Villa Lewaro, built by Madam C.J. Walker in 1918, is a thirty-four-room, 20,000-square-foot mansion located at Fargo Lane and North Broadway in Irvington, New York. The estate is situated near the resident of the Franklin D. Roosevelt family on the Hudson River. Walker, a self-made … Read MoreVilla Lewaro, The Mansion of Madam C.J. Walker (1918- )
Democratic Congresswoman Robin Kelly represents Illinois’s 2nd District, which includes Kankakee County and parts of Cook and Will Counties. It includes Chicago’s south suburbs and Southeast Side. Kelly was first elected on April 9, 2013, when the state of Illinois held a special election to … Read MoreRobin L. Kelly (1956- )
The National Association of the Advancement of Colored People’s (NAACP) Silent Protest Parade, also known as the Silent March, took place on 5th Avenue in New York City, New York on Saturday, July 28, 1917. This protest was a response to violence against African Americans, … Read MoreNew York City NAACP Silent Protest Parade (1917)
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)
Arthur Prysock was an important multi-genre vocalist born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, in 1924. During the Second World War, Prysock moved from his home to Hartford, Connecticut, in order to work in the aircraft manufacturing industry. It was during this time that he realized his … Read MoreArthur Prysock (1924-1997)
Orlando Ashford is the former president of Holland America Line. He assumed this position in 2014 and stepped down in 2020. Holland America Line was founded in 1873, and until 1989, it was a Dutch-owned passenger and cargo shipping line operating primarily between the Netherlands … Read MoreOrlando Ashford (1968- )
“Image Ownership: Daniel Benavides” Lupita Amondi Nyong’o is a Kenyan-Mexican actress who is best known for her role as the character Patsey in the Academy Award-winning film, 12 Years a Slave. Nyong’o was born on March 1, 1983, in Mexico City, Mexico, to Kenyan parents … Read MoreLupita Amondi Nyong’o (1982– )
Negro art “made in America” is as non-existent as the widely advertised profundity of Cal Coolidge, the “seven years of progress” of Mayor Hylan, or the reported sophistication of New Yorkers. Negro art there has been, is, and will be among the numerous black nations … Read More(1926) George S. Schuyler, “The Negro-Art Hokum”
Peter Kerr was a freed slave, originally owned by iron worker John Kerr of Fallowfield, Pennsylvania. Very little is known about his early life including his place of birth or how he freed himself from slavery. Our best estimate of his birth year is 1775. … Read MorePeter “Black Pete” Kerr (ca. 1775-ca. 1840)
“Image Ownership: Myles Kalus Anak Jihem” Janelle Monae Robinson, known professionally as Janelle Monae, is an African American singer, songwriter, actress, and model. Born on December 1, 1985, in Kansas City, Kansas, she is the daughter of a woman (whose name is unknown) who worked … Read MoreJanelle Monae Robinson (1985– )
