Zula Swanson, an enterprising business owner and real estate developer, became one of the largest landowners in the state of Alaska. Swanson was born in Jackson Gap, Alabama in 1891. Little is known of her early life except that she worked on a cotton plantation, … Read MoreZula Swanson (1891-1973)
Bettye Jean Davis (née Ivory), a social worker and politician, became the first African American woman elected to the Alaska State House of Representatives and the first African American elected to the Alaska State Senate. Davis was born in Homer, Louisiana on May 17, 1938. … Read MoreBettye Davis (1938-2018)
Willard L. Bowman was a union organizer, politician, and civil rights activist in Anchorage, Alaska. From 1963 to 1970, he served as the first director of the state’s Human Rights Commission. In 1970 he was one of the first African Americans elected to the Alaska … Read MoreWillard L. Bowman (1919-1975)
Joshua J. Wright II was a dentist and politician in Anchorage, Alaska. In 1970 he was one of the first African Americans to be elected to the State House of Representatives. Wright was born in Georgetown, South Carolina, on August 6, 1929. His parents were … Read MoreJoshua J. Wright II (1929-2017)
Beatrice Coleman was a pioneering civil rights activist in Fairbanks, Alaska. In 1946 she challenged Jim Crow segregation in the city by calling for the enforcement of a recently-enacted anti-discrimination law. In 1952 Coleman was one of the founding members of the Fairbanks chapter of … Read MoreBeatrice Coleman (1908-1982)
In May of 1899 the United States Army sent Buffalo Soldiers, the black soldiers of Company L of the 24th Infantry, to Dyea, Alaska Territory. The Klondike Gold Rush had brought hordes of gold rushers up the Lynn Canal to the tiny ports at Dyea … Read MoreBuffalo Soldiers in Skagway, Alaska (1899-1902)
On November 3, 2020, Marilyn Strickland won the open seat in Washington’s 10th Congressional District, becoming the first Black Representative from the state of Washington, and first woman of Korean American descent elected to Congress. Previously on November 3, 2009, Marilyn Strickland was elected Tacoma, … Read MoreMarilyn Strickland (1962- )
Lieutenant General Samuel Ebbesen is a retired three-star United States Army general. Ebbesen was born in Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands but the date of his birth is unknown as are the facts of his early life. He eventually moved to the mainland United States, settled in New York … Read MoreSamuel Emanuel Ebbesen (?- )
Born January 17, 1942 in Columbus, Georgia, Albert J. Edmonds was a career officer in the United States Air Force who eventually achieved the rank of Lieutenant General. Edmonds graduated from Spencer High School in Columbus and then earned a bachelor’s degree n chemistry from Morris Brown College in 1964 … Read MoreAlbert J. Edmonds (1942- )
Leo A. Brooks Sr. is a retired major general formerly in the United States Army. Brooks was born August 9, 1932 in Alexandria, Virginia to the Reverend Houston G. Brooks and Evelyn Lemon Brooks. His grandparents were of mixed African American and American Indian ancestry. Beginning in 1950 Brooks … Read MoreLeo Austin Brooks, Sr. (1932- )
