Civil rights activist Diane Judith Nash was born on May 15, 1938 in Chicago, Illinois to Leon Nash and Dorothy Bolton Nash. Nash grew up a Roman Catholic and attended parochial and public schools in Chicago. In 1956, she graduated from Hyde Park High School … Read MoreDiane Nash (1938- )
Floyd C. Covington was a leader in Los Angeles’s black community for more than fifty years. A native of Denver, Colorado, Covington endured many traumatic experiences during his childhood. The 1910 manuscript census indicates that Covington’s father did not live with his family. Covington’s mother … Read MoreFloyd C. Covington (1901-1989)
Dempsey Jerome Travis is a civil rights activist, business leader, military veteran, and author. From the inception of his first realty company to his time serving three presidential administrations, Travis has served in both local and national theaters of private and civic life. Born 1920 … Read MoreDempsey Jerome Travis (1920- )
Born on March 24, 1912, Dorothy Irene Height was an activist, administrator, and educator dedicated racial and women’s equality in the United States. She was born in Richmond, Virginia, to James Height, a building contractor, and Fannie (Burroughs) Height, a nurse. She moved with her … Read MoreDorothy Irene Height (1912-2010)
Best known for being the first black woman to be elected to Congress in the state of North Carolina, Eva Clayton, a Democrat, became known as a vigorous advocate for the concerns of African Americans and for social improvement. Eva Clayton was born in Savannah, … Read MoreEva Clayton (1934- )
Grammy Award winning artist Stevie Wonder, one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, was born May 13, 1950 in Saginaw, Michigan. An excess of oxygen and a disorder affecting his retina called retinopathy resulted in his being born blind. In 1954, his … Read MoreStevie Wonder/Stevland Morris (1950- )
Patricia Roberts Harris was born on May 31, 1924 in Mattoon, Illinois. She excelled academically and received a scholarship to Howard University. During her time at Howard, Roberts was elected Phi Beta Kappa and graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1945. While she was in college … Read MorePatricia Roberts Harris (1924-1985)
Cleveland Sellers was born on November 8, 1944 in Denmark, South Carolina. Cleveland became interested in the Civil Rights Movement with the murder of Emmett Till in 1955. In 1960 at 15, he organized his first sit-in protest at a Denmark, South Carolina lunch counter, … Read MoreCleveland Sellers (1944- )
Alexander Walters was born in 1858 into a slave family in Bardstown, Kentucky, the sixth of eight children. By the age of ten, Walters had shown such academic progress that he was awarded by the African Episcopal Zion Church a full scholarship to attend private … Read MoreBishop Alexander Walters (1858-1917)
William Still was born in Burlington County, New Jersey in 1821, as the last of eighteen children of former slaves Levin and Charity Still. By 1844, Still moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he spent the majority of his life and where he was appointed secretary … Read MoreWilliam Still (1821-1902)
