Image Ownership: Public domain Thomas Day, master cabinetmaker and entrepreneur, was born in 1801 in Dinwiddie County in southern Virginia to free African American parents. He had an outstanding career and achieved remarkable social standing during the state’s antebellum period. By 1850, he operated the largest furniture business … Read MoreThomas Day (1801—ca.1861)
Image Ownership: Public domain At a time in when educated, skilled, and ambitious African Americans were systematically excluded from even middle management positions in large white-controlled businesses, for decades Charles H. Dodge remained one of the extremely rare persons in the nation to occupy a … Read MoreCharles H. Dodge (1868-1942)
Image Ownership: Public domain Douglas Dollarhide was the first African American mayor of the city of Compton, California, and a pioneer and role model for future black politicians across the state of California. Dollarhide was born in March 1923 in Earlsboro, Oklahoma. He was the … Read MoreDouglas Dollarhide (1923-2008)
Image Ownership: Public domain James M. Evans, a politician and business owner, was the first African American chairman of the Utah Republican Party. He was born to Robert and Beatrice Evans in Orangeburg, South Carolina, in 1962. He graduated from Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School in 1981 … Read MoreJames M. Evans (1962- )
Image Ownership: Public domain René Préval was a Haitian politician. He was prime minister under the presidency of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, exiled to the United States of America, and finally president of Haiti between 1996 and 2001, and 2006 and 2011. René Préval was born on … Read MoreRené/ García Préval, René Préval (1943-2017)
Site of Richard Freeman Saloon in Old Town San Diego Image Ownership: Public domain Richard Freeman, deputy city marshal and entrepreneur in the early years of San Diego, California, was born somewhere in the Eastern United States. His date of birth is unknown and so … Read MoreRichard Freeman (?-1851)
Excavation of the Boston Saloon, July 2000 Image Ownership: Public domain The Boston Saloon, which operated in Virginia City, Nevada, is the only black-owned Western saloon to be the subject of an archaeological excavation. During Virginia City’s heyday in the early 1870s, the town supported … Read MoreThe Boston Saloon (1864-1875)
Image Ownership: Public domain Naomi Ruth Sims is widely credited as the first African-American supermodel. A businesswoman and author, Sims was the first African-American model to appear on the cover of Ladies’ Home Journal. Sims was born in Oxford, Mississippi, the youngest of three daughters, … Read MoreNaomi Ruth Sims (1948-2009)
Image Ownership: Public domain Jonathan Moore, teacher, musician, entrepreneur, activist, and youth advocate, was born to Gwendolyn Jones and Jonny Moore in Seattle, Washington, on April 21, 1969. As a student at Roosevelt High School in the 1980s, Moore rented rooms at the Seattle Center … Read MoreJonathan Moore (1969-2017)
Image Ownership: Public domain Bernice Mathews is a small business owner and the director of the nursing program at Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno, Nevada. She is best known as a former Democratic member of the Nevada State Senate. Mathews was born on November … Read MoreBernice Mathews (1933- )