Hugh MacBeth, Sr., an African American attorney active in Los Angeles, California in the early 20th Century, was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1884 as Hugh Ellwood MacBeth. His father, Arthur MacBeth, was a pioneering African American photographer. Hugh MacBeth attended the Avery Institute … Read MoreHugh MacBeth, Sr. (1884-1956)
John S. Rock was born to free black parents in Salem, New Jersey in 1825. He attended public schools in New Jersey until he was 19 and then worked as a teacher between 1844 and 1848. During this period Rock began his medical studies with … Read MoreJohn S. Rock (1825-1866)
Educator, essayist, journalist, scholar, social critic, and activist W.E.B. DuBois, was born to Mary Sylvina Burghardt and Alfred Dubois on February 23, 1868 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He excelled in the public schools of Great Barrington, graduating valedictorian from his high school in 1884. Four … Read MoreWilliam Edward Burghardt DuBois (1868-1963)
Born into slavery in Norfolk, Virginia (the actual year is uncertain), Shadrach Minkins spent the first thirty years of his life in his hometown, but in May of 1850 he decided to run for freedom and escaped to Boston, where he became a waiter. At … Read MoreShadrach Minkins (ca. 1814-1875)
Reginald Francis Lewis was born to a working class family in East Baltimore on December 7, 1942. His strong work ethic was evident early when in high school he earned four varsity letters in baseball, three in football, and two in basketball. Lewis graduated from … Read MoreReginald Lewis (1942-1993)
The youngest of thirteen children, Anthony Burns was born into slavery in Virginia on May 31, 1834. His family was owned by John Suttle. His mother married three times. Burns’s father was her third husband, but he died when Anthony was very young. After John … Read MoreAnthony Burns (1834-1862)
Meta Warrick Fuller was a black female artist who specialized in sculpture. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1877, her career peaked during America’s Gilded Age, a time when more women were trained as artists than ever before. She attended the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial … Read MoreMeta Warrick Fuller (1877-1968)
A writer, an economist and an advocate for affirmative action, Andrew Felton Brimmer is best known as the first African American to hold a governorship on the United States Federal Reserve Bank. Born in Newellton, Louisiana on September 13, 1926, Brimmer moved to Bremerton, Washington … Read MoreAndrew F. Brimmer (1926-2012)
Born in Harlem, New York on January 23, 1935, Robert Parris Moses was an educator and an icon of the Civil Rights Movement. He was one of three children born to Gregory H. Moses, a janitor, and Louise Parris Moses, a homemaker. He graduated with … Read MoreRobert P. Moses (1935-2021)
Robert Purvis was born on August 4, 1810 in Charleston, South Carolina, the second of three sons to a wealthy cotton broker and a free woman of color. With the benefits of a financially successful family, Purvis began his opposition to slavery at a very … Read MoreRobert Purvis (1810-1898)
