Although Black Americans have lived on the outskirts of major American cities since colonial times, Black suburbanization, that is the significant presence of African Americans in suburban communities, is a post-1960 phenomenon. The modern American suburb is a 20th century development as homebuilders, responding to … Read MoreA Brief History of African American Suburbanization
In 1945, two native Philadelphia friends, Margaret Hawkins and Sarah Scott, saw a need for African American women to be supported and uplifted in ways that existing clubs, sororities, and other organizations were not doing. In response, the two friends conceived of a new kind … Read MoreThe Links, Incorporated (1945- )
The South Conference For Human Welfare (SCHW), and the Southern Conference Education Fund (SCEF) which evolved out of it, were part of a broad movement to promote New Deal policies, civil rights, and economic and political reform in the South. Twelve hundred people, about 25% … Read MoreSouthern Conference For Human Welfare (1938-1948)
The MOVE organization was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1972 by John Africa. When members greeted each other they would say “on the MOVE.” The MOVE organization spoke about racial and environmental injustice on street corners and protested in front of numerous organizations throughout the … Read MoreMOVE Bombing (1985)
Henrietta Vinton Davis was an American elocutionist, dramatist, and impersonator. She was also considered to be the physical, intellectual, and spiritual link between the abolitionist movement of the Frederick Douglass era and the African Redemption Movement of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities … Read MoreHenrietta Vinton Davis (1860-1941)
The Chicago Freedom Movement, led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., James Bevel, and Al Raby, was created to challenge systemic racial segregation and discrimination in Chicago and its suburbs. The movement, which included rallies, protest marches, boycotts, and other forms of non-violent direct action, … Read MoreChicago Freedom Movement (1965–1967)
The St. Martin De Porres Club was founded in 1947 by Father John P. Markoe, S.J., a priest, and Creighton University students interested in local civil rights issues in Omaha, Nebraska. Father Markoe was assigned to St. Benedict the Moor Parish at 2423 Grant Street … Read MoreSt. Martin De Porres Club (1947- )
The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF or, alternately, the ‘Inc. Fund’) provides legal services in the fight against racial discrimination. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) program for reform had long combined legal challenges to de jure segregation … Read MoreNAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (1940- )
Francis Johnson, musician, composer, and bandmaster, was born in 1792 in Martinique in the West Indies and emigrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1809 at the age of 17. By that point he had already mastered the keyed bugle and the violin. By his early 20s … Read MoreFrancis Johnson (1792-1844)
Educator, civil rights activist, writer, suffragist, and political organizer, Addie Waites Hunton was born in Norfolk, Virginia on June 11, 1866, to Jesse and Adeline Waites. After her mother died when she was very young, she moved to Boston, Massachusetts to live with her maternal … Read MoreAddie Waites Hunton (1866-1943)
