Morris Overstreet was the first African American in Texas state history to be elected to a statewide office and the second (after Judge Louis Sturns) to sit on one of the two highest courts in the state, the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals. Overstreet was born on … Read MoreMorris Overstreet (1950-2024)
Joseph Neal, the first African American elected to the Nevada state senate, was born in Mounds, Louisiana on July 28, 1935. He attended Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and graduated in 1963 with a B.A. in political science and history as well as doing postgraduate work in law. He also graduated from the … Read MoreJoseph (Joe) Neal (1935- )
Richard Kevin Sherman is currently playing football with the San Francisco 49ers. He played college football at Stanford University both as a wide receiver and as a cornerback, and he was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the fifth round of the 2011 NFL Draft. … Read MoreRichard Kevin Sherman (1988– )
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Frederick McDonald Massiah was one of the first African Americans to receive a civil engineering degree from Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was also one of the first successful African American contracting engineers in the country. Massiah was born in … Read MoreFrederick McDonald Massiah (1886–1975)
James Albert “Billboard” Jackson was a critic, reporter, editor, spokesman, actor, and booster of black entertainment. Jackson, the eldest of 14 children of Abraham V. Jackson and Nancy Lee Jackson, was born on June 20, 1878 in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. He attended public schools in Bellefonte, … Read MoreJames Albert “Billboard” Jackson (1878-1960)
Marco McMillian was known primarily as the first openly-gay African American man to seek mayoral office as a Democrat in his hometown of Clarksdale, Mississippi. On February 26, 2013, McMillian was found dead the age of 34, having been beaten, dragged, and burned. Little is … Read MoreMarco McMillian (1979-2013)
With an enrollment of approximately 9,000 graduate and undergraduate students, Howard University is the fifth largest Historically Black College and University (HBCU). It has been labeled “the capstone of Negro education,” because of its central role in the African American educational experience. Among historically black … Read MoreHoward University (1867- )
Here Nnamdi Azikiwe, future first President of Nigeria, delivers an address to his fellow fraternity members at the Banneker High School Auditorium, Washington, D.C., on December 27, 1949, at the 35th Anniversary of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity. I have travelled 8,500 miles in order … Read More(1949) Nnamdi Azikiwe Addresses Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity at its 35th Annual Convention in Washington, D.C.
Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. (Sigma) was founded on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C., on January 14, 1914, by three college students, A. Langston Taylor, Lenard F. Morse, and Charles I. Brown on the principles of Brotherhood, Scholarship, and Service. The founders … Read MorePhi Beta Sigma Fraternity (1914- )
The National Pan-Hellenic Council, Inc. (NPHC) is the collaborative effort of nine historically African American Greek-lettered fraternities and sororities, also known as the Divine 9. The Council was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C., on May 10, 1930, and chartered by Alpha Kappa Alpha … Read MoreNational Pan-Hellenic Council (1930 – )
