December 17, 1972 Cora Mae Brown, the first African American woman elected to the Michigan State Senate, died. Brown was born April 16, 1914 in Bessemer, Alabama, but raised in Detroit, Michigan. She graduated from Cass Technical High School in 1931 and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from Fisk University in 1935. […]
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July 26th in African American History – Spottswood William Robinson III
July 26, 1916 Spottswood William Robinson III, educator, civil rights attorney, and judge, was born in Richmond, Virginia. Robinson earned his undergraduate degree from Virginia Union University in 1936 and in 1939 he received his law degree from Howard University, graduating first in his class and achieving the highest scholastic average in the history of […]
July 24th in African American History – Mary Church Terrell
July 24, 1954 Mary Church Terrell, civil and suffrage rights activist, died. Terrell was born September 23, 1863 in Memphis, Tennessee. Terrell earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1884 and her Master of Arts degree in 1888 from Oberlin College, making her one of the first African American women to earn a college degree. […]
April 1st in African American History – William Manning Marable
April 1, 2011 William Manning Marable, educator, author, and activist, died. Marable was born May 13, 1950 in Dayton, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Earlham College in 1971, his Master of Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1972, and his Ph. D. from the University of Maryland in 1976. […]
March 28th in African American History – Ed Wilson
March 28, 1925 Ed Wilson, sculptor, was born in Baltimore, Maryland. After serving in the United States Army from 1943 to 1946, Wilson earned his Master of Arts degree from the University of Iowa in 1953. Wilson’s involvement in the Civil Rights Movement is apparent in such works as “Minority Man” (1957). In 1964, Wilson […]
March 24th in African American History – Dorothy Irene Height
March 24, 1912 Dorothy Irene Height, educator and social activist, was born in Richmond, Virginia. While in high school, Height was awarded a scholarship to Barnard College, but when she enrolled she was denied admittance because at that time Barnard only admitted two African Americans per academic year and they had already admitted two. Height […]
March 19th in African American History – Lloyd Lionel Gaines
March 19, 1939 Lloyd Lionel Gaines, the central figure in the 1938 Supreme Court case Gaines v. Canada, disappeared. Gaines was born in 1911 in Oxford, Mississippi and at the age of 15 moved with his family to St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated with honors from Lincoln University in 1935 with a bachelor’s degree in […]