Dr. Regina Marcia Benjamin, President Barack Obama’s nominee for Surgeon General of the United States, is an accomplished physician whose professional and personal roots are planted deeply in rural America. Dr. Benjamin was nominated for the post by the President on July 13, 2009 and … Read MoreRegina Marcia Benjamin (1956- )
Cleveland Leigh Abbott was born December 9, 1892 in Yankton, South Dakota. He is most remembered for his coaching career at Tuskegee Institute (now University) in Alabama. Abbott was the son of Elbert and Mollie Brown Abbott who moved to South Dakota from Alabama in … Read MoreCleveland Leigh Abbott (1892-1955)
Arthur George Gaston, wealthy businessman and civil rights activist, was born on July 4, 1892 in Demopolis, Alabama to Tom and Rosa McDonald Gaston. He was raised by his former slave grandparents Joseph and Idella Gaston. In 1905 Arthur Gaston moved to Birmingham where he … Read MoreA. G. Gaston (1892-1996)
The Birmingham Black Barons was a professional baseball team active in the Negro Leagues from 1920 to 1960. They played their home games at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama. The team had its greatest success in the 1940s, winning three Negro National League pennants (1943, … Read MoreBirmingham Black Barons
The National Medical Association (NMA) was founded in 1895 by African American physicians as an alternative to the white-only American Medical Association. It was created by twelve black doctors at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia. Robert F. Boyd was the organization’s … Read MoreNational Medical Association (1895- )
Charles Wade Barkley, born on February 20, 1963 in Leeds, Alabama will always be known for his excellent performance on the basketball court, but he is also trying to become known as a politician. In 2014, Barkley will run as the Independent candidate for Governor … Read MoreCharles Wade Barkley (1963- )
Monroe Nathan Work, a leading early 20th Century sociologist, was born on August 15, 1866 to his ex-slave parents in Iredell County, North Carolina. Shortly after his birth, the family moved to Cairo, Illinois where Monroe’s father worked as a tenant farmer. They aspired to … Read MoreMonroe Nathan Work (1866-1945)
Claude Albert Barnett, entrepreneur and founder of the Associated Negro Press, was born in Sanford, Florida on September 6, 1889. Barnett was parents were named William Barnett and Celena Anderson. At nine months, he was brought to Mattoon, Illinois to live with his maternal grandmother. Barnett … Read MoreClaude Albert Barnett (1889-1967)
Willard Johnson, bacteriologist, science educator, and business proprietor, was born in Leavenworth Kansas, the third of the eleven children of Joseph Johnson and Hattie McClanahan. Taught by his high school’s founder, Blanche Kelso Bruce, nephew of the Reconstruction era Senator of the same name, he … Read MoreWillard Johnson Sr. (1901-1969)
John Carter Leftwich was born on June 6, 1867 in Forkland, Alabama. The first son of Frances Edge and Lloyd Leftwich, one of Alabama’s last black Reconstruction Era state senators, John graduated from Selma University in 1890. As a young man, Leftwich held a deep … Read MoreJohn C. Leftwich (1867-1923)
