George Albert Flippin, born in Point Isable, Ohio, in 1868, was a prominent athlete and physician in Nebraska, who broke racial barriers in collegiate football and medicine for African Americans. The product of an interracial marriage, George’s father, Charles Albert Flippin, had served as a … Read MoreGeorge Albert Flippin (1868-1929)
Robert Browning Flippin was an important community leader and racial activist in San Francisco beginning in the 1930s through the 1950s. He was also the first African American parole officer at the California State Prison at San Quentin. The son of the black physician George … Read MoreRobert Browning Flippin (1903-1963)
Alfonso E. Lenhardt is currently Acting Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). He previously served as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Republic of Tanzania from 2009 to 2013. A native of New York City, New York, Ambassador Lenhardt began his … Read MoreAlfonso E. Lenhardt (1943- )
Roger D. Pierce, U.S. Ambassador to Cape Verde, was born in Omaha, Nebraska. Pierce earned his B.A. degree in Spanish Language and Latin American Studies at Davis and Elkins College in Elkins, West Virginia. He received his M.A. in Latin American Literature at the University … Read MoreRoger Dwayne Pierce (1951- )
Samuel Z. Westerfield, Jr., a Career Foreign Service Officer, was appointed ambassador to Liberia July 8, 1969 with the title of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. He died of a heart attack July 19, 1972 at the embassy in Monrovia at the age of 52. Westerfield … Read MoreSamuel Z. Westerfield (1920-1972)
Benedetto Manasseri, an Italian of African descent, was born near Messina, Italy to Cristoforo and Diana Manasseri in 1526. His parents, captured as slaves from Africa in the early 16th century, were brought to San Fratello, near Messina. They converted to Catholicism and, due to … Read MoreSt. Benedict the Moor (1526-1589)
Recording artist and three-time Grammy award nominee Bobby Short, a self-taught piano prodigy during his childhood, was regarded as the quintessential sophisticated cabaret and supper-club vocalist and piano player of his time. Short, who learned to play piano by ear at the age of four, … Read MoreRobert “Bobby” Waltrip Short (1924-2005)
In the following article Dr. Clarence Spigner, Professor of Public Health at the University of Washington, Seattle, describes the life of the first patient to die of Ebola on U.S. soil and the larger crisis of Ebola in West Africa. He views it as a … Read MorePatient Zero: Thomas Eric Duncan and the Ebola Crisis in West Africa and the United States
Lasker Bell Sr. was the founder and host of the Las Bell Variety Show a radio program on the air from 1967 to 1985. Bell was also one of the most prominent black television personalities in the Arkansas-Louisiana-Mississippi region. Bell held public affairs appointments under … Read MoreLasker Bell (Las), Sr. (1928- )
John Hanks Alexander is best known as the second African American to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point after Henry Ossian Flipper. Alexander was born on January 6, 1864 in Helena, Arkansas, to James and Fannie Alexander, who were both born … Read MoreJohn Hanks Alexander (1864-1894)
