Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, established 1864, was the first African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E. church) in the state of Mississippi and the site for T.W. Stringer Grand Lodge of Freemasonry for the State of Mississippi in Vicksburg founded by Rev. T.W. Stinger in 1867, as … Read MoreBethel African Methodist Episcopal Church (1864- )
In 1816, Rocky Fork near Godfrey, Illinois, was established by four free African American families who purchased five adjacent parcels of land and built homes and a church that soon became a large-scale secret Underground Railroad station for escaped enslaved people fleeing to safety from … Read MoreRocky Fork Underground Railroad Community (1816- )
American sociologist, social worker, and minister Richard Robert Wright Jr. was born on April 16, 1878, in Cuthbert, Georgia to Richard Robert Wright, Sr., who had been born into slavery but graduated from Atlanta University and founded the National Freedom Day Association. Wright’s mother, Lydia … Read MoreRichard Robert Wright Jr. (1878-1967)
The Rev. Dr. Regena Lynn Thomas is a former politician who formerly held the office of secretary of state for New Jersey and is the director of the Human Rights and Community Relations Department of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). Thomas was born and … Read MoreRegena Thomas (1957- )
Nettie J. Craig Asberry was a suffragist, clubwoman, and music educator who helped found the Tacoma Chapter of the NAACP and the Washington State Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs. Born on July 15, 1865 in Leavenworth, Kansas, Asberry was the youngest of six children born … Read MoreNettie J. Craig Asberry (1865-1968)
In the 1856 landmark case Mason v. Smith, Bridget “Biddy” Mason sued her master for her and her family’s freedom, a full year before the infamous Dred Scott v. Sandford decision. In the Dred Scott case, the court ruled that enslaved persons did not become … Read MoreThe Bridget “Biddy” Mason Case, 1856
The Spingarn Medal is the highest honor of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Since 1915, it has been awarded annually for the highest achievement of a living African American in the preceding year or years. The twofold purpose of the … Read MoreThe Spingarn Medal (1915- )
Benjamin Harrison Hill was a legislator, teacher, and African Methodist Episcopal (AME) minister born in Sidney, Nova Scotia, Canada on November 1, 1903 to Joseph L. Hill, a laborer in the steel mill industry and Anna E. Hill, a servant for a private family. Hill … Read MoreBenjamin Harrison Hill (1903-1971)
Rufus Calvin Kuykendall was an attorney, politician, and one of the first African Americans to be elected judge in Indiana’s Marion County Superior Court. Kuykendall was born on September 24, 1903 in Indianapolis, Indiana to John, a former slave from Tennessee, and Belle (Jackson) Kuykendall. … Read MoreRufus Calvin Kuykendall (1903-1977)
Ottowa or O.W. Gurley is remembered was one of the wealthiest men in Tulsa, Oklahoma before the 1921 Tulsa Massacre destroyed his property and forced him to flee. Ottowa Gurley was born on Christmas Day in 1868 to freed slaves in Huntsville, Alabama, Gurley grew … Read MoreO. W. Gurley (1868-1935)
