Monroe Nathan Work didn’t enter high school he was 23, but became one of the leading sociologists of his time. He was born August 15, 1866 in Iredell County, North Carolina. Work born to parents who were former slaves. When his mother died, Work moved to Cairo, Ill. to work with his father on a […]
Frank Snowden Jr. was a Classics professor and scholar who studied the lives of Black people during the Classical Antiquity period in Ancient Greece and Rome. During his study, Snowden suggested that Black people didn’t suffer rampant racism and slavery as they did in the United States. Snowden was born July 17, 1911 in York […]
Paul Laurence Dunbar was one of the most important poets of his era. The Ohio native was born on June 27th, 1872 to freed slave parents from Kentucky. At a young age, Dunbar took to reading and writing, penning his first poem at six years old and continuing the craft under the guidance of his […]
A Harvard professor is under fire for being part of Harvey Weinstein’s defense team. Faculty dean Ronald S. Sullivan, Jr. is part of the disgraced movie mogul’s legal defense team on sexual assault charges. Sullivan’s decision has generated protests and calls for his removal as well as a ‘climate’ review at Winthrop House, the residential […]
Former U.S. Ambassador to South Africa James A. Joseph celebrates a birthday this week. He is notable for being the first diplomat to present their credentials to the late Nelson Mandela, sparking a strong bond between the nations that persists today. Joseph was born in 1935 with some sources citing March 12 as the official […]
Kayla Willis, a high school senior from Fairburn, Georgia, now has the selection of 31 schools, and is waiting for possible others after sending out applications to 50 schools.
Horace G. Dawson was the U.S. Ambassador to Botswana under President Jimmy Carter who became the founding director of the Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center at Howard University. Today is Dawson’s birthday. Dawson was born in 1926 in Augustus, Ga. While studying at Pennsylvania’s Lincoln University, Dawson was drafted into the U.S. Army but […]
Violette Neatley Anderson achieved a number of notable firsts for both African-Americans and women in the legal world. Chief among her achievements, she became the first African-American woman to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 29, 1926. Anderson was born Violette Neatley in July 16, 1882 in London, England to a German […]
On December 10, 1950, political scientist and diplomat Ralph Bunche became the first African-American to win the Nobel Peace Prize. In his acceptance speech, the late Dr. Bunche addressed racial inequality around the globe and made a call for true world peace. Ralph Johnson Bunche, a Detroit native, attended UCLA and graduated both “summa cum […]
Three African-American students were selected as 2019 Rhodes Scholars.
Dr. Clifton Wharton Jr. has amassed a dizzying array of firsts over the course of his long career. On October 17, 1969, Wharton became the first Black president of a predominately white major learning institution when he was elected to lead Michigan State University. Clifton Reginald Wharton was born September 13, 1926 in Boston, Mass. […]
Dr. Ida Stephens Owens went from humble beginnings in Whiteville, N.C., to Duke University, becoming the first Black woman to earn a Ph. D. there. Today is Dr. Owens’ birthday. Owens was born, according to what records we could find, in 1929. She attended North Carolina Central University, earning her undergraduate degree in Biology. At NCCU, […]
