The area of South Texas known as the Lower Rio Grande Valley became in the period between the U.S. Civil War and World War I one of the few regions south of the Mason-Dixon Line where racial miscegenation laws were frequently challenged. As a consequence … Read MoreBorder Love on the Rio Grande: African American Men and Latinas in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas (1850-1940)
Marlon Riggs was a black gay writer, filmmaker, and social activist. He was born in Fort Worth, Texas to a military family on February 3, 1957, and spent his childhood at various military posts, including time spent living in Georgia and Germany. Riggs graduated with … Read MoreMarlon Riggs (1957-1994)
Prairie View A&M University, with approximately 9,500 students, is the fourth largest Historically Black College and University (HBCU) by enrollment in the United States. It was the first state-supported college in Texas for African Americans and was founded as part of the post-Civil War effort … Read MorePrairie View A&M University (1878- )
Solomon Melvin Coles was a minister, educator, and community leader. Born a Virginia slave in 1844, Coles pursued an education before the Civil War, and in its aftermath moved to Connecticut where available educational opportunities existed for African Americans. In 1869 Coles became the first African … Read MoreSolomon Melvin Coles (1844-1924)
Ruth Simmons is the first African American to be named President of an Ivy League university. She is also the first African American woman to lead any major university in the United States. Simmons was sworn in as the 18th President of Brown University in … Read MoreRuth Simmons (1945- )
Hakeem Olajuwon was a professional and collegiate basketball player, and is now retired. Olajuwon was born in Lagos, Nigeria, in January 1963, and lived there until he moved to Texas in 1980 to attend the University of Houston. Olajuwon grew up in Lagos playing mostly … Read MoreHakeem Olajuwon (1963– )
African American cowboy and rodeo rider Jesse Stahl set the standard of performance in saddle bronc riding that continues to this day. Stahl was a topnotch horseman, a first-class gentleman, and a cowboy who was regarded by many who saw his performances as larger than … Read MoreJesse Stahl (ca. 1879-1935)
Claudius W. Rice was a political activist and labor leader in Houston, Texas from the 1920s through the 1940s. He was the owner of Negro Labor News, president of the Texas Negro Business Association, and advocate of Booker T. Washington and the Tuskegee philosophy of … Read MoreClaudius William Rice (ca. 1892-1973)
Texas cowboy Robert Lemmons was one of the greatest mustangers of all time. He became a legend in his day by perfecting his unique method of catching wild mustang horses. Robert Lemmons was born a slave in Lockport, Caldwell County, Texas in 1848. He moved … Read MoreRobert Lemmons (1848–1947)
Isom Dart, born enslaved in Arkansas in 1849, and originally known as Ned Huddleston, gained a reputation as a late 19th Century Wyoming Territory outlaw. He had many aliases including “Black Fox,” “Tan Mex,” and “Calico Cowboy”. At the age of twelve Huddleston accompanied his … Read MoreIsom Dart (1849-1900)
