Organized in the fall of 1942 in Iowa, the all-black Thirty-Second and Thirty-third Women’s Auxiliary Army Companies would become the first contingent of WAACS assigned to a military installation in the United States during World War II. Composed of nearly 200 auxiliaries and seven officers, … Read More32nd and 33rd WAACS Headquarters Companies (World War II)
Irma Jackson Cayton Wertz was a member of the first Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAACS) Officer training class commissioned at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, during World War II. Born in Brunswick, Georgia, on May 8, 1911, Jackson was the product of a military household. Her … Read MoreIrma Jackson Cayton Wertz (1911-2007)
Samuel Lee Gravely Jr. was a highly decorated Navy officer who pioneered the way with a multitude of firsts for African Americans in the military. Some of his most notable achievements included being the first African American Navy Vice Admiral, the first African American to … Read MoreSamuel Lee Gravely (1922-2004)
Activated on May 15, 1942, at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, the U.S. Ninety-third Infantry Division was the first segregated division-size infantry unit mobilized during the Second World War. Composed of White general staff officers and African American junior officers and enlisted men, the Ninety-third was made … Read More93rd Infantry Division (1942-1946)
Ulysses Grant Lee, Jr. was a historian, author, professor, editor and army officer. Born on December 4th, 1913 in Washington D.C. to Ulysses Grant, a business owner, and Maggie Lee Grant, he was the oldest of seven children. Lee graduated from Dunbar High School in … Read MoreUlysses Grant Lee Jr. (1913-1969)
Scholar, African traditionalist poet, and Senegal’s first president, Léopold Sédar Senghor was born on October 9, 1906, in Joal, Senegal. His father, Basie Diogoye Senghor, was a Malinké landowner. His mother, Gnilane Bakhoum, came from a Christian Fulani family. They gave Senghor a European name … Read MoreLéopold Sédar Senghor (1906-2001)
Legendary entertainer Pearl Mae Bailey was born on March 29, 1918 in Southamption County, Virginia to Rev. Joseph and Ella Mae Bailey. She grew up in Newport News, Virginia. Bailey began her acting and singing career early at the age of 15 with her debut … Read MorePearl Mae Bailey (1918-1990)
Emperor Haile Selassie was born on July 23, 1892 as Tafari Makonnen just outside the city of Harrar in Enjersa Goro Province, Ethiopia. His mother was Yeshimbet Ali Abajiffar and his father was Ras (Duke) Makonnen Wolde Michael, Governor of Harrar, relative of Emperor Menelik … Read MoreHaile Selassie I of Ethiopia (1892-1975)
In 1925, Josephine Baker took Paris, France by storm, appearing on stage in “La Revue Negre” wearing nothing but a skirt of artificial bananas in Danse Sauvage. Born Josephine Freda MacDonald in St. Louis, Missouri on June 3, 1906, she was nicknamed “Tumpy” because she … Read MoreJosephine Baker (1906-1975)
James Charles Evers, known as Charles, was born on September 11, 1922 in Decatur, Mississippi to parents Jesse Wright and James Evers. Growing up in Mississippi during the era of Jim Crow, Evers witnessed the effects of racial discrimination and prejudice firsthand. At the age … Read MoreJames Charles Evers (1922-2020)
