Amy Jacques Garvey became the second wife of famous United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) leader Marcus Garvey in July 1922, only a few months after his divorce from his first wife, Amy Ashwood. Ironically Jacques was not only a friend but the maid of honor … Read MoreAmy Jacques Garvey (1896-1973)
Amy Ashwood Garvey was born in Port Antonio, Jamaica, but spent most of her childhood in Panama where her father supported the family as a businessman. She returned to Jamaica as a teen and attended Westwood High School in Trelawney, where she met her future … Read MoreAmy Ashwood Garvey (1897-1969)
Little is known about the early life of Nancy Gardner Prince, except from what she reveals in her 1853 autobiography, A Narrative of the Life and Travels of Mrs. Nancy Prince. Prince was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Her father, Thomas Gardner, was a seaman from … Read MoreNancy Gardner Prince (1799-ca. 1856)
Benjamin F. McAdoo was born in Pasadena, California in 1920. He established the first African American-owned architecture firm in Seattle and was the first black man to practice architecture in Washington State. He was a local community leader and advocate for the advancement of low-income … Read MoreBenjamin McAdoo (1920-1981)
Marcus Mosiah Garvey, one of the most influential 20th Century black nationalist and Pan-Africanist leaders, was born on August 17, 1887 in St. Ann’s Bay, Jamaica. Greatly influenced by Booker T. Washington’s autobiography Up From Slavery, Garvey began to support industrial education, economic separatism, and … Read MoreMarcus Garvey (1887-1940)
Althea Gibson, a sharecropper’s daughter, entered the world of sports when segregation severely limited opportunities for African Americans. She eventually became the first black athlete to cross the color line of international tennis and golf. Althea Gibson was born on August 25, 1927, to Daniel … Read MoreAlthea Gibson (1927-2003)
DJ Kool Herc was the earliest major figure to emerge from the mid-70’s Bronx, New York music scene that would eventually come to be known as Hip-Hop. Born Clive Campbell in Kingston, Jamaica, Herc immigrated to New York City and was exposed at an early … Read MoreDJ Kool Herc/Clive Campbell (1955- )
The Jamaican-born Wilfred Adolphus Domingo was part of an influential community of West Indian radicals active in Harlem’s New Negro movement in the early 20th century. Domingo was born in Kingston, Jamaica on November 26, 1889, the son of a Jamaican mother and Spanish father. … Read MoreWilfred A. Domingo (1889-1968)
John Alexander Somerville emigrated to the United States from Jamaica around 1900. He and his wife, Vada Watson Somerville, were both graduates of the University of Southern California School of Dentistry. Graduating with honors in 1907, he was the first black graduate, and his wife … Read MoreJohn Alexander Somerville (1882-1973)
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)
