William Thaddeus Coleman, Jr., a prominent Republican lawyer and businessman, served as Secretary of Transportation under President Gerald Ford. Born on July 7, 1920 to a middle class Philadelphia, Pennsylvania family, Coleman attended a segregated elementary school. When he moved to Germantown High School he … Read MoreWilliam T. Coleman Jr. (1920-2017)
The son of Asa and Ruth Sheffey who named him Asa Bundy at birth, poet Robert Hayden was born in Detroit, Michigan and reared in “Paradise Valley,” an inner city ghetto. Adoptive parents, William and Sue Ellen Westerfield Hayden, gave him the name by which … Read MoreEarl Robert Hayden (1913-1980)
Cardiss Robertson Collins was born September 24, 1931 in St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of Findley Robertson and Rosa Mae Robertson. At the age of 10 her family relocated to Detroit and she spent the rest of her childhood there, eventually graduating from the Detroit … Read MoreCardiss Collins (1931- )
One of the great innovators of jazz music, pianist Cecil Taylor has redefined modernist jazz improvisation and composition. With uncompromising vision and sheer force of expression, his demanding music has both alienated and thrilled audiences, and has largely found a more receptive audience across the … Read MoreCecil Taylor (1929- )
Postal worker, real estate broker and civil rights activist, Mary Ann Spencer was the 10th child of twelve. She was born in Patrick County, Virginia on January 7, 1917. Spencer completed high school at Christiansburg’s Industrial High School in 1937, Virginia and went on to … Read MoreMary Ann Spencer Smith (1917-2001)
First elected to the Congress in 1870, Josiah T. Walls became Florida’s first elected African American congressman. Walls was born a slave in Winchester, Virginia on December 30, 1842. He was conscripted by the Confederate Army and captured in Yorktown by Union forces in 1862. … Read MoreJosiah Thomas Walls (1842-1905)
Robert Russa Moton was born in 1867 on the William Vaughan Plantation in Prince Edward County, Virginia. Moton attended the local freedman’s school and eventually went on to college at the Hampton Institute (now called Hampton University). At Hampton Institute, Moton distinguished himself academically and … Read MoreRobert R. Moton (1867-1940)
Michael K. Ross was a Washington State legislator, civil rights activist, and contractor who, although he worked from within established political channels, was not afraid to go against the grain to affect social change. Ross’s early years followed a conservative trajectory. Born in Iowa City, … Read MoreMichael K. Ross (1941-2007)
Daniel “Chappie” James, Jr. was born February 11, 1920 to parents Daniel and Lilly Anna James of Pensacola, Florida. As a young man growing up in the Deep South during the era of Jim Crow, he experienced racism first hand and resolved to overcome discrimination … Read MoreDaniel “Chappie” James, Jr. (1920-1978)
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)
