Earl Burrus Dickerson was a member of President Roosevelt’s Fair Employment Practices Commission between 1941 and 1943 and a prominent civil rights attorney in Chicago. He was also one of the founders of the Supreme Liberty Life Insurance Company with headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. Dickerson … Read MoreEarl B. Dickerson (1891-1986)
Adrian Malik Fenty was born to Philip and Jan Fenty, an interracial couple, on December 6, 1970, in Washington, D.C. Fenty’s parents were both runners and they owned the athletic shoe store Fleet Feet in Washington, D.C. Fenty graduated from Woodrow Wilson Senior High School … Read MoreAdrian M. Fenty (1970- )
Henry Marsh is a prominent political figure, black activist, and lawyer in Richmond, Virginia. He was born on December 10, 1933 in Richmond but when his mother died at age five, he was sent to live with relatives in rural Virginia. Marsh, who attended Moonfield … Read MoreHenry L. Marsh, III (1933- )
Archibald Carey Jr. followed his famous father of the same name to become a major figure in Chicago’s political and religious life during much of the 20th Century. Over his career he was an attorney, judge, politician, minister, and bank president. Born in Chicago on … Read MoreArchibald J. Carey, Jr. (1908-1981)
Joseph Ephraim Casely Hayford was a West African barrister, author, and political leader who dedicated his life to helping improve conditions for the people of West Africa. Casely Hayford was born on September 3, 1866, the youngest of three sons to parents Reverend John de … Read MoreJoseph Ephraim Casely Hayford (1866-1930)
Jewel Stradford Rogers Lafontant-Mankarious, civil rights leader, high-ranking U.S. Presidential appointee, and lawyer was born on April 28, 1922, in Chicago, Illinois. Her parents, Aida Arabella Cartera and attorney C. Francis Stradford, helped to influence Mankarious’s decision to become a lawyer. In 1942, Jewel Stradford … Read MoreJewel Stradford Rogers Lafontant-Mankarious (1922-1997)
In 1935, Charles W. Anderson became the first black legislator in Kentucky and in the South since the Reconstruction. He championed the cause of civil rights in Kentucky including greatly improving the access of African Americans to education during six terms as a legislator. Anderson … Read MoreCharles W. Anderson, Jr. (1907-1960)
Michael Steele is a Republican political leader from Maryland who was Lieutenant Governor of that state from 2003 through 2007. In January of 2009 he became the first African American elected to chair the National Republican Party. Born at Andrews Air Force Base in Prince … Read MoreMichael S. Steele (1958- )
Vernon Eulion Jordan, civil rights leader, lawyer, and presidential advisor, was born in Atlanta, Georgia on August 15, 1935. Growing up in the segregated American South, Jordan attended David T. Howard High School, where he graduated with honors in 1953. Upon graduation Jordan entered DePauw … Read MoreVernon E. Jordan (1935-2021)
On January 15, 2009 Roland Wallace Burris was sworn in as the U.S. Senator from Illinois. Burris’s appointment made him the third African American U.S. Senator from the state and the sixth black U.S. Senator in the history of the United States. The appointment, however, … Read MoreRoland Burris (1937- )
