James Reese Europe, one of the first African Americans to record music in the United States, was born on February 22, 1881 in Mobile, Alabama to Henry and Lorraine Europe. When he was ten, his family moved to Washington D.C. where he began to study … Read MoreJames Reese Europe (1881-1919)
Currently in his 13th term in Congress, Edolphus Towns is a Democratic Representative from the State of New York. Towns was born in Chadbourn, North Carolina on July 21, 1934, and attended the public schools of Chadbourn before graduating with a B.S. degree from North … Read MoreEdolphus Towns (1934- )
Pompey Factor, former slave, scout for the United States Army and Congressional Medal of Honor winner, was born in Arkansas in 1849 to Hardy Factor, a black Seminole chief and an unknown Biloxi Indian woman. By the end of that 2nd Seminole War (1835-1842), most … Read MorePompey Factor (1849-1928)
Born on March 5, 1925 in Chicago, Illinois, George Washington Collins graduated from Waller High School and immediately joined the United States Army in 1943 at the age of 18. He rose to the rank of sergeant and was discharged in 1946. Collins attended the … Read MoreGeorge Washington Collins (1925-1972)
Bobby Lee Rush was born in Albany, Georgia on November 23, 1946. He graduated from Marshall High School in that city at the age of seventeen and soon afterwards enlisted in the United States Army. Rush served in the Army from 1963 to 1968 when … Read MoreBobby L. Rush (1946- )
John Roy Lynch, congressman, soldier, and author was born in Concordia Parish, Louisiana on September 10, 1847 to Patrick Lynch, an Irish immigrant and Catherine White, a slave. Lynch’s father died soon after his birth. Lynch and his mother were then traded to a plantation … Read MoreJohn Roy Lynch (1847-1939)
Republican Charles Edmund Nash served in the 44th Congress as Louisiana’s only black representative. Nash was born in Opelousas, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, on May 23, 1844. Before his time in Congress, Nash attended common schools, was a bricklayer in New Orleans, and had enlisted … Read MoreCharles Edmund Nash (1844-1913)
John Chavis, early 19th Century minister and teacher, was the first African American to graduate from a college or university in the United States. Chavis was born on October 18, 1763. His place of birth is debated by historians. Some scholars think that Chavis hailed … Read MoreJohn Chavis (1763-1838)
Joycelyn Elders, the former U.S. Surgeon General, was born Minnie Lee Jones in Schaal, Arkansas on August 13, 1933, to Curtis and Hailer Jones; she added the name Joycelyn when she was in college. As the eldest of eight children of sharecroppers, Joycelyn Elders experienced extreme poverty in segregated, … Read MoreJoycelyn Minnie Elders (1933- )
James Charles Evers, known as Charles, was born on September 11, 1922 in Decatur, Mississippi to parents Jesse Wright and James Evers. Growing up in Mississippi during the era of Jim Crow, Evers witnessed the effects of racial discrimination and prejudice firsthand. At the age … Read MoreJames Charles Evers (1922-2020)
