Victor O. Frazer, attorney and politician, was born May 24, 1943 in Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands to Albert Frazer and Amanda Blyden. He graduated from Charlotte Amalie High School in 1960. In 1964, he earned a B.A. degree from Fisk University. … Read MoreVictor O. Frazer (1943- )
The schooner Clotilda is the last known United States slave ship to bring enslaved people from Africa to the United States. Constructed in 1855 by the Mobile, Alabama captain and shipbuilder William Foster, the Clotilda was originally intended for the “Texas trade.” It was eighty-six … Read MoreClotilda (Slave Ship)
Leading jazz innovator Theodore Walter “Sonny” Rollins was born in New York on September 7, 1930. He was raised by his grandmother who had migrated to the United States from the Virgin Islands. “Sonny” Rollins came of age in Harlem in the late 1940s and … Read MoreSonny Rollins (1930- )
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated, one of the five fraternities for African American men, was founded on November 17, 1911 on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C. It is the first African American fraternity established at a historically black college. The three founders—Edgar … Read MoreOmega Psi Phi Fraternity (1911- )
Audre Lorde, born February 18, 1934 in New York City, New York, was an American feminist poet. The youngest of three daughters, Lorde was nearsighted to the point of legal blindness. She also didn’t speak till she was five, having first been inspired to speak … Read MoreAudre Lorde (1934-1992)
Melvin Herbert Evans was born on August 7, 1917, in Christiansted, St. Croix, Virgin Islands. He attended public schools until entering Howard University where he received his B.S. in 1940. In 1944 he received his M.D. from Howard College of Medicine, whereupon he served in … Read MoreMelvin Herbert Evans (1917-1984)
Donna Marie Christian-Christensen, the non-voting delegate from the U.S. Virgin Islands to the United States House of Representatives, was born in Teaneck, Monmouth Country, New Jersey on September 19, 1945 to the late Judge Almeric Christian and Virginia Sterling Christian. Christensen attended St. Mary’s College … Read MoreDonna Marie Christensen (1945- )
Hubert Henry Harrison, author, lecturer, editor, and labor leader, was born in Concordia, St. Croix, Danish West Indies (now United States Virgin Islands) on April 27, 1883. Upon the completion of his elementary schooling in 1900, he moved to New York City, New York. There … Read MoreHubert Henry Harrison (1883-1927)
Roy Emile Alfredo Innis is the current National Director of the Congress for Racial Equality. He is a controversial civil rights activist whose conservative stance on many issues continues to draw national attention. Innis was born in the U.S. Virgin Islands on June 6, 1934. … Read MoreRoy Innis (1934- )
Casper Holstein was a prominent New York philanthropist and mobster involved in the Harlem “numbers rackets” during Prohibition. He, along with several other rivals, most notably Stephanie St. Clair, were responsible for resurrecting illegal gambling in Harlem after several years of inactivity following the conviction … Read MoreCasper Holstein (1876-1944)
