In the following article independent historian Charles Kastner describes the 1944-1945 tour of Alberta Hunter and the Rhythm Rascals who became the first black USO performing unit to Visit the China-Burma-India Theater of World War II. The China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater of World War Two, was … Read MoreAlberta Hunter and the Rhythm Rascals in the China-Burma-India Theater of World War II
Wade Kornegay is largely regarded as a scientific expert in missile defense during the Cold War. Through his knowledge of physics, he aided in developing a system that could track ballistic missiles that simultaneously differentiated them based on their level of threat to the United … Read MoreWade Kornegay (1934- )
Anne Moody was a writer and civil rights activist best known for her memoir, Coming of Age in Mississippi (1968). In the early 1960s, while a student at Tougaloo College, she worked with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Student … Read MoreAnne Moody (1940-2015)
Surgeon and oncologist Dr. LaSalle D. Leffall Jr. was born on May 22, 1930 in Tallahassee, Florida to Lula Jordan and LaSalle Leffall Sr. Leffall grew up in Quincy, Florida where his father taught agriculture at Florida A&M College, a historically black college located in … Read MoreLaSalle D. Leffall Jr. (1930-2019)
Frances Elizabeth Williams was an actress, activist, organizer, and community worker. She served on the board of Screen Actors Guild and Actors Equity, and because of her efforts helped open doors for many people of color in the film industry. Born in East Orange, New … Read MoreFrances E. Williams (1908-1995)
In the article below, Dr. Uchenna Umeh, a former San Antonio, Texas physician, briefly describes how mental health among African Americans was viewed and treated by the American medical community from the antebellum period until today. In the process she describes how those attitudes have … Read MoreMental Illness in Black Community, 1700-2019: A Short History
Thomas Blackshear is a renowned painter and sculptor. Blackshear was born in Waco, Texas on November 14, 1955 to Thomas Richman Blackshear, a U.S. Air Force pilot, and his wife, whose name is unknown. Mostly raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Blackshear loved to draw. Upon finishing … Read MoreThomas Richman Blackshear II (1955- )
Merze Tate, a historian, political author, world traveler, and philanthropist, was the first African American to graduate from Oxford University. She was born during a terrible blizzard in rural Blanchard, Michigan on February 6, 1905 to Charles and Myrtle Tate, both farmers. Her grandparents were … Read MoreVernie Merze Tate (1905-1996)
Anton de Kom (Cornelis Gerhard Anton de Kom) was a Surinamese author, anti-colonial activist, trade unionist, and World War II resistance fighter. De Kom was born in Paramaribo, Suriname, a colony of the Netherlands, on February 22, 1898 to a former slave and farmer Adolf de Kom and a free woman Judith … Read MoreAnton de Kom (1898-1945)
As an Army Major General, Frederic Ellis Davison paved the way for many African Americans who became military officers. Through Davison’s decorated career, those he led and served alongside respected him. His legacy as an officer in World War II and the Vietnam War marked his place in both military and … Read MoreFrederic Ellis Davison (1917-1999)
