This entry is for juvenile audiences. To see the full version of this entry, click here Who was Bessie Coleman? Bessie Coleman was born one of thirteen children on January 26, 1892, in Atlanta, Texas, to a family of sharecroppers. Her mother was Black, and her father was multiracial, … Read MoreBessie Coleman (1892-1926) [Children’s Edition]
William Robinson Clarke was a famous World War I airman. He was the first Black pilot to fly for the United Kingdom. Clarke was born in Kingston, Jamaica on October 4, 1895 to Eugenia Clarke. Jamaica was a which British colony at the time. World … Read MoreWilliam Robinson Clarke (1895-1981)
The Fort Des Moines Provisional Army Officer Training School was a military base and training facility located on the south side of Des Moines, Iowa. During World War I it was the training facility for the first large group of African Americans officers to serve … Read MoreThe Fort Des Moines Provisional Army Officer Training School (1901- )
The Golden Gate Quartet was formed in 1934 in Norfolk, Virginia, as the Golden Gate Jubilee Singers by four teenage students at Booker T. Washington High School. The founders were bass Orlandus Wilson who was born on August 27, 1917, in South Norfolk, arranger/ baritone … Read MoreThe Golden Gate Quartet (1934- )
Mickey and Sylvia were a popular R&B duo in the 1950s known for their hit song “Love is Strange.” In 1957, the single topped the R&B chart at No.11 and sold over one million copies. It was awarded a gold disc by the Recording Industry … Read MoreMickey and Sylvia (1955-1965)
Adah Isaacs Menken was an American actor and poet who performed in New York, San Francisco, London, and Paris and was widely known for her title role in the play Mazeppa, or the Wild Horse of the Tartary. She also wrote poems for magazines and … Read MoreAdah Isaacs Menken (1835-1868)
Blues Guitarist Gary Lee Clark Jr. was born on February 15, 1984, in Austin, Texas, to Sandy Clark and Gary Clark Sr., a car salesman. Clark received the first guitar at Christmas when he was 13, an Ibanez RX20. During that time, he read music … Read MoreGary Lee Clark Jr. (1984- )
The astonishing appearance of a high-ranking Black military officer in late 18th century Poland who led troops across Europe and in the Caribbean is further evidence of the breadth of the African diaspora. The product of an illicit affair in Paris between British-born Princess Maria … Read MoreWladyslaw Franciszek Jablonowski (1769-1802)
African investment banker Tidjane Thiam who was co-CEO of Credit Suisse from 2015 to 2020, was born one of seven children into a politically prominent family in Abidjan, Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire) on July 29, 1962. His father, Amadou Anna Thiam, was a journalist and … Read MoreTidjane Thiam (1962- )
Tireless adoption advocate and civil rights activist Mabel T. Grammer was born on December 23, 1913, in Hot Springs, Arkansas, the granddaughter of slaves and one of the seven children of Pearl and Edward Treadwell. Her father, who worked as a bellhop, died when she … Read MoreMabel Treadwell Grammer (1913-2002)
