Belle da Costa Greene was one of the most prominent librarians in American history. She was born Belle Marion Greener to African American parents Richard Theodore Greener and Genevieve Ida Fleet Greener, in Washington, D.C., on November 26, 1879. Her parents separated in her childhood. … Read MoreBelle da Costa Greene (1883-1950)
Ruben Rivers was a United States Army staff sergeant who served as a tank company platoon leader during World War II. Rivers was born in 1921 to Willie and Lillian Rivers in Tecumseh, Oklahoma. He grew up nearby Hotulka, Oklahoma where he and his eleven … Read MoreRuben Rivers (1921-1944)
Djenné, also known as Jenne or Dienné, is a southern Malian city that was an ancient center for trading and Muslim scholarship during its height. It is nestled on the Bani River and is approximately 220 miles southwest of Timbuktu. The city had a population … Read MoreDjenné, Mali (11th or 13th century- )
On January 13, 1997 Lieutenant Charles L. Thomas was awarded the Medal of Honor for “heroism in action” in Climbach, France during World War II. born on April 17, 1920 in Birmingham, Alabama. Thomas’s family relocated to Detroit, Michigan as part of the Great Migration. … Read MoreCharles L. Thomas (1920-1980)
Billie Blair is an African American model who rose to fame during the 1973 fashion extravaganza at the Palace of Versailles near Paris, France. She later left the fashion world to pursue her passion for evangelism. Born to Hattie and William Blair in Arkansas, Billie … Read MoreBillie Blair (1951- )
Diallo Telli Boubacar was the first General Secretary of the Organization of the African Unity (OAU), the pan-African body created in 1963 in the aftermath of independence of many African nations and replaced on July 9, 2002 by the African Union (AU). Telli was born … Read MoreDiallo Telli (1925-1977)
Victoria Eugenia Santa Cruz Gammara is widely considered the mother of Afro-Peruvian dance. Victoria Santa Cruz was born in Lima, Peru, on October 27, 1922, to a large Peruvian family of 10 children. Her father was Nicomedes Santa Cruz Aparicio, and her mother, Victoria Gamma … Read MoreVictoria Eugenia Santa Cruz Gamarra (1922-2014)
Salome Bey was an American-born, Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, and actress who, after emigrating to Toronto, became known as “Canada’s first lady of the blues.” Salome Wideman was born in Newark, New Jersey, on October 10, 1933, to Andrew and Victoria Wideman. Her father was a … Read MoreSalome Bey (1933-2020)
Artist Nancy Elizabeth Prophet was born in Warwick, Rhode Island on March 19, 1890, the second of three children. Her mother, Rose Walker Profitt was African American; her father, William H. Profitt was a Narragansett Indian. Prophet was married to Francis Ford from 1915 to … Read MoreNancy Elizabeth Prophet (1890-1960)
As a child, concert violinist and professor Elwyn A. Adams was a musical prodigy of some notoriety in the African American community of Cleveland, Ohio, where he was born on August 3, 1933. At age five he gave his first violin recital at East Mt. … Read MoreElwyn Albert Adams (1933-1995)
