James Finley Wilson was born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1881 to Reverend James L. Wilson and Nancy Wiley Wilson. From 1922 to 1948, Wilson served consecutive terms as Grand Exalted Ruler of the Improved Benevolent Protective Order of the Elks of the World (I.B.P.O.E. of … Read MoreJames Finley Wilson (1881-1952)
Born in Pocatello, Idaho, on May 9, 1945, Dorthy (spelled without the second “o”) L. Johnson, became a semi-finalist in the 1964 Miss USA pageant after winning the title of “Miss Idaho.” The nineteen year-old was not the first African American to compete in The … Read MoreDorthy Johnson (1945- )
John Edgar Wideman was born in 1941 in Washington, D.C. but grew up in the predominantly black middle class community of Homewood near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. By the time Wideman was in high school, his family had moved to Shadyside, an upper middle class mostly white … Read MoreJohn Edgar Wideman (1941- )
Dr. Susan Smith McKinney Steward was the first African American woman to earn a medical doctorate (M.D.) in New York State and the third in the United States. Susan Smith was born to elite Brooklyn parents, Ann Springstead and Sylvanus Smith. She was of mixed … Read MoreSusan Smith McKinney Steward (1847-1918)
Abe Morris can stake his claim in rodeo history as a former champion bull rider. Morris is a 1980 graduate of the University of Wyoming (UW) with a bachelor’s degree in business management. He spent nearly 25 years riding bulls on the college and professional … Read MoreAbe Morris (1956- )
Fort Robinson, in the northwestern corner of Nebraska, was established in 1874 as a base for operations against the Northern Cheyenne and Lakota tribes. Named for Lieutenant Levi Robinson, who was killed while escorting a woodcutting party near Laramie Peak in February 1874, the fort … Read MoreFort Robinson, Nebraska (1874-1916)
William “Curly” Neal helped turn a frontier western mining camp in the Santa Catalina Mountains of Arizona into a booming town that attracted businessmen and financiers, elite vacationers, and royals from around the world. His various business ventures as a teamster, passenger and freight hauler, … Read MoreWilliam “Curly” Neal (1849-1936)
One of Colorado Territory’s most interesting African American citizens spoke eloquently on behalf of black suffrage between 1863 and 1873, a decade of great debate on this particular subject. William Jefferson Hardin had been born to a free quadroon woman and a white father in … Read MoreWilliam Jefferson Hardin (1831-1889)
Nolle Smith, cowboy, politician, diplomat, was born on his parents’ ranch in Horse Creek, Wyoming in 1888 but grew up in Cheyenne where he graduated as valedictorian of his high school class at Cheyenne High School in 1907. The son of a white father and … Read MoreNolle Smith (1888-1982)
Born enslaved in Tennessee, this girl came west with Ursuline nuns after being freed. Not known for her quiet temperament, she left the convent in her teens and became, in time, a restaurant owner in several towns in Montana, Wyoming and Alberta and Saskatachewan, Canada, … Read MoreMary Fields (1832-1914)
