Sheila Jackson-Lee was born on January 12, 1950 in Queens, New York. She graduated from Jamaica High School in Queens, New York in 1968. She then graduated from Yale University in Connecticut with a B.A. in political science in 1972 followed in 1975 by a … Read MoreSheila Jackson-Lee (1950- )
Valenza Pauline Burke, later known as Paule Marshall, was born on April 9, 1929, in Brooklyn, New York. She was the daughter of Ada and Samuel Burke, both emigrants from Barbados, and she grew up in a neighborhood with a significant number of other families … Read MorePaule Marshall (1929-2019)
Samuel Robert Cassius was an ordinary man who lived an extraordinary life. A former enslaved African American from Virginia, Cassius was the product of a bi-racial union, a house-slave, Jane, and probably his physician and politician owner, James W. F. Macrae, a relative of General Robert E. … Read MoreSamuel Robert Cassius (1853-1931)
Thomas Greene Wiggins was born May 25, 1849 to Mungo and Charity Wiggins, slaves on a Georgia plantation. He was blind and autistic but a musical genius with a phenomenal memory. In 1850 Tom, his parents, and two brothers were sold to James Neil Bethune, … Read MoreThomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins (1849-1908)
Paul Douglas Freeman has conducted outstanding classical orchestras in many countries during his long career. One of the few African American conductors in the field of classical music, he is best known for his founding of the Chicago Sinfonietta, a classical orchestra widely recognized during … Read MorePaul Freeman (1936- )
Septima Poinsette Clark is perhaps the only woman to play a significant role in educating African Americans for full citizenship rights without gaining sufficient recognition. Clark was born the second of eight children in Charleston, South Carolina, to Peter Poinsette, a former slave, and his … Read MoreSeptima Poinsette Clark (1898-1987)
Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. was born on May 5, 1865, in Franklin County, Virginia to former slaves of African American, Native American, and German ancestry. He was raised in a family of seventeen children. During his youth, Powell lived a reckless life filled with gambling. … Read MoreAdam Clayton Powell Sr. (1865-1953)
John Chavis, early 19th Century minister and teacher, was the first African American to graduate from a college or university in the United States. Chavis was born on October 18, 1763. His place of birth is debated by historians. Some scholars think that Chavis hailed … Read MoreJohn Chavis (1763-1838)
The Southern Negro Youth Congress (SNYC) was formed in 1937 by young people who had attended the National Negro Congress (NNC) in Chicago, Illinois in 1936 and wanted to implement its call for action. These young leaders, including veteran activists James Jackson, Helen Gray, Esther … Read MoreSouthern Negro Youth Congress (1937-1949)
John Hiram Jackson was born November 16, 1912 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Both his parents were Virginians, and his maternal grandfather, the Reverend Daniel Cave, was a founder of Lynchberg Seminary, an independent black Baptist college. Reverend Cave was the first of a line of Baptist … Read MoreJohn Hiram Jackson (1912-1997)
