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)
Kelly Miller, mathematician, intellectual, and political activist, was born on July 18, 1863 in Winnsboro, South Carolina to Kelly and Elizabeth Miller. Like many African Americans who took advantage of increased educational opportunities after the civil war, Miller attended Howard University in Washington, D.C. He … Read MoreKelly Miller (1863-1939)
John Seamon Cotter, Jr., a talented playwright, journalist, and poet, was born and reared in Louisville, Kentucky. The son of journalist, playwright, poet, teacher and community developer Joseph Seamon Cotter, Sr., the younger Cotter’s education began with his sister Florence Olivia teaching him to read. … Read MoreJoseph Seamon Cotter Jr. (1895-1919)
Lester Blackwell Granger was a social worker and civil rights and labor rights activist best known for leading the National Urban League (NUL) from 1941 to 1961. Granger was born on September 16, 1896, in Newport News, Virginia, to William “Ran” Randolph and Mary Louise … Read MoreLester Blackwell Granger (1896-1976)
Joseph Seamon Cotter, Sr., the father of poet-playwright Joseph Seamon, Jr., distinguished himself as a playwright, poet, author, and educator. Cotter was born in Bardstown, Kentucky in 1861, but was reared in Louisville. He was one of the earliest African American playwrights to be published. … Read MoreJoseph Seamon Cotter, Sr. (1861-1949)
John Campbell Dancy, Jr. headed the Detroit Urban League through the tumultuous years of the Great Migration, Great Depression, and World War II. He was born into a prominent family in North Carolina who steered him to the north to obtain degrees from Phillips-Exeter Academy … Read MoreJohn Campbell Dancy Jr. (1888-1968)
Self-trained historian, novelist, and journalist Joel Augustus Rogers spent most of his life debunking pseudo-scientific and racist depictions of people of African ancestry while popularizing the history of persons of black people around the world. Rogers was born September 6, 1883 in Negril, Jamaica. He … Read MoreJ. A. Rogers (1880-1966)
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)
Born on May 11, 1911 in Brownsville, Tennessee, Dr. Hugh Gloster was best known as the longtime president of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia and a literary critic. Gloster was was the youngest child of John and Dora Gloster. He was the product of a … Read MoreHugh Gloster (1911-2002)
Hubert Fauntleroy Julian, nicknamed the Black Eagle, was born in Trinidad on January 5th, 1897. In 1922, when he was 25 years old, he flew over parades in support of Marcus Garvey. He subsequently took flying lessons from Air Service, Inc., and purchased a plane … Read MoreHubert Fauntleroy Julian (1897-1983)
