The Watts Towers are a folk art assemblage built by Simon Rodia, between the years 1921 and 1955 in the Watts neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. Rodia, an Italian immigrant, bought a modest house on a narrow, triangular lot in 1921, and immediately began the … Read MoreWatts Towers (1921- )
Karen Ann King-Aribisala is a Guyanese-born novelist who was raised and currently resides in Nigeria. She left Guyana as a young child, moving with her parents to Nigeria around the time of the Nigerian Civil war (1967-1970). Her father introduced her to books at an … Read MoreKaren King-Aribisala (n.d.)
Image Ownership: Simon Fraser University Public Affairs and Media Relations (CC BY-SA 2.0) Renowned African novelist Nuruddin Farah was born in Baidoa, Somalia in 1945, a time when Somalia was still an Italian colony. His father Hassan Farah was a translator for the colonial government … Read MoreNuruddin Farah (1945- )
Hadrian’s Wall, named after Roman Emperor Hadrian (117-138 AD), was built between 122 and 128 AD as the frontier fortification for the northernmost region of the Roman Empire, near what is the current border of England and Scotland. During their time on the island of … Read MoreAfricans at Hadrian’s Wall
Azie Taylor Morton was a teacher, politician and the only African American to hold the position of Treasurer of the United States. Taylor was born to Fleta Hazel Taylor, who was deaf and mute, on February 1st, 1936 in the small community of St. John … Read MoreAzie Taylor Morton (1936-2003)
Muammar al-Qaddafi has been Libyan head of state since 1969 and one of the most controversial and divisive leaders in the Middle East and Africa in the twentieth century. Qaddafi was born in the spring of 1942 to an Arabized Berber family near the Sirt … Read MoreMuammar Al-Qaddafi (1942-2011)
Known as one of the leading football players with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Franco Harris was born in Fort Dix, New Jersey on March 7, 1950. He was the son of an African American soldier who served in World War II and an Italian “war bride” … Read MoreFranco Harris (1950-2022)
Born into slavery in 1854, Fr. Augustine (nicknamed Augustus) Tolton was one of the country’s first African American Roman Catholic priests. Tolton shares early black Catholic history with three brothers of Irish-African American ancestry: James, Sherwood, and Patrick Healy. The Healy brothers were ordained two … Read MoreAugustine (Augustus) Tolton (1854-1897)
Vernon Baker, belated recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor, was born on December 17, 1919 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. His father, Manuel Caldera, was a carpenter from New Mexico. His mother was named Beulah. At the age of four, Baker lost his parents in a … Read MoreVernon Baker (1919-2010)
Legendary opera star Mattiwilda Dobbs, was born July 11, 1925 in Atlanta, Georgia. Although she was the fifth of six daughters and her father worked as a mail clerk, he was able to provide her and all of her sisters with a college education. Dobbs … Read MoreMattiwilda Dobbs (1925-2015)
