Clifford Wayne Houston is a nationally recognized microbiologist and became the first African American president of the American Society of Microbiology. Houston was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on December 3, 1949, to Mae Frances Hanley and Edgar Houston. He attended Gordon Oaks Elementary and … Read MoreClifford Wayne Houston (1949- )
Charles Wade Mills was a notable Caribbean-American political philosopher and distinguished professor. He was born in London on January 3, 1951 to Jamaican parents, Winnifred and Gladstone Mills, who were both pursuing their graduate degrees in the city. The couple returned to Kingston shortly after … Read MoreCharles Wade Mills (1951-2021)
R&B bass guitarist and 6’ 9” professional basketball player Wayman Lawrence Tisdale was born on June 9, 1964, in Fort Worth, Texas, the youngest of six children of Louis Tisdale, a minister, and Deborah “Momma Tiz” Mathias Tisdale. He was reared, however, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, … Read MoreWayman Lawrence Tisdale (1964-2009)
Lena Lowery Sawner was Oklahoma’s first Black public school principal as well as its first female public school principal. She was also prominent in state and national Black educational organizations. Lena Lowery rose from humble beginnings. Her father, Julius Lowery was born in North Carolina … Read MoreLena Lowery Sawner (1874-1949)
The Black Maroons of Florida, also known as Black Seminoles, Seminole Maroons, and Seminole Freedmen, were a community derived from Runaway slaves who integrated into American Indian culture. They were mostly Gullah fugitives who escaped from the rice plantations in South Carolina and Georgia who … Read MoreThe Black Maroons of Florida (1693-1850)
The forced removal of Native Americans from the southeastern United States beginning in the 1830s to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River is known as the Trail of Tears. Under British colonial rule and continuing during the first decades of American independence, Indians were … Read MoreTrail of Tears (1831-1850)
The Rufus Buck Gang was an outlaw gang whose members included African Americans, mixed-race (black and Indian), and Native American teenagers and young adults from the Creek (Muscogee) Nation. The group’s brief but horrific crime spree occurred in the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) between July … Read MoreRufus Buck Gang (1895-1896)
Carlton D’Metrius Pearson is an American preacher, author, and gospel singer. He was born on March 19, 1953, to the Rev. Adam Louis Pearson and Lillie Ruth Johnson Pearson in San Diego, California. Pearson’s father was the pastor of St. John’s Church of God in … Read MoreCarlton D’Metrius Pearson (1953- )
The Gap Band was an R&B and Funk band founded in 1967 in Tulsa, Oklahoma and comprised the multi-instrumentalists Wilson brothers Charlie: Lead vocals, piano, synthesizer, organ, drums; Ronnie: vocal, trumpet, piano, percussion, songwriter; and Robert (1956-2010): vocal, bass, guitar, and percussion. They emerged as … Read MoreThe Gap Band (1974-2010)
