Richard Bowie Spikes was a prolific inventor with eight patents to his name, awarded between 1907 and 1946. Primarily interested in automobile mechanics, Spikes also sought to improve the operation of items as varied as barber chairs and trolley cars. Professionally, he worked as a mechanic, … Read MoreRichard Spikes (1878-1965)
Retired 4-star Air Force General Edward A. Rice, Jr. was raised in Yellow Springs, Ohio, the son of Edward A. Rice, Sr., an Air Force major, and Josie Rice. He entered the United States Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he graduated with distinction and a … Read MoreEdward A. Rice, Jr. (1955- )
Lovett Huey Fort-Whiteman was an American political and civil rights activistand member of the Communist International. He is regarded as the first American-born black Communist and first African American to attend a Comintern training school in the Soviet Union. Fort-Whiteman organized the Communist Party-affiliated American Negro Labor Congress and was labeled by Time magazine as … Read MoreLovett Fort-Whiteman (1889-1939)
One of the biggest riots in the history of Charlotte, North Carolina came in reaction to the shooting involving Keith Lamont Scott, a 43-year-old black man. The shooting, along with the ensuing riot, garnered international news attention. It also advanced the debate promulgated by the Black Lives Matter movement on … Read MoreKeith Lamont Scott (1973-2016)
Army 4-star General Dennis L. Via was born in 1958 in the industrial town of Martinsville, Virginia, the son of Henry Via, a house painter and small-contract repairman, and Margaret Via, a homemaker. He had worked in a local textile mill and intended to skip college and … Read MoreDennis L. Via (1958- )
Pioneering African American airline pilot David E. Harris, a native of Columbus, Ohio, was born December 22, 1934, the son of Walter R. Harris and Ruth A. Estis Harris. He graduated from Ohio State University in 1957 with a degree in education. While at the university he was initially … Read MoreDavid Ellsworth Harris (1934- )
Award-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed was born in Livingston, Texas, on November 19, 1958, the daughter of military veteran Alfred Gordon Sr. and Bettye Jean Gordon, an English teacher. As a girl who loved to read and write and was fascinated by the family of Thomas Jefferson, something that … Read MoreAnnette Gordon-Reed (1958- )
On the morning of May 15, 1916, approximately 15,000 people gathered near Waco, Texas to witness the trial and lynching of Jesse Washington, an eighteen-year-old black man charged with the bludgeoning death of Lucy Fryer. The brutal murder of Washington provided the newly formed National Association for the Advancement of Colored People … Read MoreJesse Washington (1897-1916)
James Byrd, Jr. is considered one of the last lynching victims in the United States. On the morning of June 7, 1998, 49-year-old Byrd left his parents’ residence and was walking home alone along Huff Creek Road in Jasper, Texas. He was approached by three white men, John William … Read MoreJames Byrd, Jr. (1949-1998)
On Friday, February 3, 1893, Henry Smith was lynched in Paris, Texas, in front of an estimated 15,000 spectators. His death was one of the earliest spectacle lynchings on record. The heinousness of Smith’s death captured the attention of journalist and anti-lynching advocate Ida B. Wells. She included a detailed … Read MoreHenry Smith (?-1893)
