The Pruitt-Igoe Housing Project was located in the predominantly African American and economically depressed Desoto-Carr neighborhood just north-west of downtown St Louis, Missouri. By 1956, the project totaled 33 high-rise buildings that consisted of the Wendell Oliver Pruitt Homes (1,736 units) and the William L. … Read MorePruitt-Igoe Housing Project, St. Louis, Missouri (1956–1976)
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and eight-time Grammy Award-winning singer Tina Turner was born Anna Mae Bullock on November 26, 1939, in Nutbush, Haywood, County, Tennessee. The youngest daughter of a family of sharecroppers, Turner’s father, Floyd Richard Bullock, was an African American … Read MoreTina Turner (1939-2023)
Margaret Bush Wilson, prominent 20th Century Civil Rights leader, was born January 30, 1919 in St. Louis, Missouri to James and Margaret Bush; her father was a real estate agent and her mother a teacher. Her passion for the Civil Rights movement was instilled early; … Read MoreMargaret Bush Wilson (1919-2009)
The Colored Refugee Relief Board (originally called the Committee of Fifteen and then the Committee of Twenty-Five), was formed in St. Louis, Missouri in response to the Exoduster migration in March 1879. As thousands of destitute migrants arrived in St. Louis on their way to … Read MoreColored Refugee Relief Board (1879-1880)
Alphonso R. Jackson cultivated a three-decade career in public service that included an appointment as head of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under the administration of his long-time friend, President George W. Bush. Born in Marshall, Texas, on September 9, 1945, … Read MoreAlphonso R. Jackson (1945- )
Cassandra Quin Butts is Deputy White House Counsel to President Barack Obama on issues relating to civil rights, domestic policy, healthcare, and education. She brought seventeen years of experience in politics and policy to her position. She is a long-time friend of the President, acting … Read MoreCassandra Quin Butts (1965- )
Curt Flood, an American Major League Baseball player best known for his challenge of the “reserve clause,” was born January 18, 1938 in Houston, Texas and was raised in Oakland, California. Flood began playing baseball as a youth. Showing great promise he signed a contract … Read MoreCurtis Charles Flood (1938-1997)
Antilynching Bill 67th Congress, 2nd Session, Report No. 837 April 20 (calendar day July 28), 1922—Ordered to be printed. AN ACT To assure to persons within the jurisdiction of every State the equal protection of the laws, and to punish the crime of lynching. Be … Read More(1922) Dyer Anti-lynching Bill
Nnamdi Azikiwe was the first President of Nigeria and was instrumental in founding a string of newspapers across Nigeria. Azikiwe was born on November 16, 1904 in Zungeru which was then the capital of Northern Nigeria. His father, Chukwumeka Azikiwe, was a civil servant in … Read MoreBenjamin Nnamdi “Zik” Azikiwe (1904-1996)
Beginning with the Exclusion Law of 1844 enacted by the provisional government of the region, Oregon passed a series of measures designed to ban African American settlement in the territory. Historian Elizabeth McLagan describes those laws in the article below. Oregon passed exclusion laws against … Read MoreThe Black Laws of Oregon, 1844-1857
