Mary Smith Kelsey Peake, a pioneering educator, is one of few African American women to have a school, The Mary Peake Center of Hampton Public Schools, and a street, the Mary Peake Boulevard, named in honor due to her work as the first teacher for … Read MoreMary Smith Kelsey Peake (1823-1862)
Robert Charles O’Hara Benjamin, also known as R.C.O. Benjamin, was a Caribbean-born political activist, newspaper editor, minister, poet, teacher, author, and lawyer. He was born on the island of St. Kitts on March 31, 1855. Information about his parents is unknown, but we do know … Read MoreRobert Charles O’Hara Benjamin (1855-1900)
Educator Janie Porter Barrett was the founder of the first Black Settlement House in Virginia, the State Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs in Virginia, and the Virginia Industrial School for Colored Girls. Porter was born in Athens, Georgia, on August 9, 1865, the daughter of … Read MoreJanie Porter Barrett (1865-1948)
Carol Johnson-Dean was the first black woman superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools. She held that post from 1997 to 2003. Johnson-Dean was born 1948 to Mrs. Willie Rawls and Buddy Rawls. She grew up in Brownsville, Haywood County, Tennessee about 50 miles northeast of Memphis. … Read MoreDr. Carol Johnson-Dean (1948-)
Richard Allen Tucker, born on February 13, 1850, was an ordained minister, educator, and poet. He was the son of Reverend Lewis Tucker, the first African-American ordained Baptist minister in the City and Elizabeth “Betsey” Hunter, a seamstress. Richard’s parents were free Blacks before the … Read MoreRichard Allen Tucker (1850-1924)
Shirley Mahaley Malcom, a Senior Advisor and Director of SEA Change at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and publisher of the Science family of journals, was born on September 6, 1946, in Birmingham, Alabama to Ben Mahaley and Lillie Funderburg Mahaley. … Read MoreShirley Mahaley Malcom (1946- )
Mohamed Bazoum was sworn in as the president of Niger on April 2, 2021. Bazoum was born on January 1, 1960, at Bilabrine, Cercle N’guigme in Niger. His family were members of the Diffa Arab minority. He attended local schools in Niger. He then studied … Read MoreMohamed Bazoum
(1960- )
Lena Lowery Sawner was Oklahoma’s first Black public school principal as well as its first female public school principal. She was also prominent in state and national Black educational organizations. Lena Lowery rose from humble beginnings. Her father, Julius Lowery was born in North Carolina … Read MoreLena Lowery Sawner (1874-1949)
Jamaal Bowman is a politician and educator who became the Democratic Representative for New York’s 16th Congressional District in 2021. Bowman was born on April 1, 1976 in Manhattan, New York City to unnamed parents. He lived with his grandmother in the East River Houses … Read MoreJamaal Bowman (1976- )
Francis Williams is reputed to be the first person of African ancestry to graduate from Cambridge University. Williams was born around 1702 to John and Dorothy Williams, a free African couple in Jamaica. John Williams had been manumitted by the will of his former master. … Read MoreFrancis Williams (Jamaica) (1700-1770)
