Robin Davis Gibran Kelley is an educator, historian, and author. Kelley was born on March 14, 1962, in New York City, New York, and grew up in the Harlem/Washington Heights area. He participated in the Black Panther Party’s free breakfast program, and attended P.S. 28, … Read MoreRobin D. G. Kelley (1962- )
Pellom McDaniels, the first born of Pellom and Mary McDaniels, was born on February 21, 1968. He was an all-American professional football player who played defensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL). Although he was a well-known player for the Kansas City Chiefs (1992-1998), … Read MorePellom McDaniels III (1968-2020)
Turkiya L. Lowe, historian and public history scholar, is the National Park Service’s (NPS) first African American and first woman Chief Historian and Deputy Federal Preservation Officer. Lowe was born to Vincent L. Small and Patricia D. Lowe on December 1, 1977 and grew up … Read MoreTurkiya L. Lowe (1977- )
James Richardson Bacote was an artist, preservationist, historian and co-founder of the Geechee Kunda Cultural Center in Georgia. Bacote was born on December 18, 1948 in Brunswick, Georgia, to Sally and James Bacote Sr. He attended local schools on the Georgia Coast, as well as … Read MoreJames R. Bacote II (1948-2018)
Letitia Woods Brown, historian, academician, public scholar and community activist was born on October 24, 1915, in Tuskegee, Alabama. She was the middle child of Tuskegee Institute instructors Matthew and Evadne Woods. In 1935, Letitia Woods completed a Bachelor of Science at Tuskegee. After a … Read MoreLetitia Woods Brown (1915-1976)
Merze Tate, a historian, political author, world traveler, and philanthropist, was the first African American to graduate from Oxford University. She was born during a terrible blizzard in rural Blanchard, Michigan on February 6, 1905 to Charles and Myrtle Tate, both farmers. Her grandparents were … Read MoreVernie Merze Tate (1905-1996)
Award-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed was born in Livingston, Texas, on November 19, 1958, the daughter of military veteran Alfred Gordon Sr. and Bettye Jean Gordon, an English teacher. As a girl who loved to read and write and was fascinated by the family of Thomas Jefferson, something that … Read MoreAnnette Gordon-Reed (1958- )
Marion Thompson Wright, educator and historian, was the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in history in the United States. Wright was born on September 12, 1902, in East Orange, New Jersey, the daughter of Moses R. Thompson and Minnie Homes Thompson. Her … Read MoreMarion Thompson Wright (1902-1962)
In 2014, Cynthia Akuetteh, career Senior Foreign Service officer, was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as ambassador to Gabon and the island nation of Sao Tomé & Principe. After U.S. Senate confirmation she arrived in Libreville, capital of Gabon, to take up her … Read MoreCynthia Helen Akuetteh (1948- )
Born in Tinton Falls, New Jersey in 1957, Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1975. Thinking she might teach overseas, Bernicat earned a teaching credential in social sciences at the secondary level. Rather than … Read MoreMarcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat (1957- )
