Charity Adams Earley

1917-2002 Charity Adams Earley was a pioneer in the success of both women and African Americans in the U.S. Army. She served as one of the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) first black officers, and ultimately attained the rank of major. A Studious Start Earley was born on December 5, 1917, in Columbia, South Carolina, to
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Cesar

C. 1682 – ? Cesar was a successful practitioner of traditional African medicine in the southern United States during the middle of the 18th century. In recognition of his accomplishments, the South Carolina legislature took the unprecedented step of freeing him from slavery and awarding him a substantial lifetime stipend. African Roots Born around 1682,
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Celia Cruz

1925?-2003 Celia Cruz rose from her musical career in Latin America to become the leading female Afro-Cuban and Salsa vocalist in the United States, becoming a symbol of the spirit of the Cuban expatriate community. Café con Leche Cruz was born Ursula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso in the Santos Suarez district of
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Cathay Williams

1844-? Cathay Williams was the only known female African American Buffalo Soldier. She was the first black woman to be documented for her service in the U.S. Army before women were officially allowed to enlist. Buffalo Woman Williams was born in September of 1844 in Independence, Missouri. Aside from this lone fact, details of her
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Charles Alfred Anderson, Sr.

1907-1996 Nicknamed “Chief” by his aviation students, Charles Alfred Anderson, Sr.. served as the Chief Civilian Flight Instructor for the Tuskegee Institute ’s groundbreaking program to train black pilots. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt established a military aviation program at Tuskegee in 1941. Anderson was tasked with training the famous World War II Tuskegee Airmen.
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Betsey Stockton

C.1798-1865 Betsey Stockton was born into slavery, and emerged as a religious and academic pioneer. She was instrumental in bringing formal education to indigenous Hawaiians and Native Americans, and in establishing numerous schools. A Young Missionary Sets Sail Stockton was born sometime in 1798, into childhood slavery in Princeton, New Jersey. The identity of her
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Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.

1912-2002 Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., was one of the pioneering African Americans who attended the military academy at West Point before the second World War. The Air Forces first black general, he commanded the legendary Tuskegee group of fighter pilots in World War II. Service in the Blood Davis was born on December 18, 1912,
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Benjamin E. Mays

1894-1984 Benjamin E. Mays was a pastor, a passionate advocate of education, and an inspirational leader in the modern Civil Rights Movement. As the president of Morehouse College in Atlanta for 21 years, he guided the institution as it rose to the top ranks of the nations historically black colleges. God and Education Mays was
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Beauford Delaney

1901-1979 Beauford Delaney struggled with poverty, mental illness, and obscurity throughout his career as a painter. Since his death, museum retrospectives have reestablished Delaney as one of America’s most vital expressionist painters. A Promising Young Artist Delaney was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on December 30, 1901. His father, Samuel, was a Methodist minister. His mother,
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Bayard Rustin

1912-1987 Known as the “Architect of the March on Washington,” Bayard Rustin was a tireless crusader for civil rights in the nonviolent tradition of Mohandas Gandhi. Rustin initiated the Freedom Ride movement by leading 1947’s Journey of Reconciliation, and played an instrumental role in the organization of 1963’s Great March on Washington for Jobs and
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