James Cleveland “Jesse” Owens is best known for his remarkable athletic performance at the 1936 Berlin Olympics where he won four gold medals. Owens was born near Oakville, Alabama, on September 12, 1913, the twelfth child of sharecroppers Henry Cleveland and Mary Emma Owens. Owens, … Read MoreJesse Owens (1913-1980)
Described by President Bill Clinton as “one of the best advisors and the ablest people I ever knew,” Ron Brown was an influential leader in the Democratic Party. Ronald Harmon Brown was born in Washington, D.C., on August 1, 1941. His father, William, was a … Read MoreRonald H. Brown (1941-1996)
Joe Louis Barrow, known popularly as Joe Louis, was the second African American heavyweight boxing champion in the 20th Century. Louis was born on May 13, 1914 in Chambers County Alabama to sharecropper parents Monroe and Lilly Reese Barrow. He was the seventh of eight … Read MoreJoe Louis [Barrow] (1914-1981)
Leslie “Wildcat” Carter was born on December 12, 1909 and migrated to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada with his family as a very small boy. At fourteen, he and an older sister moved to Everett, Washington. One year later, at fifteen, he began his professional boxing career … Read MoreLeslie “Wildcat” Carter (1909-1985)
Quintessential gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, often called the “Queen of Gospel,” was born on October 26, 1911, to an impoverished family in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her father, John A. Jackson, Sr., was a dockworker and barber who later became a Baptist minister. Her mother, Charity … Read MoreMahalia Jackson (1911-1972)
With expertise in the mechanisms and kinetics of the oxidation of transitions metals, and in agricultural chemistry, Fillmore Freeman has become one of the three most frequently cited African American chemists in the nation (the other two being Donald J. Darensbourg at Texas A&M University … Read MoreFillmore Freeman (1936- )
Mathematician Charles Bernard Bell, Jr., one of the leading African American mathematicians of the twentieth century, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in August 20, 1928. At age 19 he graduated from Xavier University in 1947 and earned his Ph.D. in mathematics from Notre Dame … Read MoreCharles B. Bell, Jr. (1928-2010)
Political activist Earl Mann was born on June 8, 1886 in Lyons, Iowa. He joined the army and fought in World War I in France and Germany. He was promoted to First Lieutenant of the Infantry, which was a rare accomplishment for an African American … Read MoreEarl Mann (1886-1969)
In 1866 the Fisk Free Colored School was established in Nashville, Tennessee by the American Missionary Association. Housed in abandoned Union hospital barracks, Fisk set out to educate former slaves with the support of donations from former abolitionists. As those donations declined over the next … Read MoreFisk Jubilee Singers
