Margaret Vernell James Strickland was a leading scientist on termite diversity and a Civil Rights activist. She was the first professionally trained Black woman entomologist and the third Black female zoologist in the United States. She was born Margaret Vernell James on September 4, 1922, in Institute, West Virginia, to Rollins Walter James, who had worked with scientist George Washington […]

US Army World War II veteran Maceo Snipes was killed in 1946 in Taylor County, Georgia because he voted. Snipes was born in Taylor County Georgia on March 25, 1909. His parents, Lula and John, were landowners in Taylor County who owned 202 acres as were his grandparents, Henry and Elizabeth Snipes, who owned acreage in neighboring Schley County. Snipes, […]

Alonzo Logwone Mitz was a National Football League (NFL) defensive end who played professionally for the Seattle Seahawks and the Cincinnati Bengals. Mitz was born on June 5, 1963, in Henderson, North Carolina, and raised by his mother Rosa Lee Winbush, and his grandparents. Mitz attended Fort Pierce Central High School in Fort Pierce, Florida, and played high school football […]

Surgeon, professor, and philanthropist John Henry Hale was born on June 5, 1878, in Estill Springs, Tennessee, to Aaron Hale and Emma Gray Hale. John’s elementary education was obtained in Estill Springs. Hale received a Bachelor of Science from the historically Black Walden University in Nashville (Central Tennessee College) in 1901. Afterward, he enrolled in Meharry Medical College in Nashville, […]

Expert business developer, entertainment legal advisor, and strategist Paul Ernest Butler was born on March 31, 1969, and has lived most of his life in Atlanta, Georgia. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science/Interdepartmental Studies (African American Studies) from the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York, in 1991, where he was the co-winner of the Seth H. […]

In 1988, Lee Roy Young Jr. became the first Black Texas Ranger. Rangers are a branch of the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS). Young was born in Del Rio, Texas on January 8, 1947. His mother was Abby Ward and father was Lee Roy Young. As a child, Young was raised by his grandparents, Ceriella Ward and Reynaldo Aguilar. […]

The Nashville Operation Open City Movement was a civil rights campaign in Nashville, Tennessee, between 1961 and 1964. This three-year campaign would become one of the longest ongoing efforts to desegregate public accommodations in any city in the nation in the 1960s. The main goal of the campaign was to end racial segregation in all public accommodations that remained segregated […]

In 1962, William “Bill” Goines became the first African American Navy SEAL. Navy SEALs are the United States Navy’s elite special operations force, SEAL is an acronym for Sea, Air, Land which indicates all the environments SEALs are trained to operate. Goines was born in Dayton, Ohio on September 10, 1936. As a young child, his family moved to Lockland, […]

The University of Los Angeles (UCLA) shootout between the Southern California chapter of the Black Panther Party (BBP) and the US Organization occurred on January 17, 1969. The shooting happened during a meeting of the Black Student Union at UCLA’s Campbell Hall, where the founder of the Southern California chapter of the Black Panthers, Alprentice “Bunchy” Carter, and Party member […]

Bil Moss, in 1975, was the first woman of color to win a Tacoma councilmanic primary election. Although she lost in the November general election, she ran again 24 years later for the same third district council seat and prevailed.  Thus, she became the second woman of color elected to the City Council, following Dr. Dolores Silas. Moss was also […]