Minister and civil rights activist Robert W. Bagnall served as Director of Branches of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) during the organization’s first significant period of growth in the early 20th century. A graduate of Bishop Payne Divinity School in … Read MoreRobert W. Bagnall Jr.(1883-1943)
Grant Reynolds was a civic leader, civil rights activist, World War II chaplain, attorney, and educator. He was best known as a leading force in ending segregation in the United States Armed Forces. Reynolds was born July 29, 1908 in Key West, Florida to Emma … Read MoreGrant Reynolds (1908-2004)
Rodney E. Slater, former cabinet member, attorney, and state government official, was born in Marianna, Arkansas, on February 23, 1955. In 1977, Slater graduated from Eastern Michigan University. He earned his law degree in 1980 from the University of Arkansas. In 1980, Slater became the … Read MoreRodney Slater (1955- )
Community organizer and civil rights activist Hunter Pitts O’Dell was born in Detroit, Michigan on August 11, 1924. His father George Edwin O’Dell worked in hotels and restaurants in Detroit. His mother, Emily (Pitts) O’Dell, who studied music at Howard University, later taught adults to … Read MoreHunter Pitts “Jack” O’Dell (1924-2019)
Darwin Theodore Troy Turner was an African American literature critic, a poet, and an English professor who was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on May 7, 1931. His grandfather, Charles H. Turner, was the first African American psychologist; his father, Darwin Romanes Turner, was a pharmacist; … Read MoreDarwin T. Turner (1931-1991)
Eddie James House Jr., better known as “Son House,” was an influential blues performer born in Lyon, Mississippi to Eddie House, Sr. and Maggie House. He was the middle child of three siblings, with an older brother, Rathel House, and a younger brother, Lee Jackson … Read MoreEdward James House (“Son”), Jr. (1902-1988)
George Bonga was a 19th century fur trader of black and Native American heritage. He lived along the shores of Lake Superior, one of the Midwestern Great Lakes. Fluent in French, English, and Native American languages, Bonga served as an interpreter during Indian-U.S. negotiations and … Read MoreGeorge Bonga (1802-1880)
Betty Shabazz, wife and later widow of Malcolm X, became an important political activist after the assassination of her husband in 1965. Betty Shabazz was born Betty Dean Sanders to parents Ollie May Sanders and Shelman Sandlin. Ollie May Sanders was a teenager and Sandlin … Read MoreBetty Sandlin Shabazz (1934-1997)
Florence Cole-Talbert was an African American soprano singer. Cole-Talbert was born in Detroit, Michigan on June 17, 1890 as one of two daughters to parents Thomas A. Cole and Sadie (Chandler) Cole. She was born into a family of musicians and began to learn and … Read MoreFlorence Cole-Talbert (1890-1961)
Margaret Esse Danner was an African American poet, born in Pryorsburg, Kentucky on January 12, 1915 to Caleb and Naomi Esse. Danner began writing poetry when she was in junior high school. In the eighth grade she won first place for a poem she wrote … Read MoreMargaret E. Danner (1915-1984)
