Julian Hudson Mayfield was best known as an American actor, director, writer, lecturer, and civil rights activist. Mayfield was born on June 6, 1928, in Greer, South Carolina, and was raised from the age of five in Washington. He attended Paul Laurence Dunbar High School … Read MoreJulian Mayfield (1928-1984)
Sherman “Jocko” Maxwell was born December 18, 1907, in Newark, New Jersey. He was an African American sports broadcaster, journalist, and postal worker and best known as a chronicler of the Negro Baseball League. Sherman Leander Maxwell was the son of William and Bessie E. … Read MoreSherman Maxwell (1907-2008)
Bennet Ifeakandu Omalu is a Nigerian-American doctor who is best known for discovering chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the brain injury affecting former National Football League players, among others. Omalu’s discovery and the reaction to it prompted the 2015 film Concussion starringt the actor Will Smith. … Read MoreBennet Ifeakandu Omalu (1968- )
McKissack &McKissack is the oldest African American-owned architecture, construction, and engineering firm in the United States. The firm’s history began when Scotsman John McKissack, the owner of a construction and brick building company in West Tennessee, purchased an enslaved West African Ashanti ancestor (1790–1865). John … Read MoreMcKissack & McKissack Company (1905- )
Dr. James Francis Shober was an African American doctor and the first known black physician to practice in North Carolina. Shober was born on August 23, 1853, in or near the Moravian town of Salem (now Winston-Salem), North Carolina. Shober’s father, believed to be Francis … Read MoreJames Francis Shober (1853-1889)
Marie Van Brittan Brown was the inventor of the first home security system. She is also credited with the invention of the first closed circuit television. Brown was born in Queens, New York, on October 22, 1922, and resided there until her death on February … Read MoreMarie Van Brittan Brown (1922-1999)
“Image Ownership: Scott Eisen/Bloomberg” The theoretical physicist Ronald Mallett, known for his scientific position on the possibility of time travel, was born on March 3, 1945, in Roaring Spring, Pennsylvania. When Mallett was only ten years old, his father died of a heart attack at … Read MoreRonald Mallett (1945– )
Physicist George Campbell Jr. was born on December 2, 1945, in Richmond, Virginia, to Lilia and George Campbell. George’s parent divorced when he was in elementary school. Because of the disappearance of his father’s financial support and his mother’s low-paying domestic job, Campbell grew up … Read MoreGeorge Campbell Jr. (1945- )
Reverend Joseph Harrison Jackson was the pastor of Olivet Baptist Church in Chicago, Illinois (1941–1990), the longest-serving president of the National Baptist Convention (1953-1982), and a leading conservative voice during the Civil Rights era. To this day, Rev. Jackson remains a deeply controversial figure, in … Read MoreReverend Joseph H. Jackson (1900-1990)
“Image Ownership: Fair Use” Marcus Foster was an educator who gained national prominence for educational excellence while serving as a principal in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and as the first black superintendent of the Oakland Unified School District in California. Known as a titan in the areas … Read MoreMarcus A. Foster (1923–1973)
