Jerry Butler was born to sharecropping farmers in Sunflower, Mississippi, but at the age of three his family joined the Great Migration and moved to Chicago, Illinois (to an area now known as the Cabrini-Green Housing Projects). His initial introduction to music began as a … Read MoreJerry Butler (1939- )
Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm, an advocate for the rights of people of color and for women’s rights, became the first black woman elected to the United States Congress in November 1968. Four years later, she became the first black person to seek a major … Read MoreShirley Chisholm (1924-2005)
James Everett Chase, businessman and politician, was born the youngest of seven children in Wharton, Texas in 1914. He attended high school in Ballinger, Texas. During the Great Depression, Chase became an enrollee at a Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) camp in El Paso. Upon completion … Read MoreJames E. Chase (1914-1987)
Wellington Webb was born in Chicago in 1941. He came to Denver at a very early age and before entering politics he was a forklift operator. Webb’s public service career began in 1972 when he was elected to the Colorado House of Representatives. In 1977, … Read MoreWellington E. Webb (1941- )
Born in New Orleans, Louisiana on October 9, 1929, Ernest “Dutch” Morial grew up in the city’s English and French-speaking Seventh Ward. His father was a cigar maker and his mother was a seamstress. Graduating from Xavier University, a historically black Catholic institution in 1951, … Read MoreErnest Nathan Morial (1929-1989)
Samuel J. Smith, a Washington State Legislator and Seattle City Councilmember was born on July 21, 1922, in Gibsland, Louisiana. Listening to speeches by Franklin Roosevelt broadcast on radio in the early 1930s persuaded young Smith that he wanted a future in politics. Sam Smith … Read MoreSamuel J. Smith (1922-1995)
Hannah Diggs was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on November 1, 1923. Several of her relatives were teachers, and her parents instilled in her a love of reading and an appreciation for education. She became the valedictorian of her high school class before enrolling at … Read MoreHannah Diggs Atkins (1923-2010)
Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., preacher, civil rights activist, and national politician, was born to Mattie and Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. in New Haven, Connecticut, on November 29, 1908. Young Powell grew up in New York City, New York since his father, a Baptist preacher, became … Read MoreAdam Clayton Powell, Jr. (1908-1972)
