Joseph W. Hatchett, the first African American Supreme Court Justice after Reconstruction in the South, was born on September 17, 1932, in Clearwater, Florida, to John and Lula Hatchett. He attended Florida A&M University, where he received a Bachelor of Political Science in 1954. Four years later in 1959, he graduated … Read More … Read MoreJoseph Woodrow Hatchett (1932-2021)
Born into slavery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 14, 1760, Richard Allen went on to become an educator, writer, minister and founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Benjamin Chew, a Quaker lawyer, owned the Allen family, which included Richard’s parents and three other children. … Read More … Read MoreRichard Allen [Pennsylvania] (1760-1831)
Anthony (Tony) Martin, lawyer, author, professor, and scholar was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, in 1942. He migrated to England where he earned a Bachelors of Science in Economics from the University of Hull and qualified as a barrister (attorney) at the Honorable Society … Read More … Read MoreAnthony (Tony) Martin (1942–2013)
James Homer Garrott was an African American modernist architect. He was pivotal to the creation of many historic buildings in the Los Angeles, California area, designing more than 200 buildings throughout the city, including municipal buildings, schools, medical buildings, and over 25 churches between 1928 and 1970. … Read More … Read MoreJames H. Garrott (1897-1991)
Edwina Justus, also known as “Curlie,” is the first African American woman locomotive engineer for the Union Pacific Railroad. She was born on July 11, 1943 in Omaha, Nebraska to Lee Chaney and Caldonia Isaiah Chaney. As a young child she attended Brown Park Elementary … Read More … Read MoreEdwina “Curlie” Justus (1943- )
Entertainer Gertrude C. Saunders, was born on August 25, 1903, in Ashville, North Carolina. She attended Benedict Institute (now Benedict College) in Columbia, South Carolina. During her teen years, she left to travel with the vaudeville producer Billy King Stock (Performing) Company, where she performed … Read More … Read MoreGertrude C. Saunders (1903-1991)
The citizens of Colorado elected their first African American legislator in 1894, eighteen years after gaining statehood in 1876. The man they elected, Joseph H. Stuart, came to the United States from the British West Indies where he had been born in 1854. He studied … Read More … Read MoreJohn H. Stuart (1854-1910)
Camp Atwater is a cultural, educational, and recreational camp designed for the children of African American professionals. The camp, founded in 1921 by Dr. William De Berry, was located in North Brookfield, Massachusetts. Initially named St. John’s Camp, in 1926 the name was officially changed … Read More … Read MoreCamp Atwater (1921- )
In 1909 Gilbert Haven Jones became the first African American to receive a Ph.D. from a German university. After completing his doctoral studies in philosophy, Jones returned to the United States to take up teaching and administrative positions, primarily at Wilberforce University. Jones was also … Read More … Read MoreGilbert Haven Jones (1881-1966)
Nicholas “Nick” Scott Cannon is an American actor, rapper, and comedian. Cannon was born on October 8, 1980, to James Cannon, a televangelist, and Beth Hackett, an accountant, in San Diego, California. Cannon grew up in the Lincoln Park’s Bay Vista Housing Projects where he … Read More … Read MoreNick Cannon (1980- )
