Born on December 7, 1948 in Springfield, Massachusetts to well known black nationalist minister Albert Buford Cleage (later Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman) and school teacher Doris Graham Cleage, Pearl Cleage grew up in Detroit, Michigan and entered Howard University in Washington, D.C. in 1966 to study … Read MorePearl Cleage (1948- )
Argued October 7, 1991 Decided March 31, 1992 Kennedy, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Rehnqist, C.J., and White, Scalia, Souter, JJ., joined. Scalia, J., post, p. 500, and Souter, J., post, p. 507, filed concurring opinions. Blackmun, J., filed an opinion … Read More(1992) Freeman v. Pitts School Desegregation Decision
In June 2007 the United States Supreme Court issued a narrow five to four ruling invalidating racial integration plans in Seattle, Washington and Louisville, Kentucky. The Court reasoned that the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause prohibited schools from voluntarily using racial classifications to achieve integration. … Read MoreParents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (2007)
Syvilla Fort, born on July 3, 1917 in Seattle, Washington, was a professional dancer in the 1930s and early 1940s and prominent dance instructor in New York City for three decades between 1948 and 1975. Her dance style, which combined African, Caribbean, and American rhythms, … Read MoreSyvilla Fort (1917-1975)
Fannie Jackson was born a slave in Washington DC on October 15, 1837. She gained her freedom when her aunt was able to purchase her at the age of twelve. Through her teen years Jackson worked as a servant for the author George Henry Calvert … Read MoreFannie Jackson Coppin (1837-1913)
Dr. Rebecca J. Cole was the first black woman doctor in the United States. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 16, 1846, Cole was one of five children. Cole began her schooling at the Institute for Colored Youth and graduated in 1863. She then attended … Read MoreRebecca J. Cole (1846-1922)
James Madison Nabrit, Jr. was a renowned civil rights lawyer, Howard University president, and United Nations deputy ambassador. During his legal career, he argued for the voting rights of blacks as well as school desegregation. Nabrit was born September 7, 1900, in Atlanta, Georgia. The … Read MoreJames M. Nabrit, Jr. (1900-1997)
Hobart T. Taylor, Jr, a government official and lawyer, was born to Charlotte and Hobart Taylor, Sr., on December 17, 1920 in Texarkana, Texas. Taylor graduated from Prairie View College in Texas with a B.A. degree in 1937. He received an M.A. degree from Howard … Read MoreHobart T. Taylor, Jr. (1920-1981)
John Wesley Blassingame was one of the preeminent scholars in the study of enslaved African Americans. His early monographs The Slave Community (1972) and Black New Orleans, 1860-1880 (1973) shattered racist and stereotypical portrayals of African American life by using testimony and evidence left by … Read MoreJohn W. Blassingame (1940-2000)
Kurt L. Schmoke, born in Baltimore, Maryland, on December 1, 1949, came from a middle class background. His father, Murray, a civilian chemist for the U.S. Army, was a graduate of Morehouse College, and his mother, Irene was a social worker. Schmoke attended the city’s … Read MoreKurt L. Schmoke (1949- )
