Edward G. Irvin was a co-founder of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. Irvin was born on August 13th, 1893, in Spencer, Indiana, as the seventh of nine siblings. His father was an African Methodist Episcopal (AME) preacher. Irvin grew up in Spencer but was part of … Read MoreEdward Giles Irvin (1893-1982)
Henry “Pistol” Mason was the first Black baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia farm team, the Schenectady Blue Jays in 1955. Mason was born on June 19, 1931 in Marshall, Missouri to Tansie and Anna Mason. His father was a laborer in a rock quarry and … Read MoreHenry Mason (1931-2020)
Founded in 1816, Mt. Zion United Methodist Church, the oldest continuously operating African American church in Washington DC, is located at 1334 29th Street NW. The Georgetown community where the church now sits, was a central port for slave and tobacco trading in the early … Read MoreMount Zion United Methodist Church (1816- )
Rutgers University President Jonathan S. Holloway was born July 26, 1967 in Honolulu, Hawaii, the son of an Air Force lieutenant colonel Dr. Wendell Mondoza Holloway and preschool and elementary school teacher Kay Trent Holloway. He grew up mainly in Montgomery, Alabama where his father … Read MoreJonathan Scott Holloway (1967- )
Galloway United Methodist Church (UMC) in Falls Church, Virginia, was founded in 1867 by George and Harriet Brice, who are buried in the historic graveyard on site. The Brices had escaped slavery and according to the U.S. Federal Census of 1850 were free blacks living … Read MoreGalloway United Methodist Church (1867- )
The Nashville Student Movement (NSM) was a civil rights organization in Nashville, Tennessee. The NSM was established when Rev. James Lawson and the Nashville Christian Leadership Council (NCLC) hosted nonviolent workshops at his church, Clark Memorial United Methodist Church, in 1959. The NSM challenged racial … Read MoreNashville Student Movement (1959-1964)
Joseph Echols Lowery was an American minister in the United Methodist Church and a founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1957. Lowery was born on October 6, 1921 to Leroy and Dora Lowery in Huntsville, Alabama. Because … Read MoreJoseph Echols Lowery (1921-2020)
Thomas Detter, late 19th century black businessman, Methodist minister, and civil rights advocate, was one of the first black literary figures to emerge in the U.S. West. The son of a free stonemason, Detter was born near Washington, D.C. around 1830. Very little is known … Read MoreThomas Detter (ca. 1830-1891)
Martha Reeves, one of Ruby and Elijah Reeves’s eleven children, was born in Eufaula, Alabama on July 18, 1941. Before her first birthday, they moved to Detroit, Michigan. She grew up performing at her father’s Methodist church, and was vocally trained by Abraham Silver while … Read MoreMartha and the Vandellas (1960-1974)
Honorae Alfred (Ray) Glascor, was one of Franklin County, Ohio’s first African American judges. Glascor was born January 15, 1914 in Augusta, Georgia. Glascor’s parents, Sebron and Fannie Glascor, were sharecroppers. In 1921 the Glascor family relocated to Columbus, Ohio. Glascor had five siblings: Lula, … Read MoreHonorae Alfred Glascor (1914-2011)
