During the late nineteenth and the early twentieth century, Philip Bell Downing successfully filed at least five patents with the United States Patent Office. Among his most significant inventions were a street letter box (U.S. Patent numbers 462,092 and 462,093) and a mechanical device for operating street … Read MorePhilip B. Downing (1857-1934)
Frank M. Snowden, Jr. was a distinguished historian, professor, and diplomat most notably in the area the lives of blacks in the ancient world. Of his many esteemed works, Blacks in Antiquity is his most significant scholarship. Snowden was born on July 17, 1911, in York County, Virginia. His family moved to … Read MoreFrank M. Snowden, Jr. (1911-2007)
Army 4-star General Dennis L. Via was born in 1958 in the industrial town of Martinsville, Virginia, the son of Henry Via, a house painter and small-contract repairman, and Margaret Via, a homemaker. He had worked in a local textile mill and intended to skip college and … Read MoreDennis L. Via (1958- )
Air Force 4-star General Darren W. McDew was born in Rantoul, Illinois, on September 29, 1960. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in engineering in 1982 from the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia. With his officer’s commission, McDew trained as pilot in the 82d Flying Training Wing, Williams Air Force Base, Arizona. He … Read MoreDarren Wayne McDew (1960- )
The Charleston Church Massacre took place at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Charleston, South Carolina on June 17, 2015. Dylann Roof, a white supremacist, killed nine people including the senior pastor and South Carolina State Senator Clementa C. Pinckney during a prayer service at the … Read MoreThe Charleston Church Massacre (2015)
Joseph Paul Reason was the first African American to attain the rank of four-star admiral in the United States Navy. Reason was born March 22, 1941, in Washington, D.C., the son of Howard University librarian and French language professor Joseph Henry Reason, and schoolteacher Bernice … Read MoreJoseph Paul Reason (1941- )
Image Ownership: Public domain Physicist and university administrator Robert Ambrose Thornton was born in Houston, Texas, on May 6, 1902 to Frank Thornton, a laborer, and the former Mary Jane Sullivan, a midwife. Thornton attended Houston Colored High School but later graduated from Los Angeles … Read MoreRobert Ambrose Thornton (1902-1982)
Vincent K. Brooks is a distinguished general in the US Army and is currently the commander of the UN Command, Combined Forces Command, and US Forces Korea. He was born on October 24, 1958, in Anchorage, Alaska, to Leo Brooks Sr., an army general, and … Read MoreVincent K. Brooks (1958- )
Ora Mae Washington was the first prominent African American athlete to dominate two sports, tennis and basketball. Born on January 23, 1898, in Caroline County, Virginia, she was the daughter of James “Tommy” and Laura O. Young-Washington. Washington’s family moved north in search of opportunity … Read MoreOra Washington (1898-1971)
Lutrelle Horne on the Sesame Street Set Image Ownership: Public domain Lutrelle Horne is a producer who worked for Children’s Television Workshop (now Sesame Shop). He was one-time Executive Vice-President of Children’s Television Workshop and Executive Producer and Director of its International Division. Horne was … Read MoreLutrelle Horne (1937?- )
