Jacob Vanderpool was the only person known to have been legally expelled from Oregon on the basis of its anti-Black exclusion laws. Born in the West Indies in 1820, Vanderpool was classified in court documents as “mulatto,” likely the descendant of a Dutch plantation owner … Read MoreJacob Vanderpool (1820-188?)
Composer, conductor, and flutist Alton Augustus Adams, Sr., was born in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, the Danish West Indies, on November 4, 1889, to Jacob Henry Adams, a carpenter, and Petrina Evangeline Dinzey, a seamstress. They were handcrafters and encouraged their children to be entrepreneurs. … Read MoreAlton Augustus Adams, Sr. (1889-1987)
Chattel slavery was practiced in the Danish West Indies from around 1650 until July 3, 1848, when Colonial Governor Peter von Scholten issued an emancipation proclamation. The Danish government, however, then enacted rules that kept people enslaved by contracts for another two years. In 1847, … Read MoreThe Fireburn Labor Riot, United States Virgin Islands (1878)
Gustavia is the capital and main seaport of the island of Saint Barthélemy, also known as “St. Bart’s.” The Caribbean island is said to have been discovered by explorer Christopher Columbus in 1493, who named it after his brother Bartolomeo. The Taino Indians were the … Read MoreGustavia, Saint Barthélemy (1648- )
A professor, poet, and playwright of English, Dutch, and African descent, Derek Walcott was a 1981 MacArthur Foundation “Genius” grant recipient who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992. Born on January 23, 1930 to Warwick, a civil servant, and Alix Maarlin Walcott, an … Read MoreDerek Walcott (1930-2017)
John Raymond Jones, also known as the Harlem Fox, was a Harlem politician and the first African American to lead New York City, New York’s Tammany Hall. Jones was born on November 19, 1899, in Charlotte Amalie on the island of St. Thomas. At the … Read MoreJohn Raymond Jones (1899–1991)
Ambassador Charles A. James was born in 1922 in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he attended public schools. After high school, James enrolled at Westchester State Teachers College in Pennsylvania (now Westchester University) where he studied for one year before enlisting … Read MoreCharles A. James (1922- )
“Image Ownership: Oakland Public Library & African American Museum” Emmanuel Francis (E.F.) Joseph was the first professional African American photographer in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. Born on November 8, 1900 on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, Joseph would later move to … Read MoreEmmanuel Francis Joseph (1900–1979)
Samuel (“Sammy”) Leamon Younge Jr. was a 21-year-old civil rights activist who was shot to death on January 3, 1966 when he attempted to use a whites-only restroom at a gas station in Macon County, Alabama. He was a navy veteran studying political science at … Read MoreSamuel (“Sammy”) Leamon Younge, Jr. (1944-1966)
Image Ownership: Wisconsin Historical Society Attorney Lloyd Augustus Barbee was born August 17, 1925 in Memphis, Tennessee. He was the youngest of three brothers from Earnest A. Barbee and Adelina Jenkins Gilliam, both from Mississippi. Barbee attended LeMoyne College in Memphis and later went to … Read MoreLloyd A. Barbee (1925-2002)
