On March 5, 2007, Illinois Senator Barack Obama joined Georgia Congressman John Lewis, New York Senator Hillary Clinton, her husband, Bill Clinton, and hundreds of other dignitaries in a commemoration of the 42nd anniversary of the “Bloody Selma” March in support of voting rights for … Read More(2007) Senator Barack Obama “Voting Rights March Commemoration Speech”
In early March 1965 much of the nation’s attention was focused on civil rights marches in and around Selma, Alabama. Activists led by Dr. Martin Luther King used these demonstrations to urge the federal government to act to end the denial of voting rights to … Read More(1965) Lyndon B. Johnson, “The Voting Rights Act”
African-American artist and art educator Hale Woodruff was born to George and Augustin Woodruff on August 26, 1900 in Cairo, Illinois. After his father died, Woodruff and his mother moved to East Nashville, Tennessee. Woodruff showed an early interest in art and was the cartoonist … Read MoreHale Aspacio Woodruff (1900-1980)
Oakwood College is a private, four-year coeducational historically black liberal arts university located in Huntsville, Alabama; the small urban campus is five minutes from downtown. Sitting on 1,185 acres, Oakwood University is one of the historical landmarks of Huntsville. It is the only historically black … Read MoreOakwood University (1896- )
Stillman College is a private, four-year university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and is known as one of the Historically Black Colleges/University (HBCU’s). In 1867, Charles Allen Stillman, Presbyterian Church pastor in Eutaw, Alabama asked the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Alabama to sponsor … Read MoreStillman College (1867- )
Miles College is a private, four-year Historically Black College and University (HBCU) located in Fairfield, Alabama, about six miles west of downtown Birmingham. The school was founded in 1905 by the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church (now called Christian Methodist Episcopal Church or CME Church), but … Read MoreMiles College (1905- )
Cudjo Lewis is considered the last survivor of the last slave ship to enter the United States. Born around 1841 to a Yoruba family in the Banté region of Dahomey (today Benin), he was given the name Oluale Kossola (Kazoola). At age fourteen, Kossola began … Read MoreKossola Cudjo Lewis (ca. 1841-1935)
The schooner Clotilda is the last known United States slave ship to bring enslaved people from Africa to the United States. Constructed in 1855 by the Mobile, Alabama captain and shipbuilder William Foster, the Clotilda was originally intended for the “Texas trade.” It was eighty-six … Read MoreClotilda (Slave Ship)
Jazz pianist, bandleader, composer, and cosmic philosopher Le Sony’r Ra, or Sun Ra, remains an influential and controversial figure in jazz history. He is largely remembered for his Astro Black Mythology that incorporated aspects of ancient Egyptian philosophy and science fiction, as well as his … Read MoreSun Ra/Le Sony’r Ra (1914-1993)
Robert Rochon Taylor was an architect and early housing activist in Chicago, Illinois who became Chairman of the Chicago Housing Authority in 1942. He is the son of Robert Robinson Taylor who was the first African American to graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology … Read MoreRobert Rochon Taylor (1899-1957)
