Charlotta Bass was a feminist, a crusading journalist, and a major African American activist on the West Coast through the first half of the twentieth century. Born Charlotta Amanda Spears in Sumter, South Carolina in 1879 or 1880, she migrated first to Rhode Island, and … Read MoreCharlotta Bass (1879-1969)
Yuri Kochiyama was born Mary Yuriko Nakahara in 1921 and raised in San Pedro, California, in a small working-class neighborhood. When Pearl Harbor was bombed, the life of Yuri’s family took a turn for the worse. Her father, a first-generation Japanese immigrant, was arrested by … Read MoreYuri Kochiyama (1921-2014)
In 1974, when organic chemist Phillip O. Crews browsed through a book on marine biology that stated the chemistry of sponges was unknown he refocused the direction of his research and his career to solving this mystery. He was born in the university town of … Read MorePhillip O. Crews (1943- )
Born September 18, 1905 in Oakland, California, Eddie Anderson’s career as an entertainer began at the age of 14 when he teamed up with his brother Cornelius in a song-and-dance act. Anderson’s career continued onto the silver screen where he had parts in movies such … Read MoreEddie “Rochester” Anderson (1905-1977)
Bayard Rustin was one of the most important, and yet least known, Civil Rights advocates in the twentieth century. He was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania on March 17, 1912 and raised by his maternal grandparents. His grandmother, Julia, was both a Quaker and an … Read MoreBayard Rustin (1912-1987)
The widely revered African American publisher Carlton Benjamin Goodlett was born in Chipley, Florida on July 23, 1914. He finished his bachelor’s degree in 1935 at Howard University where he was president of the student body and editor of the student newspaper. Goodlett earned a … Read MoreCarlton B. Goodlett (1914-1997)
Through much of U.S. military history, officers serving in the armed forces have rarely commented publicly on social issues of the day. One exception to this tradition appears below, a speech by Captain Charles Young, Ninth Cavalry, at Stanford University. In December, 1903 Young was … Read More(1903) Captain Charles Young Speaks At Stanford University
Wysinger v. Crookshank is the first case that rendered school segregation of African Americans in California contrary to the law. On October 1, 1888, 58-year-old Edmond Wysinger, a former slave who bought his freedom working in the California mines, moved to Visalia, California. When he … Read MoreWysinger v. Crookshank, 1888
Born July 28, 1914, in Los Angeles, California, Woody Strode (Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode) was first of the star football athletes to become a successful film actor. He and Kenny Washington integrated the National Football League (NFL), and Strode played for the Los Angeles Rams … Read MoreWoody Strode (1914-1994)
Olympic athlete Willie Samuel Steele was born in El Centro, California on July 14, 1923. At age 4 his family moved to San Diego where he graduated from Herbert Hoover High School in 1940. While attending San Jose State University he was drafted into the … Read MoreWillie S. Steele (1923-1989)
