African-American artist and art educator Hale Woodruff was born to George and Augustin Woodruff on August 26, 1900 in Cairo, Illinois. After his father died, Woodruff and his mother moved to East Nashville, Tennessee. Woodruff showed an early interest in art and was the cartoonist … Read MoreHale Aspacio Woodruff (1900-1980)
In the following account Professor Malik Simba of California State University, Fresno, describes the century-long history of the largest organized body dedicated to the research and promotion of African American history. The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) is the oldest … Read MoreThe Association for the Study of African American Life and History: A Brief History
In the following article Daryl Michael Scott, Professor of History at Howard University and Vice President of Program for the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, discusses the history of the Black History Month Celebration. The story of Black History Month … Read MoreThe History of Black History Month
Writer, teacher, and cultural critic bell hooks was born Gloria Jean Watkins on September 25, 1952, in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, to a working-class family. Her father, Veodis Watkins, was a janitor for the local post office, and her mother, Rosa Bell Watkins, was a homemaker, raising … Read Morebell hooks/Gloria Jean Watkins (1952-2021)
The Cabrini-Green Housing Project was a Chicago (Illinois) Housing Authority (CHA) managed housing project located on the city’s Near North Side neighborhood. The project was authorized by the Housing Act of 1937 which called for the construction of public housing as part of the effort … Read MoreCabrini Green Housing Project, Chicago, Illinois (1942 -2009)
William Attaway, writer and composer, was born in Greenville, Mississippi. His mother, Florence Parry Attaway, worked as a teacher and his father, William Alexander Attaway, was a doctor who helped create the National Negro Insurance Association. In the 1910s, the family moved to Chicago, Illinois. … Read MoreWilliam Attaway (1911-1986)
Entrepreneur and philanthropist Annie Turnbo Malone was born to Robert Turnbo and Isabella Cook in Metropolis, Illinois on August 9, 1869. Her parents were former slaves and her father joined the Union Army during the Civil War. Turnbo attended school in Peoria, Illinois, but she … Read MoreAnnie Turnbo Malone (1869-1957)
The National Lawyers Guild (NLG), founded in 1937, was the first attorneys organization that welcomed any member regardless of belief or race making it the first integrated bar association. The Guild included a number of African American attorneys but also white New Deal liberals and … Read MoreNational Lawyers Guild (1937- )
The Robert R. Taylor Homes in Chicago, Illinois were named after Robert Rochon Taylor, a black architect and civic leader who became the Chicago Housing Authority’s first African American chairman in 1942. Construction of the Robert R. Taylor Homes began in 1959 and was completed … Read MoreRobert R. Taylor Homes, Chicago, Illinois (1959-2005)
