Born in Pocatello, Idaho, on May 9, 1945, Dorthy (spelled without the second “o”) L. Johnson, became a semi-finalist in the 1964 Miss USA pageant after winning the title of “Miss Idaho.” The nineteen year-old was not the first African American to compete in The … Read MoreDorthy Johnson (1945- )
James Monroe Whitfield, a black abolitionist and colonizationist, was born on April 10, 1822 in New Hampshire. Little is known about his early life except that he was a descendant of Ann Paul, the sister of prominent black clergyman Thomas Paul. Whitfield had little formal … Read MoreJames Monroe Whitfield (1822-1871)
Jesse Binga’s rise from relative poverty to become the wealthiest African American entrepreneur and banker in Chicago in the late 19th century earned him a national reputation. Binga was born on April 10, 1865, in Detroit to William W. Binga, a barber and native of … Read MoreJesse Binga (1865-1950)
In 1849 the U.S. Army established its first military post in the Pacific Northwest at Vancouver, Washington. Known varyingly as Columbia Barracks, Fort Vancouver, and, since 1879, Vancouver Barracks, the post played a leading role in major military actions in the nineteenth century American West, … Read MoreBuffalo Soldiers at Vancouver, Washington Barracks (1899-1900)
Founded on Aug. 9, 1917 in Spokane, Washington, the Washington State Federation of Colored Women (WSFCW) confederated several social and civic clubs organized by African American women during the early 1900s. The African American women’s club movement in Washington State began in 1908 with the … Read MoreWashington State Federation of Colored Women (1917- )
York was an African American slave best known for his participation in the (Meriwether) Lewis and (William) Clark Expedition of 1804-1806. York was born in Caroline County, Virginia in 1770. York, his father, mother (Rose), and younger sister and brother (Nancy and Juba) were all … Read MoreYork (1770-1832)
Wallace Thurman was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on August 16, 1902 to Beulah and Oscar Thurman. He was reared by his maternal grandmother, Emma Jackson, who was among the founders of Calvary Baptist Missionary Church—the first black church in Utah. Young Thurman lived … Read MoreWallace Thurman (1902-1934)
Born enslaved on January 6, 1828, on the Jordan Flake Plantation in Anson County, North Carolina, Green Flake was given to his owner’s son, James Madison Flake, when he married Agnes Love in 1838. Later, the couple moved to Mississippi with their three-year-old son, Green, … Read MoreGreen Flake (1828-1903)
Edward Rose, also known by the names Five Scalps, Nez Coupe and “Cut Nose,” was the son of a white trader father and a Cherokee and African American mother. Little else is known about his early life including where he was born. He may have … Read MoreEdward Rose (c. 1780- c. 1833)
An unusual incidence of interracial solidarity between blacks and Asian Americans occurred during Booker T. Washington’s visit to Seattle. In March 1913, Washington embarked on a national speaking tour in order to raise money for Tuskegee Institute, the chronically underfunded “Normal and Industrial School” in … Read MoreBooker Washington in Seattle, 1913
