Banker and financial expert Jesse H. Turner Jr. was born on May 6, 1950, in Memphis, Tennessee, to Jesse H. Turner, the first black CPA in Memphis and an Army Captain in World War II. Jesse H. Turner Jr., was the first African American to … Read MoreJesse H. Turner Jr. (1950- )
In 1816, Rocky Fork near Godfrey, Illinois, was established by four free African American families who purchased five adjacent parcels of land and built homes and a church that soon became a large-scale secret Underground Railroad station for escaped enslaved people fleeing to safety from … Read MoreRocky Fork Underground Railroad Community (1816- )
World-renowned artist Sam Gilliam was born in Tupelo, Mississippi on November 30, 1933, to Sam Gilliam, Sr., a railroad worker, and Estery Gilliam, a homemaker. They had eight children, and Sam, Jr was the seventh. When the parents moved to Louisville, Kentucky, all of the … Read MoreSam Gilliam (1933- )
Jesse Clark White is an American educator, politician, and former track and field athlete from the state of Illinois. He is a Democrat and has been the 37th Illinois Secretary of State since 1999. He is the longest serving Secretary of State in Illinois history … Read MoreJesse White (1936- )
Although Black Americans have lived on the outskirts of major American cities since colonial times, Black suburbanization, that is the significant presence of African Americans in suburban communities, is a post-1960 phenomenon. The modern American suburb is a 20th century development as homebuilders, responding to … Read MoreA Brief History of African American Suburbanization
Opera singer, composer, librettist Uzee Brown, Jr. was born on June 13, 1950, in Cowpens, South Carolina, to Alline Gaffney Brown from Thickety Mountain, South Carolina, and Uzee Brown, Sr. Uzee Jr’s siblings, were Willie Brown, Sr. Ethelene Brown Palmer, Delois Brown Daniels, Daisy Dawkins, … Read MoreUzee Brown, Jr (1950- )
Henry E. Hayne was the first African American to serve as the South Carolina Secretary of State. He held that post from 1872 to 1877. Hayne was born into slavery on December 30, 1840 (estimated date), in Charleston, South Carolina to an enslaved mixed-raced mother … Read MoreHenry E. Hayne (ca. 1840-unknown)
This entry is for juvenile audiences. To see the full version of this entry, click here Who was Bessie Coleman? Bessie Coleman was born one of thirteen children on January 26, 1892, in Atlanta, Texas, to a family of sharecroppers. Her mother was Black, and her father was multiracial, … Read MoreBessie Coleman (1892-1926) [Children’s Edition]
Alice Ruth Clark Brown, dancer and aerial acrobat, was born on August 22, 1952, in the Washington Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, to Charles Clark and Mattie Miller Clark. She was the second child of three which includes a brother, Gerry Clark, and sister, Anna … Read MoreAlice Ruth Clark Brown (1952-2021)
