George Carroll made history in 1964, as the first African American to be elected mayor of Richmond, California which made him the first black mayor of any large American city. Carroll was born on January 6, 1922, to unnamed parents in Brooklyn, New York. Growing up, Carroll joined the United States Military during World War II. After the war, Carroll […]

The first African American mayor of Buffalo, New York, Byron Brown, was born on September 24, 1958 in Hollis, Queens, New York.  He attended PS 134 in Hollis and, later, junior high at PS 109. He attended August Martin High school and, after graduation, enrolled in Buffalo State College. He and his sister were the first in their family to […]

The first African American mayor of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Johnny DuPree was also the longest serving mayor of that city. DuPree was born in Fort Benning, Geogia to  poor, illiterate parents who separated when he was young. At the age of eight his mother moved to Hattiesburg with Johnnie and his siblings. Johnnie attended local schools and after high school graduation […]

Williams Stanford Hart Sr was a politician who served as mayor of East Orange, New Jersey between 1970 and 1978. This made him the first African American mayor of a major New Jersey city. Hart was born on November 19, 1925, to Margaret and John Hart in Irondale, Jefferson County, Ohio. Hart attended Delaware State University, an HBCU in Dover, […]

Oscar DuConge, a resilient politician, overcame the odds to become Waco, Texas’s first African American mayor. Born on April 19, 1909, to unnamed parents in Pass Christian, Mississippi, DuConge was the fourth of nine children. His early years were marked by hard work, as he swept floors and cleaned utensils in the barbershop where his father worked. Despite the challenges […]

Patricia Nzolantima, a citizen of the Democratic Republic of the Congo with expertise in Marketing, Brand Strategy, and Entrepreneurship, founded and currently serves as the president of Bizzoly Holdings, a women-owned company and foundation. In this role, she oversees the strategic direction and operations of the company. She was born in Kinshasa, the capital of République Démocratique du Congo (RDC), […]

Daniel T. Brown, the first African American mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee in the city’s 220-year history, was born at home in the Five Points area of Knoxville, Tennessee, on December 25, 1945. Brown’s early education began at Maynard Nursery School in the Mechanicsville section of Knoxville, then Eastport Elementary School. While at Vine Junior High School from 1957 to 1960 […]

M.W. “Teddy” Thornhill Jr., a civil rights activist and first African American mayor of Lynchburg, Virginia, was born Murrell Warren Thornhill, Jr. on March 31, 1921, to Murrell W. Thornhill, Sr. and Alease Gilbert Thornhill. He had a younger brother, Kyle Thornhill, and a sister, Yvonne Roberta Mae Thornhill Ferguson. In 1940, Thornhill graduated from Paul Laurene Dunbar High School […]

Mabel Fairbanks, known as the Grand Dame of African American figure skaters, was born on November 14, 1915, in Jacksonville, Florida. She was the 11th of 14 siblings. Her father was African American, and her mother had a Seminole background as well as English ancestry. When Fairbanks was just eight years old, her mother died, leaving her orphaned. She then […]

In the article below New Jersey historian Dr. Joseph A. LaRosa allows us a glimpse into the rarely discussed last two national conventions of the Niagara Movement that took place in 1909 and 1910, in Sea Isle City, a small oceanside community in Cape May County, near the southern tip of the Jersey shore. Dr. La Rosa describes the important […]