historian, educatorBorn: 1875Birthplace: New Canton, Virginia
Taught to read by family members, Woodson worked as a coal miner in West Virginia and put himself through high school. He…
judge, historianBorn: 2/25/1928Birthplace: Trenton, New Jersey Higginbotham graduated from Antioch College in 1949 and Yale Law School in 1952. After working as an assistant district attorney in…
lawyer, civil rights leaderBorn: 3/9/1922Birthplace: Asheville, North Carolina Upon graduating from Morehouse College, McKissick became the first Black person to study at North Carolina Law School.…
generalBorn: 2/11/1920Birthplace: Pensacola, Florida James joined the segregated United States Army Air Corp while attending Tuskegee Institute. He was made a second lieutenant during World War II…
business leaderBorn: 12/7/1942Birthplace: Baltimore, Maryland Growing up in a middle class Baltimore neighborhood, Lewis won a football scholarship to Virginia State College (now Virginia State…
slave revolt leaderBorn: c. 1775Birthplace: Henrico County, Virginia An educated slave, Prosser worked as a blacksmith. Inspired by the successful Haitian slave revolt, Prosser planned an…
People
Robert Smalls
Civil War hero, politicianBorn: 1839Birthplace: Beaufort, South Carolina
Smalls was a slave and a pilot of the steamboat Planter, a 300-ton armed vessel. In 1862, while…
Gustavus Vassaabolitionist, writerBorn: c. 1745Birthplace: present day Nigeria An Igbo, Equiano was captured and sold into slavery as a child. He was taken to the West Indies where his slave name…
religious leader, historianBorn: 1849Birthplace: Bedford Springs, Pennsylvania Enlisting at 14, Williams fought for the North in the Civil War. In 1874, he became the first Black person to graduate…
religious leaderBorn: 1780Birthplace: New Brunswick, New Jersey Williams grew up to become active in the Methodist Church. In 1818, with the blessings of prominent white Methodist minister Thomas…
