Image Ownership: Public domain Physicist and university administrator Robert Ambrose Thornton was born in Houston, Texas, on May 6, 1902 to Frank Thornton, a laborer, and the former Mary Jane Sullivan, a midwife. Thornton attended Houston Colored High School but later graduated from Los Angeles … Read MoreRobert Ambrose Thornton (1902-1982)
Image Ownership: Public domain Erma Clardy Craven was an African American leader in the pro-life movement. Craven helped start various “pro-life” organizations such as African-Americans Against Abortion, the National Right to Life Committee, Black Americans for Life, National Democrats for Life, and Americans United for … Read MoreErma Clardy Craven (1918-1994)
Emmett Hercules Holmes was one of Spokane, Washington’s first African American residents, as well as an important politician in the young city. Holmes was born on July 7, 1872, near Vicksburg, Mississippi. By the summer of 1888, his mother was interested in moving to the … Read MoreEmmett Hercules Holmes (1872-1948)
Thurl Lee Bailey is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1983 to 1999 with the Utah Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves. Bailey has also been a broadcast analyst for the Utah Jazz and the University of Utah … Read MoreThurl Lee Bailey (1961– )
Robert Browning Flippin was an important community leader and racial activist in San Francisco beginning in the 1930s through the 1950s. He was also the first African American parole officer at the California State Prison at San Quentin. The son of the black physician George … Read MoreRobert Browning Flippin (1903–1963)
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Ambassador Maurice S. Parker is a career Senior Foreign Service Officer with the rank of Minister-Counselor at the U.S. Department of State. On April 30, 2007 Parker was nominated by President George W. Bush to serve as the U.S. ambassador to … Read MoreMaurice S. Parker (1949- )
"Image Ownership: Public Domain" In 2011, Adrienne S. O’Neal, career Foreign Service officer with the rank of Minister Counselor, was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as ambassador to the Republic of Cabo Verde (or Cape Verde). O’Neal was born in Durham, North Carolina … Read MoreAdrienne S. O’Neal (1954- )
"Image Ownership: Public Domain" Ambassador Elizabeth Davenport McKune was born on November 15, 1947 in Detroit, Michigan. She became a Foreign Service officer in 1973 and specialized in the Middle East. McKune is the daughter of West Point graduate Colonel Clarence M. Davenport, Jr. and … Read MoreElizabeth Davenport McKune (1947- )
Image Ownership: Public Domain John Francis Wheaton was a late 19th Century and early 20th Century lawyer and a politician. Wheaton ran for elective office in three states and was the first African American to serve in the Minnesota House of Representatives. John Francis Wheaton … Read MoreJohn Francis Wheaton (1866-1922)
Image Ownership: Public Domain Educator, newspaper publisher and politician John Quincy Adams is best known as the editor of the Western Appeal/The Appeal of St. Paul, Minnesota. He held the position from 1886 to 1922. John Quincy Adams was born free in Louisville, Kentucky, on … Read MoreJohn Quincy [“J. Q.”] Adams (1848-1922)