Edwin Thomas Pratt had been a leader in Seattle, Washington’s civil rights movement for a decade when he was assassinated at the front door of his home on January 26, 1969. At the time, Pratt was Executive Director of the Seattle Urban League. His murder … Read MoreEdwin T. Pratt (1930-1969)
Andrew Young, Jr., came into prominence as a civil rights activist and close associate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., during the modern civil rights movement in the United States. Young worked with various organizations early in the movement, but his civil rights work was … Read MoreAndrew Young (1932- )
Dr. Blanche Sellers Lavizzo was the first African American woman pediatrician in the state of Washington. She arrived in Seattle in 1956, with her husband Dr. Philip Lavizzo, a general surgeon. They had left medical practices in New Orleans, Louisiana to pursue a better future … Read MoreBlanche Sellers Lavizzo (1925-1984)
Born in 1837 in North Carolina, Sara G. Stanley was a member of a free, educated and economically secure family. She attended Oberlin College and later moved to Delaware after her family immigrated there. Following the tradition of other free black women Sara joined the … Read MoreSara G. Stanley (1837-1918)
John T. King was born in Girard (now Phenix City), Alabama in 1846. He was the son of covered bridge designer and builder Horace King. John King carried on the family business by designing and building bridges, houses, and commercial buildings in Georgia and Alabama. … Read MoreJohn Thomas King (1846-1926)
The first African American artist to gain international renown, Henry Ossawa Tanner was the son of a prominent cleric born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on June 21, 1859. At age 13, inspired by an artist painting a landscape in a local park, he committed himself to … Read MoreHenry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937)
Black Nationalist, repatriationist, and minister, Henry M. Turner was 31 years old at the time of the Emancipation. Turner was born in 1834 in Newberry Courthouse, South Carolina to free black parents Sarah Greer and Hardy Turner. The self-taught Turner by the age of fifteen … Read MoreHenry McNeal Turner (1834-1915)
Born December 18, 1897 to a middle class family in Cuthbert, Georgia, Fletcher Henderson grew up to become one of the key figures in the development of the form and style of the large jazz orchestra. Despite the fact that he grew up in a … Read MoreFletcher Hamilton Henderson, Jr. (1897-1952)
First African Baptist Church, located in the historic district of Savannah, Georgia, is recognized as one of the nation’s oldest African American Baptist Churches. Although the church was not officially established until 1788, the original congregation of mostly enslaved individuals had been formed in 1773 … Read MoreFirst African Baptist Church, Savannah, Georgia (1773- )
Booker T. Washington is one of the most controversial and dominant figures in African American history. According to his autobiography Up From Slavery (1901), he did not know the exact year, date, and place of his birth or his father’s name. Yet, it is widely … Read MoreBooker T. Washington (1856-1915)
