James Still, medical doctor and herbalist, was born on April 9, 1812 in Burlington County, New Jersey. Still was born to Levin and Charity Still, two former slaves living in the Pine Barrens to avoid being captured and sold back into slavery. Although the Still … Read MoreJames Still (1812-1882)
Saxophonist, bandleader and songwriter Paul Williams was a performer at The Moondog Coronation Ball in Cleveland in 1952, considered to be the first rock concert. He has been recognized as a pioneer in the American music industry. Paul Williams was born on July 13, 1915 … Read MorePaul “Hucklebuck” Williams (1915-2002)
Whitney Houston, singer and actress, sold close to 100 million albums worldwide during her lifetime. Her recognitions include two Emmy Awards, five Grammy Awards, 19 American Music Awards, five People’s Choice Awards, five Soul Train Awards, and seven NAACP Image Awards. Houston was born in … Read MoreWhitney Houston (1964-2012)
Dr. Lawrence Howland Knox, noted chemist, was born on September 30, 1906 in New Bedford, Massachusetts to William Jacob and Estella Knox. Knox was one of five children, two girls and three boys, and remarkably for that time, all of the boys earned PhDs; the … Read MoreLawrence Howland Knox (1906-1966)
Whitesboro, New Jersey was established in 1902 as a town exclusively for African Americans. The idea came in response to increasing white resistance to black residents in Cape May County, New Jersey. The African-American Equitable Industrial Association, founded by Reverend J.W. Fishburn and four other … Read MoreWhitesboro, New Jersey (1902- )
On August 15, 1883, Alexander Crummell, founder of the Union of Black Episcopalians and the American Negro Academy and a graduate of Oxford University in England, gave the address below to the Freedman’s Aid Society at the Methodist Episcopal Church in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. … Read More(1883) Alexander Crummell, “The Queens of Womanhood”
Charles Alfred Anderson, often called the “Father of Black Aviation” because he trained and mentored of hundreds of African American pilots, was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb, on February 9, 1907. His parents were Janie and Iverson Anderson. Charles Anderson earned the … Read MoreCharles A. “Chief” Anderson (1907-1996)
Canadian entrepreneur Viola Desmond was arrested in 1946 for refusing to leave a segregated section of a Nova Scotia movie theatre. She was physically injured by police in the incident but was convicted and fined by local courts. She was posthumously pardoned in 2010. Born … Read MoreViola Davis Desmond (1914-1965)
Educator and theologian Samuel DeWitt Proctor was born in Norfolk, Virginia on July 13, 1921. Both of his grandparents had received a university education, which was considered unusual for the time. Proctor as a child attended the Congregational Church in Norfolk founded by his great-grandfather, … Read MoreSamuel DeWitt Proctor (1921-1997)
Image Ownership: Public Domain Educator, philosopher and theologian John Wesley Edward Bowen preached for social equality fifty years before the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. He supported black intellectualism and urged African Americans to develop self worth even in the face of white oppression. John Wesley … Read MoreJohn Wesley Edward Bowen (1855-1933)
