Clarence Lee Major is a distinguished poet, novelist, painter, anthologist, lexicographer, memoirist, and teacher. His creative output encompasses a wide range of artistic and intellectual endeavors across six decades, producing works that have often defied expectations, provoked controversy, and revealed new ways of seeing. Major was born December 31, 1936, … Read MoreClarence Major (1936- )
Franklin Dorrah Cleckley, the first African American to serve as a justice on the West Virginia Supreme Court, was born on August 1, 1940, in Huntington, West Virginia. His mother was Vivian Wood. After graduating from high school, he attended Anderson College and earned his bachelor’s degree in … Read MoreFranklin D. Cleckley (1940-2017)
David Satcher, physician, educator, and administrator, was born in Anniston, Alabama, on March 2, 1941 to Wilmer and Anne Satcher. In 1963, Satcher graduated from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. He earned an M.D. and Ph.D. in cytogenetics from Case Western Reserve University in 1970. In 1979, Satcher became … Read MoreDavid Satcher (1941- )
Marguerite Thomas Williams, born in 1895, was the first African American (male or female) to earn a Ph.D. in geology. Like Roger Arliner Young, Williams was mentored by African American biologist Ernest Everett Just. Williams earned her bachelor’s degree in geology from Howard University in Washington, D.C., in 1923. Just … Read MoreMarguerite Thomas Williams (1895-ca. 1991)
Virgil Garnett Trice Jr., a respected chemical engineer and official with the U.S. Department of Energy, was one of only a small number of African Americans who held positions as nuclear scientists in the middle decades of the twentieth century. During a long career in public service, … Read MoreVirgil Garnett Trice, Jr. (1926-1997)
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 Polytechnic High School in … Read MoreRobert Ambrose Thornton (1902-1982)
Herb Cawthorne, teacher, community leader, and news reporter, was born in Omaha, Nebraska, to Roosevelt and Edythe Odrene Cawthorne in June 1947. He is the youngest of four children, including John, Elsa, and Edythe. He attended North Des Moines High School in Omaha from 1962 … Read MoreHerb Cawthorne (1947- )
Stuart Hall was a leading 20th Century cultural theorist and a sociologist. Hall, widely known as a founder of British Cultural Studies and the Birmingham School of Cultural Studies, pioneered theories of multiculturalism. He is generally credited with expanding the field of cultural studies to … Read MoreStuart Hall (1932-2014)
Constance Williams Rice became one of the most influential women in Seattle in the late 20th century and remains so well into the 21st century. She was born to the union of a subway motorman, Elliott Williams, and Beulah Marshall Williams, on June 23, 1945, … Read MoreConstance Williams Rice (1945- )
Julia Amanda Perry is the first African American woman to have her orchestral work performed by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic, and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in London. Born in Lexington, Kentucky, on March 25, 1924, Perry was raised in Akron, Ohio, … Read MoreJulia Amanda Perry (1924-1979)
