Twelve-year-old DeAunta T. Farrow, killed by West Memphis, Arkansas Police Officer Erik Sammis on June 22, 2007, was one of the youngest victims of a police shooting that year. His death sparked protests in West Memphis and brought national attention to another death of an unarmed black citizen at … Read MoreDeAunta T. Farrow (1994-2007)
On Friday, February 3, 1893, Henry Smith was lynched in Paris, Texas, in front of an estimated 15,000 spectators. His death was one of the earliest spectacle lynchings on record. The heinousness of Smith’s death captured the attention of journalist and anti-lynching advocate Ida B. Wells. She included a detailed … Read MoreHenry Smith (?-1893)
De Arthur Woodrow Miller or “Woody,” as he was most popularly known, was a trailblazer in the African American community of Fresno, California. He was the first African American to own a radio station in California’s Central Valley and was a leader of the local the civil rights movement. De Arthur Woodrow Miller … Read MoreDe Arthur Woodrow ‘Woody’ Miller (1927-2017)
In 1954, the United States Supreme Court declared public school segregation unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education. One year later, the Court reiterated its ruling, calling on school districts throughout the United States to desegregate their public schools “with all deliberate speed.” While some school districts began developing … Read MoreLittle Rock Crisis, 1957
David L. Lewis is a twice Pulitzer Prize-winning historian. He was born on May 25, 1936 in Little Rock, Arkansas to John Henry Lewis, Sr., a Yale Divinity School graduate and college president, and the former Alice Urnestine Bell, a public school math teacher. He … Read MoreDavid Levering Lewis (1936- )
The first African American pilot hired by a commercial passenger airline carrier owed his achievement to Marlon D. Green who fought a six-year court battle that opened the industry to minority-race aviators. Born on June 6, 1929 in El Dorado, Arkansas, one of the five … Read MoreMarlon DeWitt Green (1929-2009)
Four-star general and precision flier Lloyd W. Newton was born December 24, 1942 in Ridgeland, South Carolina, the fourth of seven children of John H. Newton, a farmer, and Annie Newton. Finishing Jasper High School in Ridgeland, he majored in mechanical engineering at Tennessee State … Read MoreLloyd Warren Newton (1942- )
The Ladies Refugee Aid Society of Kansas was founded in 1864 by black freedwomen in Lawrence. It was the first black women’s club in the West, preceding the Kansas Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs (a larger amalgamation of various state women’s societies). LRAS was a … Read MoreLadies’ Refugee Aid Society (1864)
Lisa Deshaun Leslie is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Los Angeles Sparks in the Women’s Basketball Association (WNBA) for her twelve-year career from 1997 to 2009. She is a two-time WNBA champion, three-time WNBA MVP, and a four-time Olympic gold … Read MoreLisa Deshaun Leslie (1972- )
Veronica Campbell-Brown is a Jamaican track and field sprinter, who competes in 100- and 200- meter races. She is one of only nine athletes to win world championships at the youth, junior, and senior levels. Campbell-Brown’s personal best in the 100 meters (10.76) and 200 meters (21.74) ranks her among the all-time top ten in … Read MoreVeronica Campbell-Brown (1982– )
