Born in 1920 in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, Percy Steele was one of eight children. Steele graduated from North Carolina Central College in Durham, North Carolina, after which he attended Atlanta University, where he completed a Master’s degree. From 1945 to 1946, he was a staff member … Read MorePercy H. Steele Jr. (1920–2002)
In the late 1930s psychologist and educator Kenneth B. Clark and his wife and collaborator, Mamie Phipps Clark, began to study the self-image of black children. The Clarks were among the first to describe the “harm and benefit” thesis in the area of civil rights … Read MoreKenneth B. Clark (1914-2005)
James Weldon Johnson, composer, diplomat, social critic, and civil rights activist, was born of Bahamian immigrant parents in Jacksonville, Florida on June 17, 1871. Instilled with the value of education by his father James, a waiter, and his mother Helen, a teacher, Johnson excelled at … Read MoreJames Weldon Johnson (1871-1938)
Franklin Raines was born in Seattle on January 14, 1949, and graduated from Franklin High School in Seattle. From here, he went to Harvard and graduated in 1971 with a B.A. in Government. He was awarded the prestigious Rhodes scholarship and attended Oxford University for … Read MoreFranklin Raines (1949- )
Arthur Robert Ashe Jr., legendary tennis player, human rights activist, and educator, was born on July 10, 1943, in Richmond, Virginia, to Arthur Sr. and Mattie Cunningham Ashe. At the age of four, he began playing tennis at Brook Field, a black-only park where his … Read MoreArthur Ashe (1943-1993)
Charles Moorehead Stokes, one of three sons of Rev. Norris Jefferson Stokes and Myrtle Garner Stokes, was born on February 1, 1903 in Pratt, Kansas. He graduated from the University of Kansas Law School in 1931 and soon after opened his law practice in Pratt … Read MoreCharles Moorehead Stokes (1903-1996)
Painter and illustrator Aaron Douglas was born in Topeka, Kansas on May 26, 1899 to Aaron Douglas Sr., a baker originally from Tennessee and Elizabeth Douglas, a homemaker from Alabama. and became one of the leading visual artists of his time. Inspired by the work … Read MoreAaron Douglas (1898-1979)
Daniel Hale Williams III was a pioneering surgeon best known for performing in 1893 one of the world’s first successful open heart surgeries. Williams was born on January 18, 1856, in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania to Sarah Price Williams and Daniel Hale Williams II. Following the death … Read MoreDaniel Hale Williams (1856-1931)
