Samuel (“Sammy”) Leamon Younge Jr. was a 21-year-old civil rights activist who was shot to death on January 3, 1966 when he attempted to use a whites-only restroom at a gas station in Macon County, Alabama. He was a navy veteran studying political science at … Read MoreSamuel (“Sammy”) Leamon Younge, Jr. (1944-1966)
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Black Power advocate Nathan Wright, Jr. was born on August 5, 1923 in Shreveport, Louisiana. He and his brother and sisters grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. Wright attended St. Augustine’s College in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1941 and 1942 and then … Read MoreNathan Wright Jr. (1923-2005)
For over six decades Dr. Yusef A. Lateef was a major developer in the international improvisational musical field. A saxophone and flute virtuoso, his early success in the blues and jazz fields led him to push himself beyond educational barriers, becoming a contemporary renaissance artist … Read MoreYusef Abdel Lateef (1920-2013)
Mary Cardwell Dawson established the National Negro Opera Company (NNOC) in 1941 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Born in North Carolina, Dawson graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music in 1925, the only African American in her class. Facing discrimination in her aspiration for a career … Read MoreNational Negro Opera Company (1941-1962)
Tituba was a slave in Salem, Massachusetts and was one of the first people persecuted in the Salem Witch Trials between 1691 and 1692. Many specifics about her life are unknown, and the historical accounts about her are often contradictory. She is believed to have … Read MoreTituba
“Image Ownership: Presbyterian Historical Society” Reverend Gayraud Stephen Wilmore was an American pastor, educator, historian, and theologian. Born on December 20, 1921 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Wilmore attended Central High School where he was active in the drama club, wrote for the student newspaper and, for … Read MoreGayraud Stephen Wilmore (1921-2020)
Oil Painting of James V. Herring by James Porter, 1923 (Image Courtesy of Howard University) James Vernon Herring was an influential American artist and teacher in the early twentieth century. He played an integral role in devising new ways by which art would be viewed … Read MoreJames V. Herring (1887-1969)
Cornelius Golightly at a Detroit School Board Meeting, Courtesy of the Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University In the following article Michigan State University professor John McClendon explores the remarkable life of little known early 20th century black intellectual Cornelius Golightly. Philosopher, teacher, … Read MoreDr. Cornelius Golightly (1917-1976): The Life of an Academic and Public Intellectual
Officially founded on August 8, 1805 by the Reverend Thomas Paul, The African Baptist Church is the oldest black church in Massachusetts. The first meeting of the congregants took place around 1800. Thomas Paul and Scipio Dalton formed the African Baptist Church after a group … Read MoreAfrican Baptist Church, Boston, Massachusetts (1805- )
The Columbus Avenue African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Zion Church in Boston, Massachusetts is most famous as the site of the July 30, 1903 Boston Riot. Although it is not the oldest African American church in the state of Massachusetts, it represents a critical moment in … Read MoreColumbus Avenue African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Boston, Massachusetts (1838- )
