Rep. John Lewis was a U.S. Congressman and civil rights icon, who chaired the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee from 1963 to 1966. He was a Democrat who represented Georgia’s 5th Congressional District from 1987 until his death in 2020. John Robert Lewis was born in … Read MoreJohn Lewis (1940-2020)
The life of the Reverend Cordy Tindell “C.T.” Vivian is in many ways the story of the modern black freedom struggle. Vivian actively participated in the Nashville desegregation movement, Freedom Rides, Birmingham, Selma, Chicago, and other chapters of the fight for equal rights. Born Boonville, … Read MoreCordy Tindell “C.T.” Vivian (1924-2020)
James Thomas Rapier was a Republican representative from the state of Alabama elected to the 43rd United States Congress. Rapier was born on November 13, 1837 in Florence, Alabama and attended high school in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1856 at the age of 19 he traveled … Read MoreJames Thomas Rapier (1837-1883)
Septima Poinsette Clark is perhaps the only woman to play a significant role in educating African Americans for full citizenship rights without gaining sufficient recognition. Clark was born the second of eight children in Charleston, South Carolina, to Peter Poinsette, a former slave, and his … Read MoreSeptima Poinsette Clark (1898-1987)
Willard Johnson, bacteriologist, science educator, and business proprietor, was born in Leavenworth Kansas, the third of the eleven children of Joseph Johnson and Hattie McClanahan. Taught by his high school’s founder, Blanche Kelso Bruce, nephew of the Reconstruction era Senator of the same name, he … Read MoreWillard Johnson Sr. (1901-1969)
Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. was born on May 5, 1865, in Franklin County, Virginia to former slaves of African American, Native American, and German ancestry. He was raised in a family of seventeen children. During his youth, Powell lived a reckless life filled with gambling. … Read MoreAdam Clayton Powell Sr. (1865-1953)
The Chicago Defender was founded in 1905 by Robert Sengstacke Abbott. Abbott published the first issue, a run of 300 copies, on May 6, 1905. The Defender began as a four-page weekly handbill filled with local news and reproductions of clippings from other newspapers. Abbott … Read MoreChicago Defender (1905- )
Born on February 6, 1898 in Moberly, Missouri, Melvin Beaunorus Tolson is known as one of the most significant African American modernist poets of his time. In addition, Tolson’s work as an educator led Langston Hughes to declare him “the most famous Negro Professor in … Read MoreMelvin B. Tolson (1898-1966)
Frances Mary McHie Rains, an African American community worker, educator, businesswoman, and nurse, was born on January 29, 1911 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Inspired by local black activist and businesswoman W. Gertrude Brown, McHie decided to become a social worker. After graduating from high school she … Read MoreFrances Rains (1911-2006)
Alberta Hunter was born in Memphis, Tennessee, but left for Chicago, Illinois at age 11 after her father died. She peeled potatoes in a boarding house until she could find a job singing blues, the first opportunity was at a Chicago brothel, as entertainment for … Read MoreAlberta Hunter (1895-1984)
