Dr. Donnis Hazel Thompson was an athlete, coach, University of Hawaii Women’s Athletic Director, State of Hawaii Department of Education school superintendent, Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission chair in Hawaii, and champion for Title IX women’s athletics in Hawaii. Thompson was born in Chicago, Illinois, … Read MoreDonnis Hazel Thompson (1933-2009)
Theophilus Lewis, drama/ theater critic, journalist, and U.S. Postal Service employee, was born to Thomas and Anne Lewis on March 4, 1891, in Baltimore, Maryland. Lewis attended public schools in Baltimore but was very much self-educated. He joined the U.S. Army and fought in World … Read MoreTheophilus Lewis (1891-1974)
African American labor leader Willard S. Townsend was born on December 4, 1895, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Willard and Cora Elizabeth Townsend. In 1938 he organized railway workers of several Chicago, Illinois stations to form the International Brotherhood of Redcaps and remained the union’s president … Read MoreWillard S. Townsend (1895-1957)
Image Ownership: Public domain Lamar Smith, voting rights activist and veteran, was a martyr in the fight for civil rights. Smith was born in March 1892 to Levi Smith and Harriet Humphrey in Lincoln County, Mississippi; however, there is little information concerning his early life. … Read MoreLamar Smith (1892-1955)
In 1978 Joseph Freeman became the first man of African ancestry to be granted the priesthood after the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced that any male could be ordained, regardless of race or color. Freeman was born July 24, 1953, in Vanceboro, … Read MoreJoseph Freeman (1953– )
Soldiers with Black Resident of Washington, D.C. “Image Ownership: Public Domain” The race riot in Washington, D.C. was one of more than twenty that took place during the “Red Summer” of 1919. Lasting a total of only four days, this short-lived riot was more accurately … Read MoreWashington, D.C. Race Riot (1919)
"Image Ownership: Public Domain" Georgia Ann Hill Robinson became the first black female police officer to work for the Los Angeles (California) Police Department (LAPD)—and possibly the first in the country—in 1916. Months before 15 percent of the police force of the United States would … Read MoreGeorgia Ann Hill Robinson (1879–1961)
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” The race riot of Charleston, South Carolina in 1919 was a part of a series of race riots that year, known as the “Red Summer.” The migration of blacks out of the south, the end of World War I, the Bolshevik … Read MoreCharleston, South Carolina Race Riot (1919)
"Image Ownership: Public Domain" Alexander Louis Jackson II was born on March 1, 1891, in Englewood, New Jersey. He attended Phillips Andover Academy and was elected to be the commencement speaker for his class of 1910. Jackson graduated from Harvard University in 1914 with degrees … Read MoreA.L. Jackson (1891–1973)
92nd Infantry Division in Combat in Italy, 1944 Image Courtesy of the U.S. Department of Defense The 92nd Infantry Division, a military unit of approximately fifteen thousand officers and men, was one of only two all-black divisions to fight in the United States Army in … Read More92nd Infantry Division (1917–1919, 1942–1945)