woman to go into space, following Mae Jemison. Wilson was born September 27, 1966, in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1984 she graduated from Taconic High School in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and four … Read MoreStephanie Diana Wilson (1966- )