James H. Sills, Jr., the first African American mayor of Wilmington, Delaware, was born in North Carolina in 1931. We know little about his early life before he arrived in Wilmington. At various times he was a billiards hustler, farm laborer, and solider before he … Read MoreJames H. Sills Jr. (1931- )
Dr. Irving Pressley McPhail was a professor, mentor, President of the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, Inc (NACME), and most recently President of Saint Augustine’s College in Raleigh, North Carolina. Irving McPhail was born on March 27, 1949 in Harlem, New York. He … Read MoreIrving Pressley McPhail (1949-2020)
Cameron Jerrell “Cam” Newton is an American football quarterback who played for the Carolina (North Carolina) Panthers and is now the quarterback for the New England (Massachusetts) Patriots in the National Football League (NFL). Newtown was born on May 11, 1989 to Jackie and Cecil … Read MoreCameron Jerrell “Cam” Newton (1989- )
Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner is an inventor of numerous products we use today and has the most patents of any African American woman. Kenner was born on May 17, 1912, in Monroe, North Carolina. Her father was inventor Sidney Nathaniel Davidson, and her mother is … Read MoreMary Kenner (1912-2006)
William Murrell is an entrepreneur and computer scientist who started Boston’s largest Black-owned computer store and pioneered Black-themed websites in the 1990s. William Murrell was born in Harlem, New York in 1955, and at the age of six moved with his mother to Gastonia, North … Read MoreWilliam Murrell (1955- )
Barry Cooper is a journalist, technology entrepreneur, and CEO who founded BlackVoices.com, a groundbreaking website in the early days of the Internet. Cooper graduated from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He began working as a sportswriter for the Orlando Sentinel in 1993. Cooper … Read MoreBarry Cooper (1956- )
Thurbert Earl Baker is a lawyer and Democratic politician who served as the 46th Attorney General of Georgia. Baker was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, on December 16, 1952. He was raised by his mother Mary H. Baker on a small farm. He graduated … Read MoreThurbert Earl Baker (1952- )
Bernard E. Anderson is an American economist who served as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment Standards Administration in the Administration of President Bill Clinton. He is also the Whitney M. Young, Jr. Professor Emeritus at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. There … Read MoreBernard E. Anderson (?- )
On July 2, 2018, Lieutenant General Darryl A. Williams became the first African American to be sworn in to lead the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. Born in Alexandria, Virginia, the son of former Army officer Lonnie Buford Williams, Darryl A. … Read MoreDarryl Atwell Cecil Williams (1961- )
Billy Taylor was an African American jazz pianist, composer, recording artist, educator, and broadcaster. Born in Greenville, North Carolina on July 24, 1921, Taylor was one of two children of William, Sr., a dentist and Antoinette, a schoolteacher. When Taylor was young his family moved … Read MoreBilly Taylor (William Edward Taylor, Jr.) (1921-2010)
