Marion William Dial was the first African American elected to a city-wide office in Missouri. Dial was born in Chetopa, Kansas, on June 27, 1903. After receiving bachelors and master’s degrees from the Kansas State Teachers College (now Pittsburg State University), Dial embarked on a … Read MoreMarion William Dial (1903-1972)
Haben Girma at the White House with President Barack Obama, July 20, 2015 Image Ownership: Public domain Haben Girma, both blind and deaf, is a disability rights advocate and attorney who became the first deaf and blind graduate of Harvard Law School in Massachusetts when … Read MoreHaben Girma (1988- )
Fort Worth educator Hazel Bernice Harvey Peace was born on August 4, 1903, in Waco, Texas, to Allen H. and Georgia Mason Harvey. Peace graduated from the Fort Worth Colored High School (later I. M. Terrell High School) in Fort Worth in 1919. She obtained … Read MoreHazel Harvey Peace (1903-2008)
Louise McKinney (née Jones) was an African-American educator, human rights advocate, philanthropist, business woman, community activist, and patron of the arts. She was a long-established galvanizing force of civic life in Seattle and in the State of Washington. Born Louise Jones on July 12, 1920 … Read MoreLouise Jones McKinney (1930-2012)
At the time of her death in 1846, Dinah Whipple was the revered teacher of African American children in Portsmouth, New Hampshire but she was identified more prominently, at least according to the local white newspaper editor, as the widow of Prince Whipple. Prince had … Read MoreDinah Whipple (c.1760-1846)
Marita Odette Bonner (Occomy) was an African American writer, essayist, and playwright associated with the Harlem Renaissance Era. Born on June 16, 1899 to Joseph Andrew and Anne Noel Bonner in Boston, Massachusetts, she and her three siblings grew up in Brookline, a suburb of … Read MoreMarita Odette Bonner (1899-1971)
Born on April 17, 1912 as the youngest of twelve children in Culloden, Georgia, Jo Ann Robinson would become a successful educator and famous civil rights activist. After graduating from Fort Valley State College in 1934, she became a public school teacher in Macon, Georgia … Read MoreJo Ann Robinson (1912-1992)
Sarah Smith Tompkins Garnet was the first African American female principal in the New York public schools. The eldest of eleven children, she was born Minsarah Smith in Brooklyn in 1831. Her parents, Sylvanus and Ann Smith, were prosperous farmers of African, European, and Native … Read MoreSarah J. Smith Tompkins Garnet (1831-1911)
Educator Ruth Braswell Jones was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina on November 21, 1914, the seventh daughter, of William and Arkaanna (Sanders) Braswell. Her education includes a diploma with distinction from Brick Junior College, Brick, North Carolina, in 1933 and a B.S. degree in … Read MoreRuth Braswell Jones (1914- )
The Central Area School Council (CASC) was formed in 1969 at a time when community control of public schools was considered by many local activists as a more effective strategy than school integration in improving the performance of African American students. Activists argued that with … Read MoreCentral Area School Council (1969-1975)