“Image Ownership: Benjamin Baker” Charles Decatur (C.D.) Brooks, field secretary for the Seventh-day Adventist World Church, was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, on July 24, 1930, the tenth child of Marvin and Mattie Brooks. Brooks was raised on a 40-acre farm outside of Greensboro where … Read MoreCharles Decatur Brooks (1930–2016)
King Virgil Cheek Jr. is a lifelong educator, lawyer, and author, who, along with older brother, James Edward Cheek, served as president of the historic black college, Shaw University. King Cheek was born on May 26, 1937, in Weldon, North Carolina. His mother, Lee Ella … Read MoreKing Virgil Cheek Jr. (1937- )
Milton Murray Holland was a Union Army soldier during the American Civil War and a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor for his action in the Battle of Chaffin’s Farm. Murray was born on August 1, 1844 in Austin, Texas, the son of Bird … Read MoreMilton Murray Holland (1844-1910)
In 1978 Joseph Freeman became the first man of African ancestry to be granted the priesthood after the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) announced that any male could be ordained, regardless of race or color. Freeman was born July 24, 1953, in … Read MoreJoseph Freeman (1953– )
On November 3, 1979, in Greensboro, North Carolina, a “Death to the Klan” rally and march organized by the Communist Workers Party which was previously known as the Workers Viewpoint Organization (WVO), was planned to occur in Morningside Home, a predominantly black housing project. During … Read MoreGreensboro Massacre (1979)
The Greensboro Sit-Ins were non-violent protests in Greensboro, North Carolina, which lasted from February 1, 1960 to July 25, 1960. The protests led to the Woolworth Department Store chain ending its policy of racial segregation in its stores in the southern United States. The Greensboro … Read MoreGreensboro Sit-Ins (1960)
Chaplain (Major General) Matthew Augustus Zimmerman Jr. is a retired American Army officer who served as the 18th Chief of Chaplains of the United States Army from 1990 to 1994. He was the first African American to hold this position. Zimmerman was born on December … Read MoreMatthew Augustus Zimmerman Jr. (1941– )
Thurl Lee Bailey is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1983 to 1999 with the Utah Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves. Bailey has also been a broadcast analyst for the Utah Jazz and the University of Utah … Read MoreThurl Lee Bailey (1961– )
The Pearsall Plan was North Carolina’s response to the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education that declared racial segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional. Most southern states, including Alabama, Virginia, and South Carolina, immediately and defiantly resisted the ruling, … Read MoreThe Pearsall Plan (1956-1966)
Dorothy Counts was one of the first black students admitted to the Harry Harding High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, as part of the initial effort to desegregate schools in that city. After the four days of harassment by white students that she faced alone, … Read MoreDorothy Counts (1942- )
