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 […]

Charles Richard Drew was a medical researcher, surgeon, and the first African American to be appointed as a medical examiner for the American Board of Surgery. His research and work led to the development of processing and storing plasma in blood banks. Drew was born on June 3, 1904, in Washington, DC. His mother, Nora Rosella Burrell Drew, was the […]

Economist, academic scholar, and bank executive Emmett John Rice was born on December 21, 1919, in Florence, South Carolina to Ulysses Simpson Rice, a Methodist minister, and Sue Suber Pearl, a schoolteacher. However, when he was 13, the Rices moved to Harlem, New York City. Rice received a Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Business Administration degrees from the […]

Cheryl White is the nation’s first black female horse jockey. White was born on October 29, 1953, in Cleveland, Ohio. Her father, Raymond White, was an African American horse trainer, and her mother, Doris, was a Polish American racehorse owner. The family owned 80 acres of land in Rome, Ohio, and several thoroughbred horses. White began riding when she was […]