Image Courtesy of Gage Skidmore (CC BY-SA 3.0) Civic leader, activist and journalist Benjamin Jealous is the seventeenth president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). With his appointment to the position in 2008, 35-yar-old Jealous became the youngest person to … Read MoreBenjamin Todd Jealous (1973- )
Born on July 3, 1919 in North Little Rock, Arkansas, Samuel Proctor Massie was as one of the few African American scientists to work on the Manhattan Project during World War II. He later became a distinguished professor of chemistry. Massie graduated from Dunbar High … Read MoreSamuel P. Massie (1919-2005)
George Edward Chalmer Hayes, one of the 1954 Brown Decision attorneys, was born on July 1, 1894, in Richmond, Virginia. His father, attorney James H. Hayes, encouraged George to pursue both law and Republican politics. He earned his undergraduate degree at Brown University in 1915 … Read MoreGeorge E. C. Hayes (1894-1968)
Born on February 17, 1906 in Cordele, Georgia, Sidney Barthwell was the founder of Barthwell Drugs, once the largest chain of black-owned drug stores in the United States. As a young man, he attended Lucius H. Holsey Academy of Excellence in Fitzgerald. In 1922, he … Read MoreSidney Barthwell (1906-2005)
Antonio Maceo Walker was an African American businessman and president of Universal Life Insurance Company and Tri-State Bank, both in Memphis, Tennessee. Walker was born on June 7, 1909, in Indianola, Mississippi to Joseph and Lela Walker. His father, Joseph Edison Walker, founded Universal Life … Read MoreA. Maceo Walker (1909-1994)
The first African American Postmaster of a major postal facility, Henry W. McGee, Sr. was born in Hillsboro, Texas, in 1910, and moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1927. McGee was the first person to rise from the ranks of letter carriers to achieve the status … Read MoreHenry Wadsworth McGee, Sr. (1910-2000)
Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. (Kappa), a predominantly African American Greek-letter fraternity, was founded on January 5, 1911 on the campus of Indiana University. It is the first black Greek-letter organization founded west of the Appalachian Mountains. The fraternity, originally called Kappa Alpha Nu, was … Read MoreKappa Alpha Psi Fraternity (1911- )
Earl Burrus Dickerson was a member of President Roosevelt’s Fair Employment Practices Commission between 1941 and 1943 and a prominent civil rights attorney in Chicago. He was also one of the founders of the Supreme Liberty Life Insurance Company with headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. Dickerson … Read MoreEarl B. Dickerson (1891-1986)
Image Ownership: Public Domain The National Pan-Hellenic Council, Inc. (NPHC), also referred to as the Divine Nine, is the umbrella organization housing nine black Greek-letter organizations. The NPHC was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. on May 10, 1930, and incorporated under laws in … Read MoreNational Pan-Hellenic Council (1930 – )
Charles Clinton Spaulding, one of the most successful and influential African American businessmen of the 20th century, was born August 1, 1874 on a farm near Whiteville, North Carolina. His parents, Benjamin McIver and Margaret Moore Spaulding of free ancestry, were prosperous landowners and respected … Read MoreCharles Clinton Spaulding (1874-1952)
