Occupation-Writer
Vincent Lushington (“Roi”) Ottley
Vincent Lushington “Roi” Ottley was born in Harlem in 1906 to parents Jerome P. and Beatrice (Brisbane) Ottley who were...
Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960)
Zora Neale Hurston, known for her audacious spirit and sharp wit, was a talented and prolific writer and a skilled...
Margaret Walker (1915-1998)
Dr. Margaret Abigail Walker Alexander’s contributions to American letters—four volumes of poetry, a novel, a biography, and numerous critical essays—mark...
Anna Julia Haywood Cooper (1858-1964)
Anna Julia Haywood Cooper was a writer, teacher, and activist who championed education for African Americans and women. Born into...
Nichelle Nichols (1932-2022)
Nichelle Nichols was born Grace Nichols on December 28, 1932, in Robbins, Illinois. Discovered by Duke Ellington at the age...
Rufus P. Turner (1907-1982)
The unusual academic career of Rufus Paul Turner, born on Christmas Day 1907, was foreshadowed when the then 15-year-old Houston,...
James Baldwin (1924-1987)
James Arthur Baldwin, fiction writer, essayist, dramatist, and poet, was born on August 2, 1924 in Harlem, New York during...
Susie Revels Cayton (1870-1943)
Susie Sumner Revels, a daughter of Hiram Revels, the first U.S. Senator of African descent, arrived in Seattle, Washington from...
Richard Wright (1908-1960)
Best-selling author, social critic and influential literary figure Richard Wright was born on September 4, 1908, to Nathan Wright and...
