Musician and composer William Christopher “W.C.” Handy was born on November 16, 1873, in Florence, Alabama. Widely known as the “Father of the Blues,” Handy is recognized as one of the leaders in popularizing blues music. Young Handy’s interest in music was discouraged by his … Read MoreW.C. Handy (1873-1958)
Vertner Woodson Tandy, one of seven founders of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, was born on May 17, 1885, in Lexington, Kentucky to Henry A. Tandy, a successful entrepreneur and building contractor, and Emma Brice Tandy. Young Tandy was educated at the Candler School in … Read MoreVertner Woodson Tandy (1885-1949)
Alexander Walters was born in 1858 into a slave family in Bardstown, Kentucky, the sixth of eight children. By the age of ten, Walters had shown such academic progress that he was awarded by the African Episcopal Zion Church a full scholarship to attend private … Read MoreBishop Alexander Walters (1858-1917)
William Wells Brown was an African American antislavery lecturer, groundbreaking novelist, playwright and historian. He is widely considered to have been the first African American to publish works in several major literary genres. Known for his continuous political activism especially in his involvement with the … Read MoreWilliam Wells Brown (ca. 1814-1884)
Angelo Herndon was the defendant in one of the most publicized and notorious legal cases of the 1930s. In 1932, nineteen-year-old Herndon was arrested under an obscure 19th century servile insurrection law for attempting to organize a peaceful demonstration of unemployed workers in Atlanta. Largely … Read MoreAngelo Herndon (1913-?)
Lewis Hayden was born a slave in Lexington, Kentucky on December 2, 1811 into the household of the Rev. Adam Runkin, a Presbyterian minister. In 1840 he married fellow slave, Harriet Bell (c.1811-1893). The Haydens successfully escaped slavery in 1844. They traveled to Ohio, Canada, … Read MoreLewis Hayden (1811-1889)
Harriet Bell Hayden and her husband Lewis Hayden (c.1811-1889) escaped slavery in Kentucky in 1844, traveling first to Ohio, then Michigan and finally settling in Massachusetts, where they became active abolitionists in Boston. In addition to caring for their two children, Joseph and Elizabeth, Harriet … Read MoreHarriet Hayden (ca. 1820-1893)
One of Colorado Territory’s most interesting African American citizens spoke eloquently on behalf of black suffrage between 1863 and 1873, a decade of great debate on this particular subject. William Jefferson Hardin had been born to a free quadroon woman and a white father in … Read MoreWilliam Jefferson Hardin (1831-1889)
Colonel Charles Young enjoyed a decorated military career after his graduation from West Point Military Academy in 1889. A Buffalo Soldier serving with the 9th and 10th Cavalry and the 25th Infantry, Young eventually became the first African American to achieve the rank of colonel … Read MoreCharles Young (1864-1922)
Marshall “Major” Taylor was a late 19th and early 20th century champion cyclist who became the first African American to win a world championship in sprint cycling. Between 1898 and 1899 he set numerous world records in cycling ranging from the quarter-mile to two-mile race. … Read MoreMarshall “Major” Taylor (1878-1932)
