American sociologist, social worker, and minister Richard Robert Wright Jr. was born on April 16, 1878, in Cuthbert, Georgia to Richard Robert Wright, Sr., who had been born into slavery but graduated from Atlanta University and founded the National Freedom Day Association. Wright’s mother, Lydia … Read MoreRichard Robert Wright Jr. (1878-1967)
Sandra Hollins is the first African American woman to serve in the Utah State Legislature. She was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on May 11, 1970 to Iola Robinson-Seals and Freddie Seals II. In 1988, Hollins graduated from McDonough #35 High School and enrolled in … Read MoreSandra Hollins (1970- )
Bettye Jean Davis (née Ivory), a social worker and politician, became the first African American woman elected to the Alaska State House of Representatives and the first African American elected to the Alaska State Senate. Davis was born in Homer, Louisiana on May 17, 1938. … Read MoreBettye Davis (1938-2018)
Veronica D. Abney is a training and supervising psychoanalyst with the Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis (1991). She specializes in trauma associated with childhood sexual abuse and practices psychoanalysis and psychotherapy in Santa Monica, California and Los Angeles, California. She works with preteens, adolescents, and adults. … Read MoreVeronica D. Abney (1951- )
Image Ownership: Public Domain Irene McCoy Gaines was a civil rights activist and a community leader. Born October 25, 1892, in Ocala, Florida, to Charles and Mamie McCoy, she had one older sister who died while Gaines was a child. Her family moved to Chicago, … Read MoreIrene McCoy Gaines (1892-1964)
Forrester Blanchard Washington was an African American pioneer in social work first with the Detroit Urban League and later with the Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration. Washington was born in1887 in Salem, Massachusetts. He graduated from Tufts College (University) in 1909 and received graduate degrees from … Read MoreForrester B. Washington (1887-1963)
Lester Blackwell Granger was a social worker and civil rights and labor rights activist best known for leading the National Urban League (NUL) from 1941 to 1961. Granger was born on September 16, 1896, in Newport News, Virginia, to William “Ran” Randolph and Mary Louise … Read MoreLester Blackwell Granger (1896-1976)
