The 1900 New York City, New York Race Riot began following an incident between Arthur J. Harris, a black man, and a white undercover police officer, Robert J. Thorpe, outside the apartment of Harris and his girlfriend May Enoch in the Tenderloin section of New York City. At … Read MoreThe New York City Race Riot (1900)
Marguerite Thomas Williams, born in 1895, was the first African American (male or female) to earn a Ph.D. in geology. Like Roger Arliner Young, Williams was mentored by African American biologist Ernest Everett Just. Williams earned her bachelor’s degree in geology from Howard University in Washington, D.C. in 1923. Just considered … Read MoreMarguerite Thomas Williams (1895-ca. 1991)
Retired 4-star Air Force General Edward A. Rice, Jr. was raised in Yellow Springs, Ohio, the son of Edward A. Rice, Sr., an Air Force major, and Josie Rice. He entered the United States Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he graduated with distinction and a … Read MoreEdward A. Rice, Jr. (1955- )
It is hard to argue that Jack Daniel’s hasn’t become the most famous brand of whiskey in the world. However, this may have never happened without the work of a black slave named Nathan “Nearest” Green. While he was a key figure in forming the … Read MoreNathan “Nearest” Green (c.1820-?)
The King Assassination Riots were a series of more than 100 cases of civil unrest that occurred in the wake of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This turmoil was apparent throughout the nation as racial tensions rose to a volatile level. Different degrees of unrest … Read MoreThe Martin Luther King Assassination Riots (1968)
Frank M. Snowden, Jr. was a distinguished historian, professor, and diplomat most notably in the area the lives of blacks in the ancient world. Of his many esteemed works, Blacks in Antiquity is his most significant scholarship. Snowden was born on July 17, 1911, in York County, Virginia. His family moved to … Read MoreFrank M. Snowden, Jr. (1911-2007)
The most widely publicized case of the virtual enslavement of an African American in the 20th century is that of Dora Jones, born Theodora Lawrence Jones in 1890 in Athens, Alabama, the daughter of former slaves Plato Jones, a shoemaker and brick maker, and Lazzie Garrett Jones. As … Read MoreDora Jones (1890-1972)
Benjamin O. Davis Sr. was the first African American to be named a general in the American military. Davis claimed to have been born on July 1, 1877, but, according to some sources, his birthdate may have been in May 1880 and that he lied … Read MoreBenjamin O. Davis Sr. (1877-1970)
John Mercer Langston, the youngest of four children, was born a free black in Louisa County, Virginia on December 14, 1829. Langston gained distinction as an abolitionist, politician, and attorney. Despite the prominence of his slaveowner father, Ralph Quarles, Langston took his surname from his mother, … Read MoreJohn Mercer Langston (1829-1897)
David L. Lewis is a twice Pulitzer Prize-winning historian. He was born on May 25, 1936 in Little Rock, Arkansas to John Henry Lewis, Sr., a Yale Divinity School graduate and college president, and the former Alice Urnestine Bell, a public school math teacher. He … Read MoreDavid Levering Lewis (1936- )
