Born into slavery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 14, 1760, Richard Allen went on to become an educator, writer, minister and founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Benjamin Chew, a Quaker lawyer, owned the Allen family, which included Richard’s parents and three other children. … Read MoreRichard Allen [Pennsylvania] (1760-1831)
Samuel L. Robinson was born in Kansas in 1896. He arrived in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in his teens, where he attended the city’s integrated high school. He joined the school’s football team and became a close friend of the team captain and the future … Read MoreSamuel L. Robinson (1896-1964?)
Robert James Harlan was an entrepreneur, businessman, and army officer who devoted the second half of his life to political and civic service. Among his many accomplishments, in an 1879 speech before Congress titled “Migration is the Only Remedy for Our Wrongs,” Harlan argued for … Read MoreRobert James Harlan (1816-1897)
Abe Morris can stake his claim in rodeo history as a former champion bull rider. Morris is a 1980 graduate of the University of Wyoming (UW) with a bachelor’s degree in business management. He spent nearly 25 years riding bulls on the college and professional … Read MoreAbe Morris (1956- )
Jazz great Dizzy Gillespie had a long and distinguished musical career as a trumpeter, composer, and bandleader. Unlike many jazz musicians whose lives were cut tragically short, Gillespie’s career spanned the 1930s to the 1980s, from the big band swing era of the 1930s, through … Read MoreDizzy Gillespie (John Birks Gillespie) (1917-1993)
Flip Wilson was the first African American to host a hit variety series on television. The Flip Wilson Show aired from 1970 to 1974 and in addition to high ratings, Wilson won two Emmy Awards: one was for Outstanding Variety Series and the other for … Read MoreFlip Wilson (1933-1998)
Jessie Redmon Fauset, known as the “Midwife of the Harlem Renaissance,” was born in Fredericksville, Camden County, New Jersey on April 27, 1882 to Redmon and Annie Seamon Fauset. She was the seventh addition to an already large family. At a very early age Fauset … Read MoreJessie R. Fauset (1882-1961)
Dr. Halle Tanner Dillon Johnson was the first female physician to pass the Alabama state medical examination and was the first woman physician at Tuskegee Institute. She was the eldest of nine children born to African Methodist Episcopal bishop Benjamin Tucker Tanner and Sarah Elizabeth … Read MoreHalle Tanner Dillon Johnson (1864-1901)
Born Dana Elaine Owens on March 18, 1970 in Newark, New Jersey, Queen Latifah is the most influential woman in the history of rap music. The Muslim name “Latifah,” which translates roughly to “delicate, sensitive and kind,” was adopted by Owens at the age of … Read MoreQueen Latifah (1970- )
William Henry Hastie Jr., attorney and diplomat, was born on November 17, 1904 in Knoxville, Tennessee to parents William Henry Hastie Sr. and Roberta Childs. He spent his childhood in Tennessee until his family moved to Washington, D.C. Hastie graduated from Dunbar High School in Washington, … Read MoreWilliam Henry Hastie (1904-1976)
