Mildred Coleman Crump became the first African American councilwoman in the 336-year history of the Newark City Council in New Jersey when she assumed office in 1994. She is also the first woman to serve as council president for Newark, New Jersey, which she did … Read MoreMildred Coleman Crump (1939-)
Mary Hatwood Futrell was an educator, who is best known as being the fourth person of color to become President of the National Education Association when she was elected to that post in 1983. Mary Alice Franklin Hatwood Futrell was born in Altavista, Virginia, on … Read MoreMary Hatwood Futrell (1940 – )
Macy Gray is a pop and jazz singer known for her unique voice and colorful persona. She was born Natalie McIntyre on September 6, 1967, in Canton, Ohio. Her mother, Laura McIntyre, was a math teacher and her father, Otis Jones, was absent throughout her … Read MoreMacy Gray (1967- )
David L. Steward is currently considered the second richest black man in the United States, worth over $3.7 billion dollars. Stewart was born on July 2, 1951 in Chicago, Illinois. His father, Harold, was a mechanic, trash collector, and janitor, and his mother, Dorothy, was … Read MoreDavid Steward (1951- )
Charlotte Maxeke (maiden name Manye) was a South African woman who broke societal barriers throughout her life. She was born in South Africa on April 7, 1874 and in the early 1880s attended secondary school at Edwards Memorial School. Upon her graduation, with a missionary education in 1885, Manye … Read MoreCharlotte Maxeke (Manye) (1874-1939)
Katherine Goble Johnson, heralded as the first African American woman in Aerospace Engineering, was born on August 26, 1918, in White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia, a city where schooling for “colored” people ended with the eighth grade. In 1937, she graduated summa cum laude (with … Read MoreKatherine Goble Johnson (1918-2020)
“Image Ownership: Texas State Historical Association” Joseph Louis (Joe) Atkins is best known for integrating Texas Western College (now the University of Texas, El Paso). In 1956 he became the first African American student to graduate from the institution. Joe Atkins was born in Jefferson, … Read MoreJoseph Louis Atkins (1936–2015)
Sarah Forbes Bonetta, a princess of the Egbado clan of the Yoruba people, is best known as the goddaughter of Queen Victoria of Great Britain. Bonetta was born in 1843 in what is now southwest Nigeria. Her parents’ names are unknown as are the names … Read MoreSarah Forbes Bonetta (1843-1880)
David Kato was founding father of Uganda’s emergent gay rights movement, the first openly gay man in the country, and an international gay rights activist. He was brutally murdered in January 2011. Born around 1964, Kato joined his twin brother John Wassawa Mulamba and family … Read MoreDavid Kato (c1964 – 2011)
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)
