Timuel D. Black Jr. was an African American educator, civil rights activist, historian, and author. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, on December 7, 1918, he was one of four children of Timuel Dixon Black Sr. and Mattie McConner Black. In the summer of 1919, Black’s parents … Read MoreTimuel Dixon Black, Jr. (1918-2021)
Johnnetta Betsch Cole was born on October 19, 1936, in Jacksonville, Florida to college graduates Mary Frances Cole, a vice-president of the Afro-American Life Insurance Company of Jacksonville. and John Cole, Sr., an employee at the company. In 1953, Cole finished high school and entered … Read MoreJohnnetta Betsch Cole (1936- )
Although many twenty-first century readers are aware of his work only through his introduction to Frederick Douglass’s My Bondage and My Freedom, Dr. James McCune Smith was one of the most broadly accomplished black intellectuals and activists in antebellum America. Born in New York on … Read MoreJames McCune Smith (1813-1865)
