Born in Michigan in 1869, James David Corrothers became an important literary figure in the 1890s. Corrothers grew up in South Haven, a southern Michigan town established by abolitionists, fugitive slaves, and free blacks during the years before the civil war. For a time he … Read MoreJames David Corrothers (1869-1917)
Miles Davis was one of the most influential and innovative jazz musicians of the 20th Century. He constantly altered his sound to introduce new forms of jazz and led the progression of jazz from the 1940s to the 1980s. Miles Dewey Davis III was born … Read MoreMiles Davis (1926-1991)
Elliot C. van Zandt had a major impact on the development of Italian sports from 1947 to 1959. Born in Arkansas in 1915, van Zandt lost his father at a very early age. Census records indicate that Elliot’s widowed mother, a seamstress, probably left him … Read MoreElliot C. Van Zandt (1915-1959)
Scott Joplin, a musician and composer of ragtime music, was born in 1867 to ex-slave parents who worked as laborers on a Texas farm. At an early age they moved to Texarkana, on the Texas-Arkansas border, and it was here, following his mother as she … Read MoreScott Joplin (1867-1917)
“There’s no life in safety,” said three-time National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Image Award winner Nikki Giovanni who began her own life on June 7, 1943, in Knoxville, Tennessee. She moved with her mother and sister to a small black suburb … Read MoreYolande Cornelia “Nikki” Giovanni (1943- )
Civil rights activist Diane Judith Nash was born on May 15, 1938 in Chicago, Illinois to Leon Nash and Dorothy Bolton Nash. Nash grew up a Roman Catholic and attended parochial and public schools in Chicago. In 1956, she graduated from Hyde Park High School … Read MoreDiane Nash (1938- )
Dempsey Jerome Travis is a civil rights activist, business leader, military veteran, and author. From the inception of his first realty company to his time serving three presidential administrations, Travis has served in both local and national theaters of private and civic life. Born 1920 … Read MoreDempsey Jerome Travis (1920- )
A controversial and conservative Republican, Alan Lee Keyes has perhaps one of the most extensive resumes to date in public and political life. His positions and appointments include but are not limited to: U.S. Department of State Foreign Service Officer of the consular office in … Read MoreAlan L. Keyes (1950- )
Edith Spurlock was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on October 13, 1901. She grew up in a working class family, one of seven children, and attended Pittsburgh’s Peabody High School. Upon graduation, she married Rufus Sampson, a field agent for Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama. After … Read MoreEdith Spurlock Sampson (1901-1979)
Patricia Roberts Harris was born on May 31, 1924 in Mattoon, Illinois. She excelled academically and received a scholarship to Howard University. During her time at Howard, Roberts was elected Phi Beta Kappa and graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1945. While she was in college … Read MorePatricia Roberts Harris (1924-1985)
