Vice Admiral David L. Brewer III is 35-year veteran of the United States Navy and former superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District in California. The retired three-star admiral worked to develop the Navy College Program helping sailors receive higher education and oversaw the Military Sealift Command’s … Read MoreDavid L. Brewer, III (1946- )
Born February 10, 1932, Vivienne Malone-Mayes was the fifth African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics. Malone-Mayes grew up in Waco, Texas, and in 1948, she graduated from A.J. Moore High School when she was only 16 years old. Although her high school in Waco was segregated, she … Read MoreVivienne Malone-Mayes (1932-1995)
Otis Milton Smith became the first black justice on the Michigan Supreme Court in 1961, and served on the court until 1966. Smith was also the first black corporate officer of the General Motors Corporation, where he worked as general counsel, vice president, and leading attorney between 1966 and 1984. Smith … Read MoreOtis M. Smith (1922-1994)
Audrey Forbes Manley, who would eventually be acting Surgeon General of the United States, was born in Jackson, Mississippi on March 25, 1934 to Ora Lee Buckhalter Forbes and Jesse Lee Forbes. In 1955, Forbes earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia … Read MoreAudrey Forbes Manley (1934- )
James B. McMillan was the first black dentist in Nevada. In the 1960s, he successfully fought against segregation in Las Vegas. McMillan was born on January 14, 1917, in Aberdeen, Mississippi, the son of James Milton McMillan and Rosalie Gay. McMillan’s father died when he was one year old, and he … Read MoreJames B. McMillan (1917-1999)
In 1966, James Carr recorded the soul ballad “The Dark End of the Street,” a song that became a Top 10 rhythm-and-blues hit. Rather than having one of the more prolific careers in soul music history, James Carr’s impact was short-lived but still significant. Born in Clarksdale, Mississippi to a minister … Read MoreJames E. Carr (1942-2001)
Scholar and civil rights activist Julius Lester was born January 27, 1939 in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of a Methodist minister. Lester spent much of his childhood in Missouri, where in the 1940s and 1950s he dealt with southern attitudes about race and segregation before and during the Civil Rights movement. In … Read MoreJulius Lester (1939-2018)
In 1982, Dr. Marsha Rhea Williams became the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in Computer Science. A successful educator and researcher in academia, Williams has also held positions in private industry and the public sector. Her scholarship examines a variety of topics, ranging from the … Read MoreMarsha Rhea Williams (1948- )
Dr. Marion Antoinette Richards Myles, a scientist with expertise in plant physiology, including the effects of drugs and hormones on plant growth, played a significant role in integrating higher education in the American south. In 1965, she became the first African American faculty member of the University of Mississippi Medical School, with an … Read MoreMarion Antoinette Richards Myles (1917-1969)
James W. Ford was Special Organizer of the Communist Party’s (CP) Harlem, New York section and the most prominent black Communist in the nation during the 1930s and early 1940s. Perhaps more than any other figure, Ford symbolized the Party’s efforts to build a united front between … Read MoreJames W. Ford (1893-1957)
