Leonard Roy Harmon: The first Black man to have a warship named after him
Leonard Roy Harmon was an African American sailor who died in action during World War II and was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his...
Tag : History Maker
George McJunkin: The African American cowboy who discovered the Folsom Site in 1908
George McJunkin was an African American cowboy in New Mexico, who discovered the Folsom Site in 1908. McJunkin’s discovery of the Folsom Site changed New...
Edward Garrison Walker: The son of David Walker
Edward Garrison Walker, the son of David Walker, came to prominence in his own right as an attorney in 1861; he was one of the...
John Lee Love: Inventor of the portable pencil sharpener
John Lee Love was an African American inventor best known for patenting a portable pencil sharpener, widely known as the “Love Sharpener.” Very little is...
Carter G. Woodson: The Father of Black History
Carter G. Woodson, known as The Father of Black History, was the African American historian who first opened the long-neglected field of Black studies to...
Benjamin O. Davis, Jr: The First African American General in the U.S. Air Force
Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., born December 18, 1912 in Washington, D.C., was a pilot, officer, and administrator who became the first African American general in...
Maria W. Stewart: Powerful Public Orator for Black Women’s Rights
Maria W. Stewart, essayist, teacher, and political activist, is thought to be the first woman in America and the first African-American woman to make public...
Juan Martin de Porres: The First Black Saint of the Americas
“Compassion, my dear Brothers, is preferable to cleanliness. Reflect that with a little soap I can easily clean my bed covers, but even with a...
Lewis Hayden: Heroic Abolitionist
Lewis Hayden was an African-American leader who escaped with his family from the Maafa (slavery) in Kentucky to Boston, where he became an abolitionist and...
Gordon Parks: Renaissance Man
He was born stillborn — no heartbeat, declared dead by the family doctor, and put aside for later burial. Another doctor in the delivery room...