In the account below Edith Lee-Payne recalls the day she was photographed as a 12 year old participant in the March on Washington, and the curious history of that photograph through 2011. My grandparents, Marie and John Spencer Lee, left Culpeper, Virginia for Washington, D.C. … Read MoreMarch on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963: One Participant Remembers
Reginald McKnight is a novelist, short story writer, and educator born on February 26, 1956 in Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany to Frank and Pearl McKnight. Reginald’s father Frank was a career Air Force sergeant, causing the family to be frequently relocated during Reginald’s childhood. Before age 16 … Read MoreReginald McKnight (1956- )
Donald Hamilton Barden was one of the nation’s most successful black businessmen and the first black owner of a major Las Vegas Casino. He earned most of his wealth through the casino, cable television, and real estate industries. He also started a record company, worked … Read MoreDon H. Barden (1943-2011)
With the exception of the well-publicized Operation Moses, Joshua, and Solomon Airlift of 20,000 Ethiopian Jews from that war and famine ravaged nation to Israel between 1984 and 1991, few people outside the Middle East are aware of the tens of thousands of people of … Read MoreThe Black Diaspora in Israel, 1965 to 2011
The novelist and poet Gayl Jones was born November 23, 1949 in Lexington, Kentucky. She came from a creative background; her grandmother Amanda Wilson wrote religious dramas and her mother Lucile wrote fiction. By the time she was seven years old, she had already begun … Read MoreGayl Jones (1949- )
Image Ownership: Public Domain Timmie Rogers was a popular black comedian and entertainer from the 1940s through the 1990s. He was one of the first African American entertainers who refused to wear blackface or to dress in dirty tattered clothing while performing. Rogers also was … Read MoreTimmie Rogers (1914-2006)
James Pierpont Comer, a leading black child psychiatrist and educational reformer, was born into a working class family in East Chicago, Indiana on September 25, 1934. Although his parents, Maggie and Hugh Comer, had little education themselves, they strongly supported their children’s education. All five … Read MoreJames P. Comer (1934- )
A.T. Walden (left) Image Courtesy of Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Fair Use) Austin Thomas (A.T.) Walden, a noted attorney and civil rights leader, was one of few African American lawyers in Georgia during early 20th century. Walden was born in Fort Valley, Georgia on April 12, 1885 … Read MoreA.T. Walden (1885-1965)
Born on February 17, 1906 in Cordele, Georgia, Sidney Barthwell was the founder of Barthwell Drugs, once the largest chain of black-owned drug stores in the United States. As a young man, he attended Lucius H. Holsey Academy of Excellence in Fitzgerald. In 1922, he … Read MoreSidney Barthwell (1906-2005)
Louis E. Martin Image Ownership: Jimmy Carter Library (NA 181236, Fair Use) Louis E. Martin was a newspaper editor and political activist, who served as an advisor to three American presidents. He used his political influence to secure key federal appointments for African Americans. He … Read MoreLouis E. Martin (1912 -1997)
