Activist and writer Ida B. Wells-Barnett first became prominent in the 1890s because she brought international attention to the lynching of African Americans in the South. Wells was born a slave in Holly Springs, Mississippi, in 1862. At the age of sixteen, she became primary … Read MoreIda Wells-Barnett (1862-1931)
George Washington was a prominent pioneer in the state named, like he was, for America’s first president. He founded Centralia in southwest Washington and was a leading citizen and benefactor of the town. Washington’s father was a slave, his mother of English descent. When his … Read MoreGeorge Washington (1817-1905)
George W. McLaurin provided the Oklahoma civil rights case that damaged the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson “separate but equal” legal position beyond repair. He held a master’s degree from the University of Kansas and taught at the all-black Langston University until 1948. NAACP attorney Thurgood … Read MoreGeorge W. McLaurin (1887-1968)
Ernest William Chambers, Africana intellectual, has lived in the semi-segregated community of North Omaha, Nebraska for his entire life. A community activist in the 1960s, Chambers rode into office in the Nebraska State Legislature on the crest of new-black electoral power in 1970. As a … Read MoreErnest William Chambers (1937- )
Asa Philip Randolph, born on April 15, 1889 in Crescent City, Florida, was one of the most respected leaders of the American Civil Rights Movement in the twentieth century. Randolph was a labor activist; editor of the political journal The Messenger; organizer of the 1941 … Read MoreAsa Philip Randolph (1889-1979)
Dred Scott, was an enslaved person noted mainly for the unsuccessful lawsuit brought to free him from bondage. The decision rendered by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1857 in the Dred Scott case, said that no blacks slave or free were U.S. citizens and allowed … Read MoreDred Scott (1795-1858)
Edward P. McCabe was an African American politician and businessman most notable for his promotion of black settlement in Oklahoma and Kansas. Born in 1850 in Troy, New York, McCabe would attend school until his father’s death when he left school to support his family … Read MoreEdward P. McCabe (1850-1920)
William C. Nell was an African American civic activist, abolitionist, and historian. Born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, Nell was the son of William Guion Nell, a prominent tailor and black activist. William C. Nell was introduced to racial inequality and black activism from birth. … Read MoreWilliam C. Nell (1816-1874)
Stephen Smith was born into slavery in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. At 21 he purchased his freedom for $50 and soon afterwards began to ally with the abolitionist cause that he would support through most of his adult life. In 1830 Smith became the chairman of … Read MoreStephen Smith (1795-1873)
Radical abolitionist Moses Dickson was born free in Cincinnati, Ohio, on April 5, 1824. Orphaned by the age of 13, he became a barber to support himself, finding work on steamboats moving through the South and Midwest. Dickson helped organize two secret abolitionist organizations with … Read MoreMoses Dickson (1824-1901)
