Constructed in 1910 with a grant from Andrew Carnegie’s library development program, the Carnegie Library of Mound Bayou, Mississippi was the first free public library intended for African Americans in the state of Mississippi and one of the first African American public libraries in the country. It served … Read MoreCarnegie Library, Mound Bayou, Mississippi (1910-1935)
Scholar and civil rights activist Julius Lester was born January 27, 1939 in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of a Methodist minister. Lester spent much of his childhood in Missouri, where in the 1940s and 1950s he dealt with southern attitudes about race and segregation before and during the Civil Rights movement. In … Read MoreJulius Lester (1939-2018)
In 1982, Dr. Marsha Rhea Williams became the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in Computer Science. A successful educator and researcher in academia, Williams has also held positions in private industry and the public sector. Her scholarship examines a variety of topics, ranging from the … Read MoreMarsha Rhea Williams (1948- )
An accomplished organic analytical chemist, Dr. Betty Wright Harris is widely recognized as a leading expert on explosives, environmental remediation, and hazardous waste treatment. In 1986, she patented a simple and extremely sensitive spot test for the presence of 1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (TATB). Her innovation allowed the military and private … Read MoreBetty Wright Harris (1940- )
Civil rights supporter, city official, and social activist Gilbert William Lindsay was born on a cotton plantation in Mississippi on November 29, 1900. As a teenager, he left the state and enrolled in a school in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Lindsay later moved to Arizona where he served in the 10th Calvary and 25th Infantry of the United States Army. … Read MoreGilbert William Lindsay (1900-1990)
Homer Smith, Jr., best known for his fourteen-year sojourn in the Soviet Union, was born in 1909 in Quitman, Mississippi, to parents Mr. and Mrs. Homer Smith, Sr. In 1916, at the age of seven, he moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota with his parents. Between 1922 and 1928, Smith … Read MoreHomer Smith, Jr. (1909-1972)
The Clinton Riot began on September 4, 1875, in the small town of Clinton, Mississippi at a Republican rally to introduce the party’s candidates who were running for political office in the upcoming November elections. The immediate death toll included five blacks and three white men. Over the next several days, … Read MoreThe Clinton, Mississippi Riot (1875)
The Carroll County Courthouse Massacre occurred on March 17, 1886 in Carrollton, the county seat of Carroll County, Mississippi. An incident from earlier in the year led to the bloodshed in March that left twenty-three people dead. The events leading up to the massacre began in January when … Read MoreThe Carroll County Courthouse Massacre (1886)
The Meridian Race Riot occurred over three days in March 1871 in Meridian, Mississippi. It resulted in the murders of a white Republican judge and nearly thirty blacks by a mob of vigilante whites led by the Ku Klux Klan. The riot is the bloodiest day in the city’s history … Read MoreThe Meridian Race Riot (1871)
The Chicago Race Riot of 1964 was actually centered in Dixmoor, Illinois, a suburb southwest of the city. By 1960 Dixmoor had less than 4,000 residents. Of that population over 50 percent of its residents were black. A large portion of Dixmoor’s black population were recently arrived migrants … Read MoreChicago Riots (1964)
