Ella Fitzgerald was a female jazz singer considered without equal at the height of the jazz era. Her voice had an amazing and vibrant range that allowed her to sing nearly every jazz style. Ella was also an accomplished composer and bandleader who performed into … Read MoreElla Fitzgerald (1917-1996)
Clifford L. Alexander Jr. was an adviser to presidents, the first African-American secretary of the Army, and a former chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Born in New York City on September 21, 1933, he was the son of Clifford L. and Edith … Read MoreClifford L. Alexander, Jr. (1933-2022)
Deborah Batts was a U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District New York for twenty-five years. She received degrees from Radcliffe College and Harvard University Law School. Batts began her legal career with the firm of Cravath, Swaine, and Moore in New York City. … Read MoreDeborah Batts (1947-2020)
Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington is one of the greatest jazz composers, performers, and bandleaders in American history. His compositions, and the travels of his band, exposed the world to jazz and earned him the nickname, “The Ambassador of Jazz.” Edward Kennedy Ellington was born in … Read MoreEdward “Duke” Ellington (1899-1974)
Floyd Patterson was born on January 4, 1935 in Waco, North Carolina. A year later the family moved to Brooklyn, New York. Soft spoken and extremely shy, Patterson fell behind in school and at age ten was still unable to read or write. He became … Read MoreFloyd Patterson (1935-2006)
Teacher, writer, and civil rights activist Josephine Silone, the youngest daughter of Alexander and Parthenia Reeve-Silone, was born in Mattiluck on Long Island, New York in 1852. At age eleven, Yates moved to Philadelphia to live with her uncle, Rev. J.B. Reeve, in hopes of … Read MoreJosephine Silone Yates (1852-1912)
Image Ownership: Public Domain African American intellectual Alexander Crummell was one of the few19th century scholars known and respected widely among European Americans. In an address before the American Geographical Society delivered in Chickering Hall in New York City on May 22, 1877, Crummell demonstrates … Read More(1877) Alexander Crummell, “Address Before the American Geographical Society”
Sharon Pratt Dixon was born on January 30, 1944 in Washington, D.C. to parents Carlisle Pratt and Mildred (Petticord) Pratt. Carlisle was a Washington, D.C. Superior Court Judge. Mildred Pratt died of breast cancer when Sharon was four years old. Pratt’s father played a major … Read MoreSharon Pratt Dixon Kelly (1944- )
Through her decades of work with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and later with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Ella Baker emerged as one of the most important women in the civil rights movement. Baker was born on December … Read MoreElla Baker (1903-1986)
Founded on March 5, 1897 in Washington, D.C. by 78-year-old Reverend Alexander Crummell, the American Negro Academy (ANA) was an organization of black intellectuals who through their scholarship and writing were dedicated to the promotion of higher education, arts, and science for African Americans as … Read MoreAmerican Negro Academy (1897-1924)
