Tuskegee Airman Earl Roscoe Lane was born in the rural all-Black town of Red Bird, Oklahoma, on July 22, 1920 to Levi and Christine Lane. In 1930, when he was 10, his family moved to Wickliffe, Ohio. His younger sisters were Barbara Lane Martin and … Read MoreEarl Roscoe Lane (1920-1990)
US Army World War II veteran Maceo Snipes was killed in 1946 in Taylor County, Georgia because he voted. Snipes was born in Taylor County Georgia on March 25, 1909. His parents, Lula and John, were landowners in Taylor County who owned 202 acres as … Read MoreMaceo Snipes (1909-1946)
William Henry West was a Civil War-era African American soldier and later a police officer in Washington, D.C. West was best known for arresting U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872. This is the only known record of a sitting United States President being arrested. … Read MoreWilliam Henry West (1842-1915)
Victoria Renee Woodards was elected Tacoma, Washington’s 39th mayor on November 7th, 2017 and thus became the second woman of color to hold the position. Woodards followed Marilyn Strickland who served as mayor from 2010-2017. Woodards was born on July 19, 1965 in Riverside, California … Read MoreVictoria Renee Woodards (1965- )
World-renowned artist Sam Gilliam was born in Tupelo, Mississippi on November 30, 1933, to Sam Gilliam, Sr., a railroad worker, and Estery Gilliam, a homemaker. They had eight children, and Sam, Jr was the seventh. When the parents moved to Louisville, Kentucky, all of the … Read MoreSam Gilliam (1933- )
Otha Edward Thornton, Jr., the first African American President of the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA), was born in October of 1967 and reared in Elberton, Georgia, to Otha Edward Thornton, Sr., a Vietnam Veteran, and Estelle J Thornton. He was the oldest of seven. … Read MoreOtha Edward Thornton, Jr. (1967- )
Billy Paul, a major artist of the Philadelphia Soul Sound, was born Paul Williams in North Philadelphia on December 1, 1934. In 1945, the 11-year-old Paul made his first radio broadcast appearance, and by 16, he had appeared at Club Harlem in Philadelphia on the … Read MoreBilly Paul (1934-2016)
Paul Gladney was a dancer, comedian, writer, social critic, and actor best known by his stage name Paul Mooney. Gladney was born on August 4, 1941, in Shreveport, Louisiana, to teenage parents George Gladney and LaVoya Ealy. Along with his Cousin Rudy, mother, and grandparents, … Read MorePaul (Mooney) Gladney (1941-2021)
Prezell Russell Robinson, longtime President of St. Augustine’s College (later University) was born in Batesburg, South Carolina, on August 22, 1920, to Clarence Robinson and Annie Foulks Robinson. He is the eighth of nine children. Robinson’s early education began at Leesville Colored Primary School in … Read MorePrezell Russell Robinson (1920- )
Dr. John Morton-Finney was an accomplished lawyer, civil rights activist, and academic who accumulated eleven degrees over the course of his life. Born in Kentucky on June 25, 1889, Morton-Finney was one of seven children. His father, a former slave, and his mother, a free … Read MoreJohn Morton-Finney (1889-1998)
