John Roy Lynch, congressman, soldier, and author was born in Concordia Parish, Louisiana on September 10, 1847 to Patrick Lynch, an Irish immigrant and Catherine White, a slave. Lynch’s father died soon after his birth. Lynch and his mother were then traded to a plantation … Read MoreJohn Roy Lynch (1847-1939)
The Anita Bush Players, also known as the Anita Bush All-Colored Dramatic Stock Company was organized by Actor Anita Bush in New York City in 1915. An actor, dancer, and producer, Anita Bush turned to drama after a back injury ended her dancing career in … Read MoreAnita Bush Players
Drummer, composer, and percussionist Max Roach was noted for his innovative contrapuntal polyrhythms, and was one of the founders of the bebop movement in jazz. He is widely considered one of the greatest drummers of all time, able to keep separate simultaneous rhythms going with … Read MoreMaxwell Lemuel “Max” Roach (1924–2007)
Alto saxophonist Charlie Parker was the most influential jazz musician to follow Louis Armstrong, and one of the music’s few true revolutionaries. The style he helped to create, called bebop, or bop, established jazz as an intellectual music that was no longer viewed merely as … Read MoreCharles “Charlie” Parker, Jr. (1920-1955)
Born on January 20, 1903 in Pender, Nebraska to John Miller, a former slave, and Nora Herbaugh, a white Midwesterner, Miller was, at his death in 1967, considered one of the leading civil rights attorneys in the United States, particularly in the field of housing … Read MoreLoren Miller (1903-1967)
Charles Fuller was born on March 5, 1939 to parents Charles H. Sr. and Lillian Anderson Fuller of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Fuller was the oldest of three children, but would see his parents welcome some twenty foster children into their home over the years. Fuller attended … Read MoreCharles Henry Fuller Jr. (1939- )
Charles Gordone was born Charles Edward Fleming on October 12, 1925 in Cleveland, Ohio to parents William and Camille Fleming. He took his stepfather’s surname of Gordon when his mother remarried when he was five years old. The family moved to Elkhart, Indiana, his mother’s … Read MoreCharles Gordone (1925-1995)
Anita Hill is a professor of law, social policy and management and women’s studies at Brandeis University. She was born in Lone Tree, Oklahoma on July 30, 1956. A bright student, she graduated as the valedictorian of her high school class and then earned a … Read MoreAnita Faye Hill (1956- )
Born into poverty, the grandson of a former slave, business executive Stanley O’Neal rose through the ranks of corporate America to become the first African American to head a major firm on Wall Street when Merrill Lynch named him chief executive officer in 2002. In … Read MoreStanley O’Neal (1951- )
Dr. Rebecca J. Cole was the first black woman doctor in the United States. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 16, 1846, Cole was one of five children. Cole began her schooling at the Institute for Colored Youth and graduated in 1863. She then attended … Read MoreRebecca J. Cole (1846-1922)
