George Shirley is an educator, lecturer, and internationally acclaimed tenor whose leading roles in 28 operas with the Metropolitan Opera (“Met”) for 11 seasons helped push open doors on operatic stages for many African American tenors. In 1956 Shirley became the first African American member … Read MoreGeorge Irving Shirley (1934- )
“Image Ownership: World Economic Forum” Artist, urban planner, and activist Theaster Gates, born in Chicago, Illinois on August 28, 1973, has gained critical acclaim for his work which engages the Chicago community and urban environment. The youngest of nine siblings and only boy, Gates was … Read MoreTheaster Gates (1973- )
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Ambassador Maurice S. Parker is a career Senior Foreign Service Officer with the rank of Minister-Counselor at the U.S. Department of State. On April 30, 2007 Parker was nominated by President George W. Bush to serve as the U.S. ambassador to … Read MoreMaurice S. Parker (1949- )
John Andrew Burroughs Jr. was an equal opportunity advocate and diplomat who was born in Washington, D.C. on July 31, 1936. He spent his youth in Washington, D.C. before moving to the Midwest to attend the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. While there … Read MoreJohn Andrew Burroughs, Jr. (1936-2014)
Horace G. Dawson, Jr. was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Botswana by President Jimmy Carter in 1979. After his confirmation by the U.S. Senate, he served in that post until 1983. Dawson was born in Augusta, Georgia, on January 30, 1926. He attended Lincoln University in … Read MoreHorace G. Dawson (1926- )
Johnnie Carson is a retired diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Uganda (1991-1994), U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe (1995-1997), and U.S. Ambassador to Kenya (1999-2003). Carson was born on April 7, 1943 in Chicago, Illinois. After attending public schools in Chicago, Carson received a … Read MoreJohnnie Carson (1943- )
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Career Foreign Service Officer Bernadette Mary Allen was commissioned into the U.S. diplomatic service in January 1980. Twenty-five years later, on October 26, 2005, President George W. Bush appointed Allen to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Niger. She … Read MoreBernadette Mary Allen (1955- )
Civil rights activist Osceola Enoch (“Mac”) McKaine was born in Sumter, South Carolina on December 17, 1892. In 1908, at the age of 16, he moved to Boston, Massachusetts where he attended classes at Boston College. Later he worked as associate editor of the Cambridge … Read MoreOsceola Enoch McKaine (1892-1955)
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Noah Webster Griffin is best known as the first director of the West Coast Regional Office of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), established by the national headquarters in 1942. Griffin was born in 1896 to formerly … Read MoreNoah Webster Griffin Sr. (1896-1974)
Preston Daniels, the first African American elected Mayor of Des Moines, Iowa, was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1945. Shortly afterwards his parents moved to Des Moines and he grew up in the Chesterfield section of southeast Des Moines, a working-class area also known as … Read MorePreston A. Daniels (1945- )
