Tommie Smith
Gaining recognition for his multiple records in the 1960s for the San Jose State University track-and-field team, Thomas “Tommie” C. Smith won the 200-meter gold medal at the...
Born to a single mother in Harlem, New York, James Baldwin developed a passion for reading and writing during his school years. When at DeWitt Clinton High School, Baldwin worked for the...
“A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”
A woman of many talents and best known for her 1969 memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou is...
As the first African-American female astronaut, Mae C. Jemison made history twice when she also became the first African-American woman to go to space. Not only was she an astronaut, but she was also...
Known as the “Father of Black History,” Carter G. Woodson was a popular and influential writer and historian who lobbied to establish Black History Month. Widely known for his influential book...
Hattie McDaniel was affluent in the rising media world. She was awarded two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and was the first African American to win an Oscar and perform on the radio.
McDaniel...
A fixture in New York's Harlem Renaissance, Zora Neale Hurston would be revered as an outstanding folklorist of the powerful female-based novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God" (1937) as well as shorter...
A child of former slaves, Mary McLeod Bethune was the only child out of 17 to pursue schooling. Adamant that education was the key to racial advancement, she graduated from the Scotia Seminary...
As the first African-American to become Florida’s secretary of state, Jonathan C. Gibbs also served as a minister. Born in 1827, his parents were both free people. He earned a degree from Dartmouth...
Often called the “Black American National Anthem,” James Weldon Johnson’s “Lift Every Voice and Sing” became one of his most popular pieces of all-time. Johnson was a civil rights activist,...
Viewed as one of the best jazz vocalist, Billie Holiday had a successful jazz career before her sudden death. Holiday first got noticed for her stellar voice by a producer in a Harlem club. She would...
As the first African-American woman to earn a pilot's license, Bessie Coleman destroyed the barriers of both gender and racial discrimination making her a pioneer in her field of aviation. Denied entry...
