Little Black Known History Fact

Theologian, minister, author, and activist Howard Thurman was best known as an influence and early mentor of some of the civil right movement’s most notable figures. The Daytona Beach, Fla. Native was born November 18, 1899. The Morehouse man graduated as class valedictorian in 1923, and two years later became an ordained Baptist minister in […]

    Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton has represented the District of Columbia in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1991. Now in her 14th term and seeking a 15th this month, Del. Holmes Norton, who uses the honorific “Congresswoman,” has the same rights as any other state representative  save for the one she’s been fighting […]

The 1946 lynching of two Black sharecropper couples by a vicious White mob has haunted Georgia residents for nearly seven decades. Known as the “Lynching At Moore’s Ford Bridge,” the still-unsolved murder case of George and May Dorsey, and Roger and Dorothy Malcolm has been reopened. On July 25, 1946, the Dorseys and the Malcolms […]

James “Jay” Marshall Rogers Jr. was the first Black teacher to win the Council of Chief State School Officers’ National Teacher Of The Year award back on this day in 1972. Rogers went on to have a stellar career as a college professor and faculty member at the prestigious Philips Academy. Rogers was born June […]

Cornelia Graves was the only teacher and principal at Bethelda school, the first “colored” school in Stephenville, Texas. In 1907, the Erath County, Texas woman built the small school of less than 12 students, which sat near College Hill road. She taught there for nearly 20 years. Graves was born in 1875 to a family […]

Jasper, Texas drew national attention in June of 1998 when James Byrd, a black man, was killed by three3 white supremacists. Byrd’s body was discovered by Rodney Pearson, who was the first black highway patrolman in Jasper. For a short while, the city was united, and they even tore down the segregated cemetery walls. Now, […]

In 1968, Director George Romero sought out a cast for his newest horror movie called “Night of the Living Dead.” Unlike his other films, Romero wanted to include an African-American hero. The chosen actor to fight the zombies was Duane Jones. In his role as Ben, Jones became the first African-American to be cast as […]

William H. Foote is said to be the first black Deputy Collector, (Police Officer), killed in the line of duty. Born a freeman on June 27, 1843 in Vicksburg, Mississippi, Foote was an advocate for black civil rights in the era of post-reconstruction. Foote gained his education at Oberlin College. After graduation, he returned to […]