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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1928-1998 A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., was an influential judge, legal scholar, and university professor He was a leader in the fight for civil rights and the author of important studies on the sociology of race. Tough Climb Higginbotham was born in Trenton, New Jersey, on February 25, 1928, to Aloysius Leon Higginbotham, Sr., a factory
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1908-1972  Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., was New York City’s first black congressman. Representing the residents of Harlem in the nation’s capital for two and a half decades as a forceful advocate for African American causes, he rose steadily in power to become one of America’s most influential and effective politicians during the 1960s and the
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1961-  Barack Hussein Obama rose through Illinois state politics and the U.S. Senate with unprecedented speed, deep convictions, and deft skill to be elected the first African American President of the United States. In so doing, he shattered racial barriers, altered the domestic political landscape, and electrified the world with his message of hope and
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1912-1995  Oliver Wendell Harrington was one of America’s most talented and influential political cartoonists in the decades between the Great Depression and the end of the Cold War. After leaving the United States during the McCarthy era, he became a key member of the African American expatriate community in Paris, and lived out his final
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1899-1990  Clifton Reginald Wharton was the first African American to enter the U.S. Foreign Service under the State Department’s merit system. In 1958, after decades of service in traditionally black posts such as Liberia and the Canary Islands, he broke the department’s color barrier by becoming the first black diplomat to be named ambassador to
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1924-1985  Patricia Harris worked her way up from modest origins to become a trail-blazer for African Americans and women in the federal government at the highest levels. She served two Presidents in numerous roles, and achieved notable results in striving for improvements in housing and services for poor people and equitable treatment for women. Early
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1904 – 1971  Ralph Bunche blazed a lifelong record of achievement in the study of social interactions, acquired a keen understanding of racism at home and abroad, and pioneered the development of modern mediation techniques which he applied successfully to some of the most intractable conflicts of his era. One of America’s best known and
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