John Brooks Slaughter is an electrical engineer, retired university president, college professor, and the first African American to serve as the director of the National Science Foundation (NSF). Slaughter was born on March 16, 1934 in Topeka, Kansas to Reuben Brooks Slaughter, a laborer, and … Read MoreJohn Brooks Slaughter (1934- )
On May 27, 2020 Evelyn Carmon Nicol, a pioneer in microbiology and immunology, died from complications of COVID-19, the coronavirus. Born to Daniel and Margarite Carmon on June 2, 1930, Nicol came of age in Little Rock, Kentucky. As a youth, she attended high school … Read MoreEvelyn Carmon Nicol (1930-2020)
In 1966 Huey Newton and Bobby Seale created the Black Panther Party (BPP) to fight police oppression of blacks in Oakland, California. Two years later the BPP started Peoples’ Free Medical Clinics (PFMC) because of systemic discrimination against blacks in hospitals and private medical practices. … Read MoreBlack Panther Party’s Free Medical Clinics (1969-1975)
The Double V campaign was a slogan championed by The Pittsburgh Courier, then the largest black newspaper in the United States, that promoted efforts toward democracy for civilian defense workers and for African Americans in the U.S. military. The Pittsburgh Courier newspaper, founded in 1907, … Read MoreThe Double V Campaign (1942-1945)
Hilton Lee Smith was a right-handed pitcher who played for the Monroe, Louisiana Monarchs and Kansas City Monarchs. Smith was born on February 27, 1907 to Mattie and John Smith in Giddings, Texas. Much of Smith’s early life is unknown but he attended Prairie View … Read MoreHilton Lee Smith (1907-1983)
Charles Wilber “Bullet” Rogan, also known as Bullet Joe, was a pitcher and outfielder who played most of his baseball career for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro Baseball Leagues. Rogan was born on July 28, 1893 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. His mother died … Read MoreCharles Wilber “Bullet” Rogan (1893-1967)
During the American Civil War, Fort Wagner was a Confederate stronghold that protected the harbor of Charleston, then the largest city in South Carolina. The fortress walls were made of sand and earth, and stood over 30 feet tall, and the fort itself was protected … Read MoreThe Second Battle of Fort Wagner (1863)
The first instance of Black soldiers engaging in significant combat during the Civil War was the Battle of Island Mound on Oct 29th, 1862 in Bates County, Missouri. With the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation issued on September 22nd, 1862, black soldiers had for more than one … Read MoreBattle of Island Mound (1862)
Historian and scholar Dr. Ralph Le Roy Crowder was born on Saturday, March 29, 1947 in Des Moines, Iowa, to parents Ralph L. Crowder and Allie Crowder. An only child, Crowder attended public schools in Des Moines where he played football, basketball, and track. He … Read MoreRalph L. Crowder (1947-2020)
American actor of stage and screen. He is perhaps best known known for films such as Shaft (1971), Ragtime (1981), and Heartbreak Ridge, (1986). He won his first Obie Award for his portrayal as Aaron in Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus, and was nominated for a Tony … Read MoreMoses Gunn (1929-1993)
