Harriet Bell Hayden and her husband Lewis Hayden (c.1811-1889) escaped slavery in Kentucky in 1844, traveling first to Ohio, then Michigan and finally settling in Massachusetts, where they became active abolitionists in Boston. In addition to caring for their two children, Joseph and Elizabeth, Harriet … Read MoreHarriet Hayden (ca. 1820-1893)
Pioneering black reporter and historian Delilah Leonium Beasley was born in Cincinnati, Ohio around 1867 in what was then a small but thriving African American community. Beasley attended the city’s segregated public schools and by her teenage years, started publishing short social reports on the … Read MoreDelilah Leonium Beaseley (ca. 1867-1934)
Colonel Charles Young enjoyed a decorated military career after his graduation from West Point Military Academy in 1889. A Buffalo Soldier serving with the 9th and 10th Cavalry and the 25th Infantry, Young eventually became the first African American to achieve the rank of colonel … Read MoreCharles Young (1864-1922)
Carl B. Stokes, lawyer, anchorman, U.S. diplomat and the first African American mayor of a major U.S. city, was born on June 21, 1927 to Charles and Louise Stokes in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1944, Stokes dropped out of high school at the age of 17 … Read MoreCarl B. Stokes (1927-1996)
Dorothy Dandridge, born on November 9, 1922 in Cleveland, Ohio, was a superb actress, singer and dancer who became a national and international star, and the first African American female actor nominated for both an Academy Award for Best Actress (Carmen Jones) and later a … Read MoreDorothy Dandridge (1922-1964)
William Montague Cobb was born in Washington, D.C. October 12, 1904. He earned his B.A. from Amherst College in 1925 and continued his research in embryology at Woods Hole Marine Biology Laboratory in Massachusetts. Cobb then went to Howard University, and earned his medical degree … Read MoreW. Montague Cobb (1904-1990)
African American philosopher Charles Leander Hill was born on July 28 1906 in Urbana Ohio. Hill was one of seven children born to David Leander and Karen (Andrews) Hill. Well respected in the Urbana community, the family lived on a street which was named after … Read MoreCharles Leander Hill (1906-1956)
A poet and essayist, Frances Ellen Watkins was born free in Baltimore, Maryland on September 24, 1825. Orphaned at the age of three, Watkins went to live with her aunt and uncle, Harriet and William Watkins. Unlike most free blacks, Frances grew up in comfortable … Read MoreFrances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911)
James Cleveland “Jesse” Owens is best known for his remarkable athletic performance at the 1936 Berlin Olympics where he won four gold medals. Owens was born near Oakville, Alabama, on September 12, 1913, the twelfth child of sharecroppers Henry Cleveland and Mary Emma Owens. Owens, … Read MoreJesse Owens (1913-1980)
James Milton Turner was an African American Missourian who was a prominent politician, education advocate, and diplomat in the years after the Civil War. Turner was born a slave in St. Louis, Missouri sometime in 1840. His father, John Turner (also known as John Colburn), … Read MoreJames Milton Turner (1840-1915)
