Effa Louise Manley, one of the first women of any race to run a baseball team, was co-owner, along with her husband Abe Manley, of the Negro League Baseball Team the Newark Eagles. Manley was born on March 27, 1897 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Bertha … Read MoreEffa Louise Manley (1897-1981)
Alyce Chenault Gullattee, M.D., was a prominent Howard University Hospital psychiatrist, civil rights activist, member of Union Temple Baptist Church, and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority member, long known to her students and patients as Mimi or Dr. G. She was also an expert on substance … Read MoreAlyce Chenault Gullattee (1928-2020)
Emma Reed (Wright) was born on May 30, 1925 on the family farm in rural Redwood, Mississippi to parents Sallie and Smith Reed. She grew up on the farm but attended Coleman High School in Greenville, Mississippi, graduating in 1943. She then enrolled in Tennessee … Read MoreEmma Reed (1925-2014)
Turkiya L. Lowe, historian and public history scholar, is the National Park Service’s (NPS) first African American and first woman Chief Historian and Deputy Federal Preservation Officer. Lowe was born to Vincent L. Small and Patricia D. Lowe on December 1, 1977 and grew up … Read MoreTurkiya L. Lowe (1977- )
Wilson Roosevelt Jerman was one of the longest-serving White House employees, serving in various positions under eleven U.S. Presidents. Jerman was born on January 21, 1929, in Seaboard, North Carolina, to Theodore Roosevelt Jerman and Alice Plum. The family was poor and although he had … Read MoreWilson Roosevelt Jerman (1929-2020)
Lemuel Augustus Penn Sr. was the Assistant Superintendent of Washington, District of Columbia (D.C.) public schools, a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army, and a decorated veteran of World War II. Born on September 19, 1915 in Washington, D.C. to Henry Penn, a laborer … Read MoreLemuel Augustus Penn Sr. (1915-1964)
Julia de Burgos was a celebrated literary icon of the Americas whose themes of Blackness, feminism, love, migration, nationalism, and nature helped birth the 1960s Nuyorican movement. Julia Constanza Burgos García, teacher, activist, journalist, and poet, was born February 17, 1914 in Santa Cruz, Carolina, … Read MoreJulia de Burgos (1914-1953)
United States Congressman Colin Allred is the Democratic representative for the 32nd Congressional District in Dallas, Texas. In his first term as Representative he has been a champion for equality for Americans no matter their social status, prioritizing lowering healthcare costs, protecting Medicare and Social … Read MoreColin Allred (1985- )
Thomas Detter, late 19th century black businessman, Methodist minister, and civil rights advocate, was one of the first black literary figures to emerge in the U.S. West. The son of a free stonemason, Detter was born near Washington, D.C. around 1830. Very little is known … Read MoreThomas Detter (ca. 1830-1891)
Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Merryl Tengesdal is the first African American female U-2 pilot in history and is the first African American woman to fly the Air Force’s U-2 Dragon Lady Spy Plane. She is the only black woman alongside five white women and … Read MoreColonel Merryl Tengesdal (1971- )
