The 5th Regiment Massachusetts Colored Volunteer Cavalry was a Union Army cavalry regiment during the Civil War. The cavalry regiment was organized at Camp Meigs, Readville, Massachusetts, during the Fall of 1863. On January 9, 1864, Company A was mustered into service and by May … Read More5th Massachusetts Cavalry Regiment (1864-1865)
Orchestral pianist, violinist, conductor, composer, and arranger of the Swing to Bebop eras, Teddy Wilson was born Theodore Shaw Wilson on November 24, 1912, in Austin, Texas. He and his brother Gus Wilson, however, were reared on the campus of Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), … Read MoreTeddy Wilson (1912-1986)
Stella Chinyelu Okoli is a Nigerian pharmacist, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. She is the founder and current CEO of Emzor, a pharmaceutical company she started in 1977. Okoli was born on July 30, 1944, in Kano State to Felix Ebelechukwu and Margaret Modebelu. She attended All … Read MoreStella Chinyelu Okoli (1944- )
John Henderson Cartwright, a minister and university administrator, was born in Houston, Texas, on August 17, 1933. Cartwright graduated from Phillis Wheatley High School in the city in 1950. Upon graduating with honors, Cartwright enrolled in Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, where he received a … Read MoreJohn Henderson Cartwright (1933-2011)
Marlin Oliver “The Magician” Briscoe was a football quarterback for the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). When the Denver (Colorado) Broncos drafted him in 1968, Briscoe became the first African American Quarterback in professional football to start on a football team. … Read MoreMarlin Oliver Briscoe (1945-2022)
George Alfred Strait, III, an award-winning journalist, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1945. Strait received a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Boston University in 1967 and a Master of Science in Biochemical Genetics from Atlanta University in Georgia in 1969. He is a … Read MoreGeorge Alfred Strait, III (1945- )
Patrick Mahomes, who is also known as Patrick Lavon Mahomes, Sr. or Pat Mahomes, is a former American professional baseball player. He actively played from 1988 to 2009. Born on August 9, 1970, Mahomes is the son of Johnny and Cindy Mahomes. During his childhood, … Read MorePatrick Mahomes Sr. (1970-)
Carol Johnson-Dean was the first black woman superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools. She held that post from 1997 to 2003. Johnson-Dean was born 1948 to Mrs. Willie Rawls and Buddy Rawls. She grew up in Brownsville, Haywood County, Tennessee about 50 miles northeast of Memphis. … Read MoreDr. Carol Johnson-Dean (1948-)
Pauline Powell Burns was a pianist and a painter who was most well known for her early art exhibitions in California in the 1890s. Powell was born in Oakland, California in 1872, to Josephine Turner, a schoolteacher and domestic worker, and William W. Powell, a … Read MorePauline Powell Burns (1872-1912)
Dr. Lisa DeNell Cook is an economist and a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. She is the first African American woman to sit on the Board. Cook was born in 1964 and raised in Milledgeville, Georgia. She is one of three daughters of … Read MoreLisa D. Cook (1964- )
