John Jenkins is the former mayor of Lewiston, Maine and the recently elected mayor of Auburn Maine. Jenkins is the first African American to serve as mayor in both cities. He served as mayor of Lewiston from 1993 to 1995. He has held the mayor’s … Read MoreJohn Jenkins (1952- )
Ernie Davis is best known for being one of the greatest football players in college football history and the first black person to win the Heisman Trophy. In the process, Davis became an icon for an integrated America and for African Americans achieving the American … Read MoreErnie Davis (1940-1963)
Alexander Thomas Augusta was the highest-ranking black officer in the Union Army during the Civil War. He was also the first African American head of a hospital (Freedmen’s Hospital) and the first black professor of medicine (Howard University in Washington, D.C.). Augusta was born in … Read MoreAlexander T. Augusta (1825-1890)
The Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. (PNBC) was founded in 1961, following several years of internal disagreements over the governing structure and civil rights stance of the National Baptist Convention USA, Inc. (NBCUSA). In 1957 several Baptist pastors were expelled from the NBCUSA when they … Read MoreProgressive National Baptist Convention (1961- )
Wangari Maathai, the most prominent environmental activist in Africa, was the 2004 recipient of the Alfred Nobel Peace Prize. Wangari Muta was born on April 1, 1940, in Ihithe, Nyeri Province, Kenya during British colonial rule. Her family was of Kikuyu origin, and her father … Read MoreWangari Muta Maathai (1940-2011)
Osborne Perry Anderson was one of the five African American men to accompany John Brown in the raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia) in October 1859. Anderson was a free-born abolitionist, born in West Fallow Field, Pennsylvania on July … Read MoreOsborne P. Anderson (1830-1872)
Lieutenant General Julius Wesley Becton Jr. was born on June 29, 1926 to Julius and Rose Becton in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. His father worked as a janitor in their apartment building. His mother was a housekeeper and laundress. In December 1943, Julius Becton joined the … Read MoreJulius W. Becton Jr. (1926- )
Hazel Johnson was the first African American woman to become a general in the U.S. Army. She was appointed the Chief of the Army Nurse Corps in 1979. Johnson held a doctorate in education administration from Catholic University (1978) and had honorary degrees from Morgan … Read MoreHazel W. Johnson (1927-2011 )
The first African American to win an Olympic Gold Medal, John Baxter Taylor was born November 3, 1882, in Washington, D.C. He attended Central High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he ran track and was the only African American on the team. After graduating from … Read MoreJohn Baxter Taylor, Jr. (1882-1908)
Guy Bluford, a member of the SDS-8 space shuttle Challenger crew in 1983, was the first African American in space. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Bluford was interested in math and science and knew he wanted to work in aerospace engineering before graduating high school. His … Read MoreGuion (Guy) Stewart Bluford Jr. (1942- )
