Paulette Nardal was one of the founders of the Negritude intellectual movement. Nardal was born on October 12, 1896 in Saint-Pierre, Martinique, to Paul Nardal, the first black engineer in Public Works on the island, and Louise (Achille) Nardal. Paulette was the eldest of seven … Read MorePaulette Nardal (1896-1985)
Anton de Kom (Cornelis Gerhard Anton de Kom) was a Surinamese author, anti-colonial activist, trade unionist, and World War II resistance fighter. De Kom was born in Paramaribo, Suriname, a colony of the Netherlands, on February 22, 1898 to a former slave and farmer Adolf de Kom and a free woman Judith … Read MoreAnton de Kom (1898-1945)
William Jones, one of the last Buffalo Soldiers, was also a U.S. Army Master Sergeant, Prisoner of War (POW) in Korea and successful entrepreneur. Jones was born in Tamo, Arkansas to farmers Joseph and Elizabeth Jones on July 15, 1918, the youngest of seven children. Jones grew up in Kansas and attended the … Read MoreWilliam Jones (1918-2009)
When the U.S. Army was reorganized on July 28, 1866 for peacetime service after the American Civil War, six regiments were set aside for black enlisted men. These included four infantry regiments, numbered 38th through 41st. The 25th Infantry was created during a reduction in March 1869 by … Read More25th Infantry Regiment (1866-1947)
The Ledo Road, which was later renamed The Stillwell Road in honor of Army General Joseph W. Stillwell, the commander of the China–Burma–India Theater in World War II, was built during World War II in response to the Japanese Army’s capture of the Burma Road, the main route for Allied military supplies … Read MoreBlack Soldiers and the Ledo Road (1942-1945)
In the following article independent historians Christine and Dennis McClure describe the role race played in the construction of the Alaska-Canada (ALCAN) Highway during World War II. The highway, constructed in eight months, stretched 1,600 miles from Dawson Creek, British Columbia to Delta Junction, Alaska. … Read MoreThe Construction of the Alaska Highway, 1942: The Role of Race in the Far North
Image Ownership: Public domain Police official, business leader, and civil rights advocate Elbert T. Hudson was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, on November 16, 1920. Three years later, his family moved to Los Angeles, California. In 1924, his father, H. Claude Hudson, became president of the … Read MoreElbert T. Hudson (1920-2017)
Merritt Talking to Police Officer Image Ownership: Public domain Afro-Filipino author, journalist, and government official, Jesus V. Merritt was born in Agoo, a city in the province of La Union in the Philippines, on October 15, 1913. He was the son of Julius Merritt of … Read MoreJesus Villanueva Merritt (1913- ?)
Luther and Joye Goodwin (Holding Their Child) in 1964 Civil Rights Demonstration Image Ownership: Public domain Tuskegee Airman, civil rights activist, and attorney Luther A. Goodwin was born April 17, 1920 in Jacksonville, Florida, the son of Hilliard E. Goodwin, a college instructor and building … Read MoreLuther Ambrose Goodwin (1920-1982)
Hans Pape and Jean Marcel Nicholas in Paris, Date Unknown Image Ownership: Public domain Expatriate, impersonator, and concentration camp survivor Jean Marcel Nicholas was born October 5, 1918 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, one of the three children of Hilderic Nicholas, a secretary of the British Embassy … Read MoreJean Marcel Nicholas (a.k.a. Johnny Nicholas, 1918-1945)