Lusia “Lucy” Harris, a former American basketball player, is considered to be one of the pioneers of women’s basketball. She played for Delta State University in Mississippi and won a silver medal with the U.S. Women’s Basketball Team in the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympic Games … Read MoreLusia Harris (1955- )
Ernest “Rip” Patton, Jr., a civil rights activist and a veteran of the Freedom Riders, was born in 1940 in Nashville, Tennessee. From a young age, Patton desired to see societal change due to his childhood memories of observing the harsh effects of racial segregation … Read MoreErnest “Rip” Patton (1940–2021)
Ferdinand Q. Morton, political leader, attorney, and baseball commissioner, was born to two former slaves named Edward James Morton and Mattie Shelton Morton on September 9, 1881, in Macon, Mississippi. His father moved their family to Washington D.C. in 1890 because he got a job … Read MoreFerdinand Q. Morton (1881-1949)
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Bertha Lee Pate Patton was an African American blues singer from the Mississippi Delta who came to prominence during the 1920s and 1930s. She was born to Ella Johnson and Nels Pate on June 17, 1902, in Flora, Madison County, Mississippi, … Read MoreBertha Lee Pate Patton Joiner (1902–1975)
Mathematician Etta Zuber Falconer was born on November 21, 1933, in Tupelo, Mississippi. Her mother, Zadie L. Montgomery, was a musician, and her father, Dr. Walter A. Zuber, was a physician. She graduated from George Washington Carver High School in 1949. Zuber was only fifteen … Read MoreEtta Zuber Falconer (1933-2002)
“Image Ownership: Keith Allison” Steve LaTreal McNair was an American football quarterback who played for the National Football League (NFL) for thirteen years with two teams, the Houston/Tennessee Oilers which were renamed the Tennessee Titans, and the Baltimore Ravens. McNair was born on February 14, … Read MoreSteve LaTreal McNair (1973–2009)
Image Courtesy of the History Makers Katie Booth was an African American biomedical chemist and community activist. She was born on May 23, 1907, in Gulfport, Mississippi, to Joseph Patterson and Ida Coffye. She attended a one room school in her church through the eighth … Read MoreKatie Booth (1907–2005)
“Image Ownrship: Pubic Domain” Warner McCary, slave, musician, performer, self-identified prophet, and physician, was born in Natchez, Mississippi, circa 1810. His mother, Franky, was a slave, and his father, James McCary, was a slave owner and cabinetmaker who migrated to Natchez from Pennsylvania. Throughout his … Read MoreWarner McCrary (c.1810–n.d.)
Amzie Moore was a prominent figure in the Mississippi civil rights movement and voter registration campaign. He was born on September 23, 1911, on the Wilkins plantation near Greenwood, Mississippi, to black sharecropper parents. When Moore was fourteen, his mother died leaving him to care … Read MoreAmzie Moore (1911-1982)
Herbert Lee was a voting rights activist and martyr of the Mississippi civil rights movement. Lee was born on January 1, 1912, to Albert Lee, a farmer, and Elvira Turner Lee in Liberty, Mississippi. Although he possessed little formal education, his wife, Prince Melson Lee … Read MoreHerbert Lee (1912-1961)
