Rev. Dr. Katie Cannon was the first African American female to be ordainedinto the United Presbyterian USA denomination. Rev. Cannon was ordained in Shelby, North Carolina, on April 24, 1974, by the Catawaba Presbytery, making her the first African American woman ordained in the United Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Katie … Read MoreKatie Geneva Cannon (1950-2018)
Rev. T. J. Jemison With Students at Southern University Who Had Just Been Released From Jail for Civil Rights Protest, 1960 Image Ownership: Public domain Rev. Theodore Judson Jemison was a civil rights leader and president of the National Baptist Convention. He was responsible for leading the Baton Rouge Bus … Read MoreTheodore Judson Jemison (1918-2013)
Image Ownership: Public domain Alveda King, a prominent conservative leader, evangelist, and niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was born in Atlanta, Georgia, as the first of five children of Alfred Daniel King and Naomi Barber King on January 22, 1951. Her father worked … Read MoreAlveda King (1951- )
Image Ownership: Public domain Maurice E. Washington is a Reno, Nevada businessman and pastor who is best known as a former Republican member of the Nevada State Senate. Washington was born on July 25, 1956, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He moved to Nevada where he … Read MoreMaurice E. Washington (1956- )
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Preston Taylor was an African-American businessman, minister, and philanthropist, who, by the early twentieth century, was considered one of the most influential leaders of Nashville, Tennessee’s black community. Taylor created Greenwood Cemetery, the second oldest African American cemetery in Nashville, and … Read MorePreston Taylor (1849–1931)
Minister, civil rights activist, vocalist, Jesse Lee Douglas, Sr. was born August 19, 1930 in New Orleans, Louisiana, to William and Isabella Douglas, a Merchant Marine cook and a maid. He attended Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana and Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee before … Read MoreJesse L. Douglas Sr. (1930- )
Jehu Jones Jr., the first African American Lutheran pastor, was born in Charleston, South Carolina on September 4, 1786 to slave parents, Jehu Sr. and Abigail Jones. Jones’ parents were freed in 1798. The elder Jones, who had been trained as a tailor, was able … Read MoreJehu Jones Jr. (1786-1852)
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Reverend Gayraud Stephen Wilmore is an American pastor, educator, historian, and theologian. Born on December 20, 1921 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Wilmore attended Central High School where he was active in the drama club, wrote for the student newspaper and, for a … Read MoreGayraud Stephen Wilmore (1921- )
Image Ownership: Public Domain Guadalupe Victoria Yolí Raymond, known popularly as “La Lupe,” was a Cuban and Cuban American singer and dancer. She was born in San Pedrito, a locality within Santiago de Cuba, Oriente Province, Cuba on December 23, 1936. Yolí grew up in … Read MoreGuadalupe Victoria Yolí Raymond (1936-1992)
Fred Luter Jr., the first African American First Vice President and President of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), was born on November 11, 1956. Luter and his four siblings were raised in New Orleans, Louisiana’s Lower 9th Ward by his mother, Viola Brooks, who worked … Read MoreFred Luter Jr. (1956- )