Little Known Black History Facts
Annette Jones White is a civil rights activist who was forced to decide if she wanted to remain Miss Albany State in 1961, with a scholarship, or be a powerful voice of civil rights. The Albany, Ga. native had taken part in many protests to help end segregation, which included singing on the album “Freedom […]
Dr. Helen Nash, a Meharry Medical School graduate and Spelman College alumna, became the first black pediatrician at St. Louis Children’s Hospital in 1949. As a child, Dr. Nash held an interest in science. She was led by her father’s footsteps; he was a general practitioner in the Atlanta, Ga. area. Despite her interest, her […]
James Hood was among the first black student to integrate the University of Alabama. Hood passed away last week in his hometown of Gadsen, Alabama. Hood was the last key survivor for the historical breakthrough at the university. On June 11, 1963, Hood, and his classmate Vivian Malone, were physically blocked from walking inside the […]
Mary Edmonia Lewis is the first credited African American and Indian female sculptor in the U.S. She was nicknamed “wildfire” by her mother’s Indian community, the Ojibwe. She would add the first name of Mary while attending Oberlin College, which is also the name that she signed on her sculptures. Just recently The Walters Art […]
Note: Thank you to Sheila Carter, a dedicated listener of the “Tom Joyner Morning Show” for this topic. — The 761st Battalion (also known as the Black Panther Tank Battalion) was an all-black Louisiana-based military unit. The group was activated in 1942 and trained at Camp Hood, Texas. The men of the 761st stood upright […]
Today marks the day that we observe the birthday of Nobel Peace Prize winner, scholar and activist, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The holiday symbolizes the struggle and courage of a civil rights leader who had hoped the nations would come together in peace. This is also the day that the nations’ first black president, […]
Monday, January 21, 2013 is the day that we observe the work of civil rights visionary, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The legislation making Dr. King’s birthday a federal holiday was signed in 1983 under the Reagan administration, but it would take an additional 17 years for the entire U.S. to embrace the MLK holiday. […]
The Rosenwald Center of New Orleans was a recreational facility built in 1950 for Louisiana blacks. Though there were plenty of rec centers in the area, former Mayor Chep Morrison would not allow integration of the white-only facilities. The Rosenwald Center was built on the Lincoln playground and included a gym and outdoor pool. The […]
Dr. Kyla McMullen has become the first African American woman at the University of Michigan to graduate with a Ph.D. in Computer Science. As a child, McMullen would be on the computer day and night trying to crack the codes. McMullen attributes her desire to learn computer sciences to her high school teacher, Dr. Randy […]
At 89 years-old, Morrie Turner, who is first nationally syndicated African American cartoonist, is still making cartoons for the children of Sacramento. Turner sketched the first black comic strip called Wee Pals, which hit the newspapers of Chicago in 1965. Turner described his first comic strips as challenging – the papers were very strict on […]
A group of fourteen students from McDaniel College in Baltimore are working to uncover the past residents of a Frederick County African-American cemetery once owned by Wesley Church. The church is long gone, but the cemetery, which was desperately in need of restoration, is still in tact. The cemetery holds ancestors dating back to 1885 […]
19 year-old child prodigy Britney Exline graduated in the 2011 class from the University of Pennsylvania. The computer science major is now the youngest black engineer in the country, working for a software company in Boston. Exline was always ahead of her class. The Colorado Springs native speaks five languages and carried three minors in […]
