John H. Murphy was the chairman and head publisher of the influential Afro-American Newspaper Company in Baltimore, Maryland. Murphy was born in Baltimore on March 2, 1916 to Daniel H. Murphy and Sara Murphy Neely. At the age of 12, John Murphy moved to Philadelphia … Read MoreJohn H. Murphy III (1916-2010)
The New York Gorhams were a Negro league baseball team formed in 1886 that grew to be one of the most successful black professional clubs in the country in the late 19th Century. The Gorhams were organized by saloon owner Ambrose Davis, who named the … Read MoreNew York Gorhams (1886-1892)
James H. Sills, Jr., the first African American mayor of Wilmington, Delaware, was born in North Carolina in 1931. We know little about his early life before he arrived in Wilmington. At various times he was a billiards hustler, farm laborer, and solider before he … Read MoreJames H. Sills Jr. (1931- )
Bryan Stevenson is a lawyer, social justice advocate, and law professor at New York University School of Law. Stevenson was born on November 14, 1959 in Milton, Delaware. His father, Howard Carlton Stevenson, Jr. was a laboratory technician at General Foods, and his mother, Alice … Read MoreBryan Stevenson (1959- )
Vivian Juanita Malone was one of the first two black students to enroll at the University of Alabama and was the first black graduate of the institution. Malone was born on July 15, 1942, in Monroe County, Alabama. Both of her parents worked at Brookley … Read MoreVivian Juanita Malone Jones (1942-2005)
The South Conference For Human Welfare (SCHW), and the Southern Conference Education Fund (SCEF) which evolved out of it, were part of a broad movement to promote New Deal policies, civil rights, and economic and political reform in the South. Twelve hundred people, about 25% … Read MoreSouthern Conference For Human Welfare (1938-1948)
Reverend Henry Clay Anderson was a pastor, teacher, veteran, and photographer, best known for capturing the lives of the black middle class of Greenville, Mississippi from 1948 to 1986. He was born in Nitta Yuma, Mississippi, in 1911 and spent his childhood in Hollandale outside … Read MoreReverend Henry Clay Anderson (1911-1998)
Though overshadowed by and having received far less publicity than fabled Pearl Harbor hero Dorie Miller, Alonzo Alexander Swann Jr. performed similar action in the Pacific Theater and his all-black Navy gun crew. Their brave accomplishment and awful sacrifice would have gone relatively unnoticed had … Read MoreAlonzo Alexander Swann, Jr. (1925-2007)
Sundown Towns are all-white communities, neighborhoods, or counties that exclude Blacks and other minorities through the use of discriminatory laws, harassment, and threats or use of violence. The name derives from the posted and verbal warnings issued to Blacks that although they might be allowed … Read MoreSundown Towns
Bobby Mitchell was a professional football player in the National Football League. In 1962, after three seasons with the Cleveland Browns, Mitchell became the first African American to play for the Washington Redskins, the last team in the league to integrate its roster. Robert Cornelius … Read MoreBobby Mitchell (1935-2020)
