The Creek Seminole College was officially opened in 1906 in Boley, a black town in Creek Nation, Indian Territory (today Oklahoma). The school’s founder and president was John C. Leftwich, a graduate of Selma University in Alabama. Leftwich built the college on five acres of … Read MoreCreek Seminole College (1906-ca. 1925)
Dempsey Jerome Travis is a civil rights activist, business leader, military veteran, and author. From the inception of his first realty company to his time serving three presidential administrations, Travis has served in both local and national theaters of private and civic life. Born 1920 … Read MoreDempsey Jerome Travis (1920- )
Harvard University’s Frank G. Thomson Professor of Government Emeritus, Dr. Martin L. Kilson, Jr. bears his professional prominence very easily, descending from three generations of clergy with skills of persuasion, presentation and organization. Before the Civil War, his great-great-grandfather, The Reverend Isaac Lee, founded the … Read MoreMartin L. Kilson, Jr. (1931- )
What started as a $125.00 purchase of a small parcel of land at 15 grew and blossomed over the years into a multi million-dollar company, and with this, Herman Jerome Russell came to epitomize black entrepreneurship by becoming one of the first black millionaires. By … Read MoreHerman J. Russell (1930- )
In the following article by Alton Hornsby, Jr., the Fuller E. Callaway Professor of History at Morehouse College and former editor of the Journal of Negro History, briefly describes the founding of Atlanta University, Clark College (now Clark Atlanta University), Morehouse College, Spelman College, Morris … Read MoreHistorically Black Colleges and Universities of Atlanta
Image Courtesy of The History Cooperative William Pickens was born January 15, 1881 in Anderson County, South Carolina. His parents were liberated slaves who migrated to Arkansas when he was a young boy. Young Pickens worked in cotton fields and in sawmills while attending the … Read MoreWilliam Pickens (1881-1954)
Despite his personal and legal problems in the last two decades of his life, Michael Jackson remains one of the most widely known and successful pop stars of all time. Commercially and critically Jackson, both solo and with his brothers in The Jackson Five, dominated … Read MoreMichael Jackson (1958-2009)
Grammy Award winning artist Stevie Wonder, one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, was born May 13, 1950 in Saginaw, Michigan. An excess of oxygen and a disorder affecting his retina called retinopathy resulted in his being born blind. In 1954, his … Read MoreStevie Wonder/Stevland Morris (1950- )
Educator, essayist, journalist, scholar, social critic, and activist W.E.B. DuBois, was born to Mary Sylvina Burghardt and Alfred Dubois on February 23, 1868 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He excelled in the public schools of Great Barrington, graduating valedictorian from his high school in 1884. Four … Read MoreWilliam Edward Burghardt DuBois (1868-1963)
Patricia Roberts Harris was born on May 31, 1924 in Mattoon, Illinois. She excelled academically and received a scholarship to Howard University. During her time at Howard, Roberts was elected Phi Beta Kappa and graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1945. While she was in college … Read MorePatricia Roberts Harris (1924-1985)
