Jerome A. Holmes, is the first African American to serve as an United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Holmes was born in Washington D.C. on November 18, 1961. His parents were Ryland and Hattie Holmes. Holmes graduated from Wake Forest University in 1983 … Read MoreJerome A. Holmes (1961- )
Sabrina Dhowre is a Somalian-American professional model and social media personality. She was born on July 16, 1989 in New York, and grew up in Montreal, Canada. Her mother Maryam Egal was born in Somalia but now resides in British Columbia. After graduating from high … Read MoreSabrina Dhowre Elba (1988- )
Blackdom Oil Company started in 1919 during the Red Summer which marked a year of nationwide violence against Black people. That year Blackdom, New Mexico’s only all-black town, entered into contracts with National Exploration Company and Mescalero Oil Company. Oil was first discovered in southeastern … Read MoreBlackdom Oil Company (1919-1930)
Maude Craig, public school teacher, suffragist, civil rights and community activist, was born in Austin, Texas in February 1880 to Marie Sanders Craig, a homemaker, and George Washington Craig, a grocer. In 1900, Craig graduated from Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College (now Prairie … Read MoreMaude E. Craig Sampson Williams (1880-1958)
Clara Belle Drisdale, the first African American to graduate from New Mexico State University, was born to sharecroppers Isaac and Carrie Melinda Moppins Drisdale in LaGrange, Texas on October 29, 1885. She was first educated in a one room country school house near LaGrange but … Read MoreClara Belle Drisdale Williams (1885-1994)
Ray Douglas McDonald was a running back who played for the Washington Redskins in the National Football League (NFL) for two seasons, 1967 and 1968. McDonald was also one of the first gay athletes in the NFL. Ray McDonald was born on May 7, 1944 … Read MoreRay Douglas McDonald (1944-1993)
Julia Pearl Hughes (Coleman-Robinson) was the first African American woman to successfully own and operate her own drugstore. Hughes was born to John and Mary Hughes in Melville Township, Alamance County, North Carolina. She attended the local schools and graduated in 1893 from Scotia Seminary (now Barber-Scotia College) … Read MoreJulia Pearl Hughes (1873-1950)
Drusilla Elizabeth (née Tandy) Nixon, civil rights activist, community advocate, and music educator, was born on July 15, 1899 in Toledo, Ohio, the daughter of Maud Grant Tandy and John Clifford Tandy. She attended Toledo’s Waite High where she was the only black student in her class. Drusilla wrote for the school magazine, … Read MoreDrusilla Elizabeth Tandy Nixon (1899-1990)
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- )
A Different World, which aired for six seasons on the NBC Network from September 24, 1987, to July 9, 1993, was a spin-off from the hugely popular The Cosby Show. The show, which took place at Hillman College, a fictional historically black college in Virginia, starred Lisa Bonet as … Read MoreA Different World (1987-1993)
