Johnnetta Betsch Cole was born on October 19, 1936, in Jacksonville, Florida to college graduates Mary Frances Cole, a vice-president of the Afro-American Life Insurance Company of Jacksonville. and John Cole, Sr., an employee at the company. In 1953, Cole finished high school and entered … Read MoreJohnnetta Betsch Cole (1936- )
Edwin Clarence Joseph Turpin Howard was the first African-American graduate of Harvard Medical College and also one of the founding members of the oldest African-American Greek-lettered organization, Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity. The five other founders were Henry Minton, Algernon Jackson, Richard Warrick, Robert Abele, and … Read MoreEdwin Clarence Joseph Turpin Howard (1846-1912)
Wilmot Collins, a recent Liberian refugee, became mayor of the city of Helena, Montana after defeating four-term incumbent mayor, James E. Smith, on November 7, 2017. Collins’ victory made him the first black person to become mayor of any city of Montana since it became … Read MoreWilmot Collins (1963- )
Moneta Sleet, Jr., a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer involved in the Civil Rights movement, was born on February 14, 1926. His parents, Ozetta Allensworth Sleet and Moneta Sleet, Sr., raised him in Owensboro, Kentucky. At a very young age, his parents gave him a small box camera, which he used to … Read MoreMoneta Sleet, Jr. (1926-1996)
George Moses Horton, the first African American to publish a collection of poetry in the South during the antebellum period, was the author of three collections of poetry: The Hope of Liberty (1829), The Poetical Works of George M. Horton (1845) and Naked Genius(1865). George Moses was born enslaved to William Horton on a plantation in North … Read MoreGeorge Moses Horton (1797-ca. 1880)
First Ivorian Civil War was a five-year conflict that occurred in the west African country of the Ivory Coast (also known as Cote d’Ivoire) between 2002 and 2007. The main belligerents of the conflict were the central government of the Ivory Coast, led by President Laurent … Read MoreFirst Ivorian Civil War (2002-2007)
The Creole Case was the result of an American slave revolt in November 1841 on board the Creole, a ship involved in the United States coastwise slave trade. As a consequence of the revolt, 128 enslaved people won their freedom in the Bahamas, then a British possession. Because of the number of people … Read MoreThe Creole Case (1841)
Flemmie Kittrell was born on December 25, 1904 to James and Alice Kittrell in Henderson, North Carolina. Kittrell attended Hampton Institution in Virginia (which has since changed to Hampton University) and received her bachelors of science in 1928. Kittrell’s undergraduate degree was in home economics and after encouragement from her professors, Kittrell enrolled … Read MoreFlemmie Pansy Kittrell (1904-1980)
George Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah, the newly elected president of Liberia, was born in the slums of Monrovia, Liberia on October 1, 1966. During his professional sports career, he was considered one of the best soccer players on the African continent. For much of his … Read MoreGeorge Weah
(1966- )
Roscoe Robinson Jr., the first African American four-star general in the U.S. Army, was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1928. He received a bachelor’s in military engineering from The United States Military Academy (West Point) in 1951 and later attended the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. … Read MoreRoscoe Robinson, Jr. (1928-1993)
