What’s New on BlackPast

Dorie Ann Ladner was a lifelong Civil Rights Activist, beginning with becoming a Freedom Fighter in her youth. Ladner was born on June 28, 1942, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Her mother, Annie Woullard, was a homemaker, and her father, Eunice Ladner, was a dry cleaner. Ladner’s … Read MoreDorie Ann Ladner (1942-2024)

Lucy Diggs Slowe was a trailblazer as an academic and athlete. In 1922, she was the first African American woman to serve as permanent Dean of Women and Professor of English at Howard University. Slowe established a separate women’s campus and three new dormitories to … Read MoreLucy Diggs Slowe (1883-1937)

Nathaniel “Nat” Trives, the first African American mayor of Santa Monica, California, was born in 1934 or 1935 in Birmingham, Alabama. Shortly after his birth the family moved to Indiana, and later, Ohio. In 1949 the family relocated to Santa Monica, California where his father … Read MoreNathaniel Trives (1934/35- )

In 2020, Ella Jones became the first Black and first female mayor of Ferguson, Missouri, the St. Louis suburb that became the focal point for national protests following the murder of teenager Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer. After completing high school in 1972, … Read MoreElla Jones (1954- )

Kenneth Cooper Alexander became Norfolk, Virginia’s first African American mayor, a historic milestone for the Commonwealth city founded in 1682. Born in Norfolk on October 17, 1966, to David Alexander, a funeral director and business owner, and Ruby Rebecca Cooper, a college graduate, professional clarinetist, … Read MoreKenneth Cooper-Alexander (1966-)

World-renowned debate coach, philosopher, minister, and orator Thomas Freeman was born Thomas Franklin Freeman on June 27, 1919, in Richmond, Virginia, to Louis H. Freeman Sr. and Louise E. Willis. Young Thomas preached his first sermon at nine years old. He had seven brothers and three … Read MoreThomas Freeman (1919 – 2020)

Born September 25, 1946, in Temple, Texas, Charles Edward Greene would be known to posterity by another name, “Mean Joe” Greene, and as one of the most dominant football players of his era at the professional level. With limited collegiate football options after playing on … Read MoreCharles Edward “Mean Joe” Greene (1946- )

Ronald Blackwood was the first African American mayor of Mount Vernon, New York, a suburb of New York City. Blackwood was born on Jan 19, 1926, in St. Andrew Parish, Jamaica. In search of a better life, he immigrated to the United States at the … Read MoreRonald Alexander Blackwood (1926-2017)

The first African American mayor of Las Cruces, New Mexico, Albert Morris Johnson was born in Lebanon, Tennessee. His birth, like those of many African Americans in Tennessee at the time, was not officially recorded but he recalled that the year was 1935. He was … Read MoreAlbert Morris Johnson (1935-1984)