Peter Crosby was born in 1844 and lived twenty years in Clark County, Mississippi. He moved to Vicksburg in 1864 and enlisted at the age of 20 where he became a member of the US Colored Troops in Company C, 5th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery. … Read MorePeter Crosby (1844-1884)
Francisco Paulo de Almeida, first and only Baron of Guaraciaba, was a Brazilian landowner and banker. He distinguished himself by being one of the most financially successful black men in the Empire of Brazil. He owned several plantations and about two hundred slaves on just … Read MoreFrancisco Paulo de Almeida (1826-1901)
La Mulatresse Solitude (the Mulatto Solitude) is a national hero on the French Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe. Although very little is known about her life, she is remembered as a brave fighter against the reimposition of slavery on her homeland. It is believed that Solitude’s … Read MoreLa Mulatresse Solitude (ca 1772-1802)
Jacob Francis Wheaton’s home in Hagerstown, Maryland was the last stop on the Underground Railroad before crossing over to Pennsylvania. His family members (Buckinghams, Wheatons, and Bruners) owned homes in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan and were coopers and sextons by trade. Jacob Wheaton … Read MoreJacob Francis Wheaton (1835-1924)
Booker T. Washington once called Charles Banks the “most influential businessman in the United States” and Mississippi’s “leading Negro Banker.” The son of former slaves, Daniel A. Banks, a farmer, and Sallie Ann, a housekeeper and cook, Banks was born on March 25, 1873, in … Read MoreCharles Banks (1873-1923)
The Little River County Race War began in March 1899 in southwestern Arkansas and quickly spilled over into neighboring northeastern Texas after an African American man named General Duckett murdered a white planter, James Stockton, at his home on March 18, 1899. After hiding in … Read MoreLittle River County Race War (1899)
Sidi Mubarak Bombay, one of the most extensive travelers in sub-Saharan Africa in the 19th century, was honored for his assistance to British explorers and adventurers. Bombay, of waYao/Bantu ethnicity, was born in the Ruvuma Region of southern Tanzania around 1820. Separated from his parents … Read MoreSidi Mubarak Bombay (a.k.a. Mbarak Mombée, 1820?-1885)
Alexander Louis Jackson II, historian, journalist, athlete, and one of five founders of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), was born on March 1, 1891, in Englewood, New Jersey, to Alexander Louis Jackson and Evelyn Martha Lewis Jackson. They, … Read MoreAlexander Louis Jackson, II (1891-1973)
Ralph Elwood Brock is generally recognized as the first African American forester. Brock was academically trained and became an experienced manager of foresters in his home state of Pennsylvania. Born on February 15, 1881, near Pottsville, Pennsylvania, he was one of the seven children of … Read MoreRalph Elwood Brock (1881-1959)
