Educator Felton Grandison Clark was born October 13, 1903 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was the son of Joseph Samuel Clark, the founder and first president of Southern University. Clark received his early education at the Baton Rouge College. In 1922 he graduated from the … Read MoreFelton Grandison Clark (1903-1970)
Gladys E. Kidd, educator, nutritionist, mentor, philanthropist, and granddaughter of slaves was born on October 11, 1925 in Columbus, Ohio to Henry Wesley Cooper, a Presbyterian minister and Charlotte Melinda Cooper, a schoolteacher. She attended the all black elementary and middle schools. While in high … Read MoreGladys Kidd Jennings (1925- )
Dr. Susan Smith McKinney Steward was the first African American woman to earn a medical doctorate (M.D.) in New York State and the third in the United States. Susan Smith was born to elite Brooklyn parents, Ann Springstead and Sylvanus Smith. She was of mixed … Read MoreSusan Smith McKinney Steward (1847-1918)
Mae C. Jemison was born on October 17, 1956 in Decatur, Alabama to Charlie and Dorothy Jemison. At the age of three, the family moved to Chicago, Illinois to further their educational opportunities. Her parents stressed the importance of education and when she was four, … Read MoreMae C. Jemison (1956- )
A native of Tuskegee, Alabama, Nathaniel Oglesby Calloway was a pioneer in the field of chemistry. As a child growing up in Tuskegee, he spent time with George Washington Carver, a well-known soil chemist and faculty member at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University). In 1930, … Read MoreNathaniel Oglesby Calloway (1907-1979)
Margaret Murray Washington, born March 9, 1865, was one of ten children born to sharecroppers. Her father was of Irish descent and her mother was African American. Murray attended Fisk University for eight years and graduated in 1889. The following year she became “Lady Principal” … Read MoreMargaret Murray Washington (1865-1925)
Mathematician Charles Bernard Bell, Jr., one of the leading African American mathematicians of the twentieth century, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in August 20, 1928. At age 19 he graduated from Xavier University in 1947 and earned his Ph.D. in mathematics from Notre Dame … Read MoreCharles B. Bell, Jr. (1928-2010)
John Gibbs St. Clair Drake was an American anthropologist and sociologist and the founding Director of Stanford University’s African and African American Studies Department in 1968. Drake was born in Suffolk, Virginia on January 2, 1911. Drake’s father immigrated to the United States from the … Read MoreSt. Clair Drake (1911-1990)
