Charles Smith, a visual artist, historian, activist, and minister, was born on November 11, 1940, to Bertha Mary Smith and an unnamed father in New Orleans, Louisiana. His early life was marked by tragedy when his father was killed in what local officials in New … Read MoreCharles Smith (1940- )
Alexander Louis Jackson II, historian, journalist, athlete, and one of five founders of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), was born on March 1, 1891, in Englewood, New Jersey, to Alexander Louis Jackson and Evelyn Martha Lewis Jackson. They, … Read MoreAlexander Louis Jackson, II (1891-1973)
In June 2021, Dr. Chibundu Onuzo exemplified the range of her talents when she released a music video entitled “Good Soil” to accompany the publication of her third novel, Sankofa. Dr. Onuzo is an author, singer, pianist, playwright, screenwriter, regular contributor to The Guardian, and … Read MoreChibundu Onuzo (1991- )
Psychologist and historian Marvin Dunn was born in an orange grove barn in the Blackberry community of DeLand, Florida on June 27, 1940. His mother, Corinne Elizabeth Williams of Dothan, Alabama, was a housecleaner and cook and his dad, James C. Dunn Sr. of Glenwood, … Read MoreMarvin Dunn (1940- )
Journalist, historian, activist A. Peter Bailey was born on February 24, 1938, in Columbus, Georgia, to Upson Bailey, Sr. from Randolph County, Alabama, and Alga McFarlane Bailey from Birmingham. However, he was reared in Tuskegee, Alabama. From the first grade in 1944 to the eighth … Read MoreA. Peter Bailey (1938- )
Nikole Sheri Hannah-Jones, most famous for her role in the 1619 Project, is an investigative journalist, who was born on April 9, 1976, in Waterloo, Iowa. She is of mixed heritage, as her father, Milton Hannah, is African American, and her mother, Cheryl A. Novotny, … Read MoreNikole Hannah-Jones (1976- )
Audrey Smedley, one of the nation’s first African American women anthropologists, was born in Detroit in 1930, the eldest daughter of Ulysses and Mattie Smedley. While raising six children, her mother maintained a career as a beautician; her father owned and operated a gas station … Read MoreAudrey Smedley (1930-2020)
Historian and Political Scientist Russell L. Adams, Sr. was born on August 13, 1930, in Baltimore, Maryland, to James Russell, a farmer and Isabella Ponder Adams, a school teacher. Both were originally from Quitman, Georgia. Isabella Adams graduated from Edward Waters College, an HBCU in … Read MoreRussell L. Adams, Sr. (1930- )
Vanessa N. Gamble is the first African American woman to teach as a professor of medical humanities, health policy, and American civilization at the George Washington University. Dr. Gamble additionally serves as a professor of bioethics at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Nursing, and Allied … Read MoreVanessa Northington Gamble (1953- )
Diplomat, Historian, Poet, Frenise Avedis Logan, Sr. was born September 30, 1920, in Albany, Georgia but grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. Both of his parents were educators and he had one brother. In 1938, Logan enrolled in Fisk University and participated in basketball, tennis, track … Read MoreFrenise Avedis Logan, Sr. (1920-1995)
