An outstanding educator and academic leader, Inman Edward Page was born in Warrenton, Virginia, on December 29, 1853. On the plantation where he and his parents were enslaved, Page was a houseboy. When he was about ten years old the Civil War brought Union and … Read MoreInman Edward Page (1853-1936)
Horace Roscoe Cayton, Jr., was the son of Horace and Susie Cayton and the grandson of Hiram R. Revels, the first black U.S. Senator. After graduation from Seattle’s Franklin High School and the University of Washington, Cayton attended the University of Chicago. It was in … Read MoreHorace Roscoe Cayton, Jr. (1903-1970)
George Washington was a prominent pioneer in the state named, like he was, for America’s first president. He founded Centralia in southwest Washington and was a leading citizen and benefactor of the town. Washington’s father was a slave, his mother of English descent. When his … Read MoreGeorge Washington (1817-1905)
For nearly thirty years, Emma Ray, who was born into slavery and raised in poverty in Missouri, ministered to the poor and homeless in Seattle slums along with her husband, L.P. They came to Seattle following the 1889 fire in order for L.P. to find … Read MoreEmma Ray (1859-1930)
Elijah Abel, early convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), was born on July 25, 1810 in Washington County, Maryland to Andrew and Delilah Abel, likely in bondage. There is some evidence that he used the Underground Railroad to escape slavery. He eventually … Read MoreElijah Abel (1810-1884)
Political activist Earl Mann was born on June 8, 1886 in Lyons, Iowa. He joined the army and fought in World War I in France and Germany. He was promoted to First Lieutenant of the Infantry, which was a rare accomplishment for an African American … Read MoreEarl Mann (1886-1969)
David Abner, black Texas legislator, was born enslaved in Selma, Alabama, in 1826 and brought to Texas in 1843 by the daughter of his master who, with her husband, settled in Upshur County. Abner remained there until after the Civil War. In 1866 he moved … Read MoreDavid Abner Sr. (1826-1902)
Born in West Africa Jeffrey Brace (born Boyrereau Brinch) was enslaved at the age of sixteen and transported to Barbados, where he was sold to a ship captain from Connecticut who used him as an enslaved sailor-soldier during the Seven Years War. At the war’s … Read MoreJeffrey Brace (ca. 1742-1827)
Black Nationalist, repatriationist, and minister, Henry M. Turner was 31 years old at the time of the Emancipation. Turner was born in 1834 in Newberry Courthouse, South Carolina to free black parents Sarah Greer and Hardy Turner. The self-taught Turner by the age of fifteen … Read MoreHenry McNeal Turner (1834-1915)
Born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on May 25, 1918, Coleman Young arrived in Detroit, Michigan with his family when he was five. The Colemans settled in the working class neighborhood of Black Bottom (East Detroit), where his father operated a dry cleaning business and his mother … Read MoreColeman A. Young (1918-1997)
