Lyric Soprano, Actor, and advocate for equal rights Audra Ann McDonald was born July 3, 1970, in Berlin, Germany, to Stanley McDonald Jr., a high school principal stationed in West Berlin with the United States Army, and Anna Kathryn, a university administrator. She was reared, … Read MoreAudra Ann McDonald (1970- )
Cheryl D. Mills was the Counsel and Chief of Staff for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from January 2009 until January 2013. She was also deputy White House counsel during the Clinton Administration 1993 to 1999. Born on January 1, 1965, Mills grew up on … Read MoreCheryl Mills (1965- )
Conductor, clarinetist, and composer W. Rudolph Dunbar was born on November 26, 1907, in Nabaclis, Guyana. At the age of nine, his musical genius apparent, he was invited to serve as a clarinetist in the British Guiana Militia Band. After a brief apprenticeship for stellar … Read MoreW. Rudolph Dunbar (1907-1988)
Concert musician Calvin Edouard Ward was born on February 10, 1925, in Atlanta, Georgia, to Effie Elizabeth Crawford Ward, a graduate of Spelman Seminary for Women and Girls. His father, Jefferson Sigman Ward, a World War I Veteran, graduated from the Haynes Institute in Augusta, Georgia. … Read MoreCalvin Edouard Ward (1925-2018)
T’wina Nobles is a Washington State Senator representing the 28th Legislative District, which includes the cities of Fircrest, University Place, Lakewood, Steilacoom, DuPont, and a portion of Tacoma, Washington, as well as Ketron Island, Anderson Island, and McNeil Island and Joint Base Lewis McChord. She is currently … Read MoreT’wina Nobles (1981- )
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)
On July 2, 2018, Lieutenant General Darryl A. Williams became the first African American to be sworn in to lead the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. Born in Alexandria, Virginia, the son of former Army officer Lonnie Buford Williams, Darryl A. … Read MoreDarryl Atwell Cecil Williams (1961- )
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)
Anthony Brown served as lieutenant governor of Maryland from 2007 to 2015. Martin O’Malley, the former mayor of Baltimore, was his gubernatorial running mate. Prior to becoming lieutenant governor, Brown was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates to represent Prince George’s County. State Delegate … Read MoreAnthony Brown (1961- )
