Marion Barry Jr., a civil rights activist and later three term mayor of Washington, D.C., was born on March 6, 1936, in Itta Bena, Mississippi. His parents, Marion Barry and Mattie Barry, were sharecroppers; the family lived in relative poverty. When Marion was eight years … Read MoreMarion Barry, Jr. (1936-2014)
John Stewart (also sometimes spelled Steward) was a missionary to the Wyandotte Indians of Ohio and founder of what is often considered the first Methodist mission in America. Stewart was born in Powhatan County, Virginia to free Negro parents who were of mixed ancestry; a … Read MoreJohn Stewart (1786-1823)
Henry Hugh Proctor was an author, lecturer and a clergyman of the Congregational Church. Proctor was born on December 8, 1868, near Fayetteville, Tennessee to former slave parents Richard and Hannah (Murray) Proctor. Proctor attended local schools but was only able to take classes for … Read MoreHenry Hugh Proctor (1868-1933)
Legendary blues singer B.B. King was born Riley B. King on September 16, 1925, in Itta Bena, Mississippi. King spent his childhood in the Mississippi Delta but left to pursue a music career in Memphis, Tennessee in 1946. While in Memphis, King was employed as … Read MoreB.B. King/Riley B. King (1925 -2015)
Horace Julian Bond was a scholar, poet, former legislator, and activist in the American Civil Rights Movement. Julian Bond, as he came to be known, was born on January 14, 1940, in Nashville, Tennessee to Julia Washington Bond and Horace Mann Bond, an educator who … Read MoreJulian Bond (1940-2015)
William Hooper Councill, educator and race leader, was born into slavery in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on July 12, 1849. His parents were both slaves on the Councill plantation. When William was five, his father escaped to Canada and tried unsuccessfully to obtain freedom for his … Read MoreWilliam Hooper Councill (1849-1909)
Damon Allen is a professional football player in the Canadian Football League (CFL). In 2007-08 he completed his 24th season with the CFL. A graduate of California State University, Fullerton, Allen is the younger brother of former National Football League (NFL) star Marcus Allen. Damon … Read MoreDamon Allen (1963- )
Blues singer Robert Calvin “Bobby” Bland also known as Bobby “Blue” Bland, was born on January 27, 1930 in Rosemark, Tennessee. He then moved to Memphis, Tennessee with his mother where he started getting involved with local gospel groups. In addition to joining the gospel groups … Read MoreBobby “Blue” Bland (1930-2013)
Ella Sheppard, soprano, pianist and reformer, was the matriarch of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, a social reformer, confidante of Frederick Douglass, and one of the most distinguished African American women of her generation. Sheppard was born a slave in 1851 on Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage plantation. … Read MoreElla Sheppard (1851-1915)
Maggie Porter was born in Lebanon, Tennessee around 1853. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Henry Frazier, a wealthy planter from Lebanon, took refuge in Nashville with his family and house slaves, among them a Mrs. Porter, his chief domestic servant, her … Read MoreMaggie Porter (1853-1942)
