Carter W. Wesley, newspaperman and political activist, was born in Houston, Texas, on April 29, 1892, to Mable (Green) and Harry Wesley. He graduated from the public schools of the city and earned a B.A. degree at Fisk University in Nashville in 1917. Shortly thereafter, … Read MoreCarter W. Wesley (1892-1969)
Born on June 22, 1866 in Kaufman County, Texas, William Madison (Gooseneck Bill) McDonald’s parents had been slaves. His father, George McDonald, was born in Tennessee and his mother, Flora Scott McDonald, in Alabama. His mother died when he was five, and his father married … Read MoreWilliam Madison McDonald (1866-1950)
Born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1884, Saint Elmo Brady became the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in the field of chemistry when he completed his graduate studies at the University of Illinois in 1916. The eldest child of Thomas and Celesta Brady, Saint … Read MoreSaint Elmo Brady (1884-1966)
The following speech, a sermon Dr. Martin Luther King gave at Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 3, 1968, was the last public appearance before his assassination the next day. King, in Memphis to support a strike by sanitation workers, gives a poignant vision … Read More(1968) Martin Luther King, Jr., “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop”
Paul R. Williams was one of the most well-known 20th Century African American architects. Early in his career, Williams designed mostly houses, but in the 1950s and 1960s he designed some of the most distinctive public buildings in Los Angeles. Williams’s best-known building is probably … Read MorePaul R. Williams (1894-1980)
Born on the campus of Howard University on May 1, 1901, Sterling Allen Brown was the last of six children and the only boy born to the Rev. Sterling Nelson, a former slave and prominent professor in the Howard Divinity School, and Adelaide (Allen) Brown. … Read MoreSterling A. Brown (1901-1989)
Z. Alexander Looby was among the small cadre of African American lawyers who began practicing in the southern United States during the 1920s and 1930s. Often considered the “second generation of black attorneys,” these lawyers followed the first cadre of African Americans who began practicing … Read MoreZ. Alexander Looby (1899-1972)
Born in Chatfield, Texas on June 19, 1872, Sutton E. Griggs attended Bishop College in Marshall, Texas and Richmond Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia. A noted author, Baptist minister, and promoter of his race, Griggs championed the cause of racial equality in his life and … Read MoreSutton Elbert Griggs (1872-1933)
Harold Eugene Ford, Jr. was born in Memphis, Tennessee on May 11, 1970. He is a past chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) and is a former member of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee. During his tenure in Congress Ford represented … Read MoreHarold Ford, Jr. (1970- )
Gilford P. Hervey was born enslaved, the third of 14 children of Cary M. and Rose Hervey in Halifax County, North Carolina, both of whom were owned by Gideon T. Hervey. Hervey served with Company F of the 59th United States Infantry (USCI) formerly 1st … Read MoreGilford P. Hervey (1836-1920)
