Addie Fletcher Booth was an educator, civil rights activist, and labor organizer. She was born Addie De Vault on October 29, 1902 in Independence, Texas to Reuben and Anis Gee De Vault. Although very little is known of her early life, she enrolled in Prairie … Read MoreAddie Fletcher Booth (1902-1996)
Rasheed Linway Storey, factory worker and Communist organizer, was born February 21, 1936 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Ella Mae Kimball Storey of Mobile, Alabama and James Enes Storey of Elizabeth City, North Carolina. Reared in West Philadelphia’s Mill Creek, Storey attended Overbrook High for two-years … Read MoreRasheed Storey (1936-2016)
Charles Frederick McDew was a civil rights and community activist, teacher, labor organizer, and one of the founding members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) where he worked towards increasing black voter registration and racial desegregation. McDew was born on June 23, 1938, in Massillon, Ohio to Eva McDew, a nurse, and James McDew, … Read MoreCharles Frederick McDew (1938-2018)
James W. Ford was Special Organizer of the Communist Party’s (CP) Harlem, New York section and the most prominent black Communist in the nation during the 1930s and early 1940s. Perhaps more than any other figure, Ford symbolized the Party’s efforts to build a united front between … Read MoreJames W. Ford (1893-1957)
African American labor leader Willard S. Townsend was born on December 4, 1895, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Willard and Cora Elizabeth Townsend. In 1938, he organized railway workers of several Chicago, Illinois stations to form the International Brotherhood of Redcaps and remained the union’s president … Read MoreWillard S. Townsend (1895-1957)
Frank R. Crosswaith was born on July 16, 1892, in La Croix, Virgin Islands, to William Ignatius and Anne Elizabeth Crosswaith. He immigrated to the United States in 1910 and became a socialist labor leader. He settled in New York City, New York where he … Read MoreFrank R. Crosswaith (1892-1965)
“Image Ownership: Bettye Lane” Activist Aileen Clarke Hernandez was born Aileen Clarke to Jamaican immigrant parents on May 23, 1926, in Brooklyn, New York. Her mother, Ethel Louise Hall, was a theatrical seamstress, and her father, Charles Henry Clarke, was a brush maker for the … Read MoreAileen Clarke Hernandez (1926-2017)
Ruben Um Nyobè is a little known but major figure in the African independence campaign. He was the first African political leader to claim independence for his country before the General Assembly of the United Nations. He is called the “black Hô Chi Minh” by … Read MoreRuben Um Nyobè (1913-1958)
Clements Kadalie, an early South African trade unionist and political activist, was born in April 1896 in Nkhata Bay District in Nyasaland (now Malawi). Kadalie was the younger of the two sons born to Mr. and Mrs. Musa Kadalie Muwamba. In 1913, Kadalie graduated from … Read MoreClements Kadalie (1896-1951)
Jamaican-born Ferdinand Christopher Smith became a prominent twentieth century international labor activist and leader. At an early age Smith left Jamaica’s poor economic conditions in search of work as a migrant laborer. He spent five years in Panama, where he worked as a hotel steward … Read MoreFerdinand Christopher Smith (1893-1961)
