Lincoln I. Mulkey and Dorothy J. Mulkey were the challengers in a major lawsuit, Reitman v. Mulkey, that reestablished housing discrimination laws in the state of California. Lincoln I. Mulkey was born in Guadalupe County, Texas, to Wardie Daniel Mulkey and Edna Mae Randolph. He joined the US Navy and was honorably discharged in 1962. Dorothy J. Mulkey was born […]

The first African American major of Atlantic City, James Leroy Usry, was born February 2, 1922, in Athens, Georgia. Shortly after his birth, the family moved to Atlantic City, New Jersey where Usry attended local schools. In 1939 he graduated from Atlantic City High School. After high school Usry joined the U.S. Army and served in the segregated 92nd Infantry […]

The Berkley Square Housing Project, opened in 1953 in Las Vegas, Nevada, was a historically significant project for African Americans because of its unique design and financing. Berkley Square is named after its primary financier, Thomas Lucius Berkley, of Oakland, California, a prominent civil rights advocate. Berkley was born on August 9, 1915, in DuQuoin, Illinois, and reared in the […]

William A. Johnson Jr., the first African American mayor of Rochester, New York, was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, on August 22, 1942. He attended Howard University from 1961 to 1967, completing Bachelors and Master’s degrees in Political Science and Government in 1967. This education laid a strong foundation for his future, allowing him to explore policy, social justice, and governance […]

Alvin A. Brown, the first African American mayor of Jacksonville, Florida was born on December 15, 1961, in Beaufort, South Carolina and was reared with his four siblings by his mother and grandmother. His formative years were spent at St. Helena Junior High School, and he later graduated from Beaufort High School, where he actively participated in basketball. Brown moved […]

A retired former featherweight world champion with two world title wins, Legrá, known for his speed and agility in the ring, José Legrá, a 5-foot, 6-inch boxer and resident of Spain, was born José Adolfo Legrá Utría in Baracoa, Provincia de Guantánamo, Cuba, on April 19, 1943, to Adolfo Legrá and Soledad Utría Soa. José was the second of eight […]

Alvin Austin Attles Jr. was a basketball player for the National Basketball Association (NBA) who played his entire career with the Golden State (California) Warriors and later became one of the first African American coaches in the NBA, where he coached the Warriors to their first NBA championship in 1975. Attles was born on November 7, 1936, to Alvin Attles […]

The Harlem Renaissance in New York City attracted African Americans from every part of the United States, the West Indies, and the African continent to participate in its massive production of art and literature. The Renaissance was Pan-African in scope, showcasing the scholarship of bibliophile Arthur Alfonso Schomburg from Puerto Rico, the literature of the Jamaican Claude McKay, and the […]

Linda Martell, the first black female solo country artist to play the Grand Ole Opry, was born during the Jim Crow era on June 4, 1941, in segregated Leesville, South Carolina. She was born as Thelma Bynem to Clarence Leon Bynem, Sr., a Baptist minister, and Willie Mae Caldwell Bynem.  Linda’s siblings were Clarence, Jr., Leonard, Elzie Lee, and Evelyn. […]

Mount Nebo Missionary Baptist Church, located at 257 Carver Avenue in Philadelphia, Neshoba County, Mississippi, was a unique institution that not only served the needs of its parishioners but was also the headquarters for civil rights activity in that region of Mississippi in the 1960s. Founded in 1947 by the Reverend A.D. Adkins, it would eventually serve as a cornerstone […]