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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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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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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1936-1996 Barbara Charline Jordan devoted her life to politics by using her exceptional oratory abilities to address issues that affected the poor, the disadvantaged, and black communities. As both a Texas State Senator and a U.S. Congresswoman, Jordan fought for civil and human tights, including changes to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. From Poverty
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1841-1898 Blanche Kelso Bruce was a prominent politician in Mississippi and Washington, DC, for three decades in the aftermath of the Civil War. He holds the distinction of being the first African American to serve a full, elected term in the U.S. Senate. Escape from Slavery Bruce was born near Farmville, Virginia, on March 1,
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1892-1962 Augusta Savage battled discrimination and financial hardships as an acclaimed sculptor and teacher, and went on to become a key mentor and supporter of numerous black artists who followed in her footsteps. An Independent Woman Savage was born Augusta Christine Fells on February 29, 1892, in Green Cove Springs, Florida. As one of 13
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1874-1938 Arthur Alfonso Schomburg was a pioneering historian and scholar who helped lay the foundations for the field of African and African American studies. He dedicated his life to collecting and sharing books, papers, and artifacts about the black experience, and to promoting the achievements of people of African descent. Challenge to Scholarship Schomburg was
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1877-1935 Arnold Josiah Ford was a self-proclaimed Rabbi and the founder of a black synagogue in Harlem. An accomplished musician, he wrote the enduring and inspiring “The Universal Ethiopian Anthem” in tandem with Marcus Garvey’s back-to-Africa movement. Immersed in Music Ford was born in the West Indies, in the city of Bridgetown on the Island
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1908-1997 Ann Lane Petry’s literacy talent exposed readers to issues of oppression and prejudice facing female black Americans. She was a distinguished novelist and short story writer as well as a civic activist. Her novel, The Street, was the first written by an African American that sold over one million copies. Experience Turns to Story
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1837-1915 Amanda Berry Smith devoted her life to the ministry of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. Her most noted achievement is the opening of the first orphanage for black children in Illinois. Called to God Smith was born January 23, 1837, in Long Green, Maryland. Her lather, Samuel Berry, and her mother, Mariam Matthews,
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