After more than a decade of organized abolition among northern free blacks, a group of prominent free African American men organized the National Negro Convention Movement. The convention movement among northern free blacks symbolized the growth of a black activist network by the mid-nineteenth century. … Read MoreNational Negro Convention Movement (1831-1864)
Image Ownership: Fair Use Twentieth century artist John Thomas Biggers was an educator, painter and muralist. His travels in Africa in the 1950s influenced the depiction of social and cultural themes in his work. John Thomas Biggers was born in Gastonia, North Carolina in 1924. … Read MoreJohn Thomas Biggers (1924-2001)
Judith Ann Jamison is among the most influential African American dance figures of the late 20th century. She began her dance career at the age of ten and served as the Artistic Director at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater from 1989 to 2011. Her … Read MoreJudith Ann Jamison (1943- )
Professional basketball superstar Kobe Bryant played for the Los Angeles (California) Lakers since 1996 when he came to the team as an eighteen-year-old, the youngest player in National Basketball Association (NBA) history, until his retirement in 2016. Bryant was a long-time philanthropist, using his well-known … Read MoreKobe Bryant (1978-2020)
Earl “Fatha” Hines was one of the most influential Jazz pianists during the twentieth century. His “trumpet style” piano playing has influenced jazz pianists since the 1920s. Hines’s career as a musician and bandleader spanned from the 1920s to his death in 1983. Earl Kenneth … Read MoreEarl “Fatha” Hines (1903-1983)
Chubby Checker, the man credited with inventing “The Twist,” was born Ernest Evans in Spring Gully, South Carolina. He moved to Philadelphia with his parents and two brothers and attended South Philadelphia High School. Evans aspired to become a performer from a young age and … Read MoreChubby Checker (Ernest Evans) (1941- )
Known as one of the leading football players with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Franco Harris was born in Fort Dix, New Jersey on March 7, 1950. He was the son of an African American soldier who served in World War II and an Italian “war bride” … Read MoreFranco Harris (1950-2022)
Nathan Francis Mossell was an African American doctor who helped establish the first black hospital in Philadelphia. Mossell, the son of Aaron and Eliza Bowers Mossell, was born on July 27, 1856 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada but grew up in Lockport, New York where he … Read MoreNathan Francis Mossell (1856-1946)
In 1787, Richard Allen and Absalom Jones, prominent black ministers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed the Free African Society (FAS) of Philadelphia, a mutual aid and religious organization. Allen and Jones envisioned the Society as the foundation of an interdenominational church for the city’s free black … Read MoreFree African Society of Philadelphia (1787- ?)
Wilton Norman Chamberlain was an African American basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Los Angeles Lakers. Chamberlain is known as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, being selected … Read MoreWilton Norman Chamberlain (1936-1999)
