Early 20th Century Seattle civil rights activist Letitia Ann Dennie Graves was born in 1863 in Illinois to Martha Murphy and George Dennie. Very little is known about Graves’s early life other than the fact that she and her husband, John Henry Graves, a Kansas … Read MoreLetitia A. Graves (1863-1952)
Rhythm and blues (R&B), jazz, and blues singer Etta James was born Jamesetta Hawkins on January 25, 1938 in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles to Dorothy Hawkins, who at the time was sixteen years old and unmarried. James received her first professional training as … Read MoreEtta James (1938-2012)
John W. Rogers Jr., business executive, investor, and entrepreneur, was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 31, 1958. Rogers’s mother was Jewel S. Lafontant, a prominent Republican attorney and federal government official and his father was John W. Rogers, a Chicago circuit court judge. Rogers … Read MoreJohn W. Rogers (1958- )
Earl Burrus Dickerson was a member of President Roosevelt’s Fair Employment Practices Commission between 1941 and 1943 and a prominent civil rights attorney in Chicago. He was also one of the founders of the Supreme Liberty Life Insurance Company with headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. Dickerson … Read MoreEarl B. Dickerson (1891-1986)
In the early 1820s, eleven African American families, some free, some fugitive, crossed the Mississippi River from the slave-state of Missouri to the free state of Illinois to found the first black town in the United States. According to oral tradition, the group was led … Read MoreBrooklyn, Illinois (ca. 1823- )
New Philadelphia, Illinois was one of the most famous of the antebellum all-black towns. Founded by Free Frank McWorter (1777-1854), a former Kentucky slave who purchased his freedom with his own earnings, New Philadelphia, Illinois was the first U. S. town to be registered by … Read MoreNew Philadelphia, Illinois (1836- )
Hylan Garnett Lewis was a distinguished sociologist and pioneer in the field of community studies whose work helped guide the study of American race relations for more than half a century. Throughout his life, Lewis analyzed, and sought remedies for, the problems of the poor … Read MoreHylan Garnet Lewis (1911-2000)
Shani Davis became the first African American to win a gold medal an individual event in the Winter Olympics and the first African American male to win a gold when he competed in the men’s 1,000-meter speedskating championship in the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in … Read MoreShani Davis (1982- )
The National Pan-Hellenic Council, Inc. (NPHC) is the collaborative effort of nine historically African American Greek-lettered fraternities and sororities, also known as the Divine 9. The Council was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C., on May 10, 1930, and chartered by Alpha Kappa Alpha … Read MoreNational Pan-Hellenic Council (1930 – )
Archibald Carey Jr. followed his famous father of the same name to become a major figure in Chicago’s political and religious life during much of the 20th Century. Over his career he was an attorney, judge, politician, minister, and bank president. Born in Chicago on … Read MoreArchibald J. Carey, Jr. (1908-1981)
