George McJunkin was an African American cowboy known for discovering bison bones in Folsom, New Mexico which eventually made archaeological history. McJunkin was born in the slavery era in Texas. His father was a blacksmith. McJunkin grew up on a ranch and mastered the skills … Read MoreGeorge McJunkin (1851-1922)
Roderick Raynor Paige, the first African American and the first school superintendent to serve as the U.S. Secretary of Education, was born on June 17, 1933 in Monticello, Mississippi. The eldest of five children, Paige was born to his mother Sophie, a librarian, and father, … Read MoreRoderick Raynor Paige (1933- )
Jeremiah Haralson was born near Columbus, Georgia on April 1, 1846. The slave of Georgia planter John Haralson, he was taken to Alabama where he remained in bondage until 1865. It is unclear as to what he did in the earlier years of his freedom, … Read MoreJeremiah Haralson (1846-1916)
Charley Pride, born on March 18, 1938, on a cotton farm in Sledge, Mississippi, eventually became one of the most successful black entertainers in country music. Although he loved music and taught himself to play the guitar as a teenager, Pride’s first dream was to … Read MoreCharley Pride (1938-2020)
Harold G. Moss, leader and a founder of the Tacoma Urban League and past president of the Tacoma branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), was the first African American to serve as mayor of Tacoma, Washington. He was also … Read MoreHarold Moss (1929-2020)
Alan Dupree Wheat, the first black Congressman from Kansas City, Missouri, was born in San Antonio, Texas, on October 16, 1951. He attended schools in Wichita, Kansas, and in Seville, Spain, before graduating from Airline High School in Bossier City, Louisiana, in 1968. In 1972 … Read MoreAlan Dupree Wheat (1951- )
Craig Anthony Washington, former Congressman from Houston, Texas, was born in Longview, Gregg County, Texas on October 12, 1941 to Roy and Azalia Washington. He attended Prairie View A & M University in Texas and received his B.A. in 1966. In 1969 he graduated from … Read MoreCraig Anthony Washington (1941- )
California Congresswoman Barbara Jean Lee, a self-described “Army brat,” has consistently been one of the most outspoken critics of the Iraq War. She has also called for the creation of a Department of Peace as a cabinet level agency in the federal government. Barbara Jean … Read MoreBarbara J. Lee (1946- )
Henry “Hank” Johnson Jr. represents Georgia’s Fourth Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. The district includes DeKalb County, where Johnson has lived and worked for the past several decades, as well as parts of Gwinnett and Rockdale Counties. Johnson is a Democrat, … Read MoreHenry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr. (1954- )
Pompey Factor, former slave, scout for the United States Army and Congressional Medal of Honor winner, was born in Arkansas in 1849 to Hardy Factor, a black Seminole chief and an unknown Biloxi Indian woman. By the end of that 2nd Seminole War (1835-1842), most … Read MorePompey Factor (1849-1928)
