Born on February 20, 1876, in Auburn, Alabama, Louis Augustus Carter was the second African American Army chaplain to be promoted to colonel. Carter received his early education in a local public school, attended Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) from 1895 to 1897, and Selma … Read MoreLouis Augustus Carter (1876–1941)
Physician and educator Miles Vandarhurst Lynk was born in Brownsville, Tennessee, on June 3, 1871 to parents who were former slaves. When Lynk was six years old, his father was killed in an accident which left Lynk to help his mother run the farm where … Read MoreMiles Vandarhurst Lynk (1871-1956)
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Roger Williams University was one of four historically black colleges located in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1866, the institution was named after Roger Williams, the Massachusetts Puritan theologian who was expelled from his church and became an early member of the … Read MoreRoger Williams University (1866-1929)
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Multi-talented Noah Griffin Jr. has had a many-faceted career: historian, writer, newspaper columnist, radio and television talk show host, law editor, press secretary, campaign manager, lyricist, and vocalist. Griffin was born in San Francisco, California, on January 31, 1946, to Noah … Read MoreNoah Webster Griffin Jr. (1946– )
McKissack &McKissack is the oldest African American-owned architecture, construction, and engineering firm in the United States. The firm’s history began when Scotsman John McKissack, the owner of a construction and brick building company in West Tennessee, purchased an enslaved West African Ashanti ancestor (1790–1865). John … Read MoreMcKissack & McKissack Company (1905- )
The inventor Otis Frank Boykin, known for inventing the wire precision resistor, was born on August 29, 1920 in Dallas, Texas. Boykin’s mother, Sarah Boykin, worked as a maid before dying in 1921 before Boykin’s first birthday. Boykin’s father, Walter Boykin, worked as a carpenter … Read MoreOtis Frank Boykin (1920-1982)
The Knoxville Race Riot in Knoxville, Tennessee, was one of several race riots that took place in the “Red Summer” of 1919. The so-called “Red Summer” of 1919 was a series of violent riots, predominantly whites against blacks, which lasted from May until October of … Read MoreKnoxville Race Riot (1919)
Marvin Ellison is the current CEO of Lowe’s, a hardware and home improvement store chain, since July 2018 and the first African American to hold that post. He was previously President and CEO of JCPenney, where he was also the first African American head of … Read MoreMarvin Ellison (1966- )
Price M. Cobbs is a psychiatrist, author, and management consultant best known for co-authoring the book Black Rage, regarded by the New York Times as “one of the most important books on blacks,” with fellow psychiatrist William H. Grier. Detailing the ambiguities in the psychological … Read MorePrice M. Cobbs (1926- )
Marjorie Lee Browne was a prominent mathematician and educator who, in 1949, became only the third African-American woman to earn a doctorate in her field. Browne was born on September 9, 1914, in Memphis, Tennessee, to Mary Taylor Lee and Lawrence Johnson Lee. Her father, … Read MoreMarjorie Lee Browne (1914-1979)
