On July 10, 1889, the musician and lyricist, Noble Sissle, was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. His father, a minister and organist, shared his passion for music with his son. In 1906, the family moved to Cleveland where young Sissle sang on a vaudeville circuit. In … Read MoreNoble Sissle (1889-1975)
Robert Franklin Williams was a militant civil rights leader whose open advocacy of armed self-defense anticipated the movement for “black power” in the late 1960s and helped inspire groups like the Student National Coordinating Committee, the Revolutionary Action Movement, and the Black Panther Party. Williams … Read MoreRobert F. Williams (1925-1996)
In a remarkable and controversial life, Max Yergan spanned both the globe and the ideological spectrum of American politics. An early champion of racial uplift and the social gospel in South Africa, Yergan transformed into a leading figure on the radical Black Left during the … Read MoreMax Yergan (1892-1975)
John William Coltrane emerged as one of the most innovative and influential jazz musicians of the 20th century. Born in Hamlet, North Carolina on September 23, 1926, the son of John Robert and Alice Blair Coltrane, he grew up in High Point, North Carolina where … Read MoreJohn William Coltrane (1926-1967)
Dr. Rebecca J. Cole was the first black woman doctor in the United States. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 16, 1846, Cole was one of five children. Cole began her schooling at the Institute for Colored Youth and graduated in 1863. She then attended … Read MoreRebecca J. Cole (1846-1922)
Dorothy Hollingsworth, a prominent educator and politician, achieved a number of “firsts” during her years in Seattle. The most important was becoming the first Black woman in Washington State’s history to serve on a school board. Born in Bishopville, South Carolina on October 29, 1920, … Read MoreDorothy Hollingsworth (1920-2022)
In 1944 Sara Dunlap Jackson became one of the first African American professionals hired by the National Archives in Washington, D.C. where she specialized in western, military, social and African American topics. She continued at the Archives until her retirement in 1990. In the following … Read MoreRemembering Sara Dunlap Jackson (1919-1991)
E. Burton Ceruti was a prominent attorney and one of the founders of the Los Angeles branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Ceruti was born on August 14, 1875, in Nassau, the Bahamas. He moved to the United States when … Read MoreE. Burton Ceruti (1875-1927)
Lucy (Lucile) Berkeley Buchanan Jones was the first African American woman to graduate from the University of Colorado. Buchanan was born on June 13, 1884, on the second floor of the family’s mule and horse barn in the town of Barnum, southwest of Denver, Colorado. … Read MoreLucy (Lucile) Berkeley Buchanan Jones (1884-1989)
Born in Goliad, Texas on March 24, 1896, John Mason Brewer became one of the twentieth century’s premier African American folklorists. A poet, essayist, historian, and anthologist, Brewer earned an undergraduate degree from Wiley College in 1917 and later a graduate degree from Indiana University. … Read MoreJohn Mason Brewer (1896-1975)
