Bessie
Coleman
Born: January 26, 1892 in Atlanta, TX
Died: April 27, 1995 in Jacksonville, FL
Era: Freedom without Equality
Not married
No children
Education: Colored Agriculture,
Normal University
First African
American Pilot
Bessie Coleman
Bessie Coleman was born in Waxahachie, Texas in 1892. She was
one of 13 children. Bessie picked cotton for her owner. Also she ironed,
washed, and dried clothes to make money for her family. She moved to
Chicago to be with her brother when she got older. Bessie eventually
became a manicurist at a salon. When the soldiers came in, Bessie
overheard them talking about French Lady Pilots. They told Bessie that if
she wanted to fly, they had flying schools in France. There were no flying
schools in the United States that allowed colored people to attend.
Bessie then moved to France. She found a flying school and
accomplished her dream. She practiced doing tricks with her plane.
Bessie decided to make amazing air shows. Bessie’s nickname became
‘Brave Bess’. She traveled across the United States and performed.
When Bessie was in Kentucky, she performed her tricks in the
air with William Wills, as an assistant. Bessie and William were going to
flip the plane upside down, but it didn’t end up very well. Bessie fell out
of her plane along with William Wills to the ground and they died. She
was best known for saying, “You can be a somebody, too.” She was the
first African American pilot.
Frederick Douglass
Born: February 1818 in Easton Maryland
Died: February 20, 1895
Era: Slavery and Abolition
Family: Married to Ann Murry, had 2
children
Education: Taught secretly by Mrs. Sophia
WROTE SPEECHES ABOUT ENDING SLAVERY
Frederick Douglass
Fredrick Douglass was born in Easton, Maryland on 1818. He was
born a slave and had to travel to many plantations and one of his owners
Mrs. Sophia Auld was secretly teaching him. Fredrick learned to read and
write he started reading about people who wanted to free African
Americans from slavery and those people inspired him to try to free
African Americans.
When Frederick was 15 he was sent to a plantation in Baltimore and
managed to escape to Pennsylvania disguised as a freed African
American. He then gave speeches about making slavery illegal and he
freed many slaves because of his speeches. But when Fredrick escaped he
was wanted by his master and people tried capturing him but luckily they
never got him.
During the civil war he tried convincing President Lincoln that
African Americans should also get the same pay and supplies as the white
men. He also said that the Civil War should also End slavery for African
Americans.
Wilma Rudolph
Born: June 23, 1940
Died: November 12, 1994
Era: Civil Rights
Family: Was married and had four
children
Education: Went to high school
World’s Fastest Woman
Wilma Rudolph
Wilma Rudolph was born on June 23, 1940. She weighed only four
pounds, had nineteen siblings, a mother who knew home remedies, and
a father who worked two jobs. Most people weren’t lucky enough to
have parents that even had jobs. She lived in Clarksville, Tennessee. At
the age of five, she had scarlet fever and polio, and was told she would
never be able to use her leg again.
But she couldn’t take it; she wanted to be able to walk without a
brace on her leg. Before walking into church one day, she took her brace
off. After that she never wore a brace again, and taught herself how to
walk once more. Wilma started running, and was on the track team at
her high school. At the age of 25 she went to the Olympics in the
November of 1956. She won 3 gold medals at that one Olympics and is
now known as the “World’s Fastest Woman”
After retiring her running career in 1962, she became a teacher, a
track coach, and a TV sports commentator. She also started a company
called Wilma Unlimited; it gave her a chance to travel, lecture, and
support causes she believed in. She founded the nonprofit Wilma
Rudolph foundation. It was to teach young athletes that they can succeed
despite odds against them.
She got married and had four children. She lived a happy life with
her family, until she died from cancer on November 12, 1994.
Benjamin
Banneker
Born: 1731 Baltimore, Maryland
Died: October 25, 1806
Era: slavery and Abolition
Family: Was married and had a child named
Mary
Education: Home schooled by Grandma
Was the first black
astronomer and built the first
working clock.
Benjamin Banneker
Benjamin Banneker showed many people that black people were just as
smart as white people. Ben Banneker was a child and a grandson of
slaves. Ben lived his entire child hood with his Grandmother. Ben was
born in Maryland in1771. Ben had too much work on the farm when he
was a kid his Grandma home schooled him. In his adult life Ben
astonished many people. He built the first working clock; it was the first
time people could tell exact time. Ben lived in the era when there was
slavery and abolition; he was not liked by whites even though he made
the first working clock.
After his magnificent invention he decided to be an astronomer. He
wrote many almanacs but nobody would want to copy them because he
was black. After many years someone finally someone agreed to print his
almanac. Many people thought he was genius after the almanac. He was
the first black astronomer. He died on October 25, 1806. After he got
buried ( Including his clock) his house got burnt down.
Charles Richard Drew
Born: June 3rd, 1904 Washington D.C.
Died: April 1st, 1950
Era: Segregation
Married to Lenore Robins
Had four children
Education: Stevens’s Elementary, Paul
Laurence Dunbar high school, Amherst
College.
African American blood
Physician and blood
researcher.
Charles Richard Drew
Charles Richard Drew was born on June 3rd, 1904 in Washington D.C.
In a town called Foggy Bottom. It was his grandmother’s house. They
were living in the era of segregation where black people didn’t have the
same rights as white people. Charle’s sister, Elsie died of tuberculosis.
Ever since then, even though he was fifteen, Charles dreamed of
becoming a doctor. He went to Stevens Elementary and Paul Laurence for
blacks and graduated from Amherst University. He graduated from McGill
university medicine school in 1933. Charles was a natural athlete, and
was a football player, halfback. He decided to quit and become a blood
doctor and surgeonist. He researched blood plasma and set up blood
banks. He headed to the Red Cross during World War II and saved many
soldiers’ lives. To this day, his research still saves many people’s lives.
Daniel Hale Williams
Born: January 18 1856 in
Hollidaysburg Pennsylvania
Died: 1931 in Idlewild,
Michigan
Family: he is married but had no
children
Education: went to Chicago
Medical School.
First person to successfully
complete open heart surgery
Daniel Hale Williams
Daniel Hale Williams was an African American surgeon and performed he
firs successful open heart surgery.
Daniel Hale Williams was born and grew up in Hollidaysburg PA. He lived
a very happy childhood there. His dad owned a barber shop and Daniel
helped him run it. Things took a turn for the worse when Daniels father
died. His Mom moved to Illinois and he moved to Baltimore to become
an apprentice shoe maker. He hated the shop and decided to move in
with his mother.
When Daniel lived with his mom he met a man named Dr. Henry Palmer.
Daniel was amazed by how many lives Dr. Palmer saved. Daniel decided
that he wanted to be a doctor from there on in his life. He started to
pursue that career by going to Chicago medical school. He was only one
of the nine African Americans accepted into the school.
After Daniel graduated from Chicago medical school he created
providence hospital. He discovered many things at providence hospital.
One thing he discovered at providence hospital is that most patients
don’t die from there injury but die from infection. So at providence his
floors were squeaky clean. At providence there first year results were 122
made it and only 22 didn’t. Daniel was so confident about his hospital he
let people come in and watch him operate.
Daniel from there on moved from hospital to hospital until he died in
1931.
George Washington Carver
Born in Missouri 1864
Died in 1943
Era slavery
No children Wasn’t married
Education
Tuskegee institute
First African American to
Grow stuff out of peanuts
and sweet potatoes
George Washington Carver.
George Washington carver taught at Tuskegee institute in Kansas.
George Washington Carver was an expert at farming. He told the
farmers how to grow things out of peanuts and sweat potatoes.
His child life was easy. Even though he was a slave his owners
treated him as their own son. George studied plants and how to
grow and take care of it.
His first job was to be a teacher at Tuskegee instituted. His
second job was to be a farmer wich he told to farmers how to
grow things out of peanuts and sweet potatoes. George was
motivated by plants. That’s how he became a farmer and scientist
for plants. He was always thinking of ideas for plants. The people
thought that his ideas were great so he even became an inventor.
He died as a scientist when it was 1864.
Granville Woods
Born: April 23, 1856 in Columbus, Ohio
Died: January 30, 1910 because of a stroke
Era: Freedom without Equality
Family: Married to Loretta Woods and Jake
Woods was an only child
Education: Only went to school until he was 10
He helped train travel become
safer for the people on the train
Granville Woods
Granville Woods was born on April 23, 1856 in Columbus, Ohio. He only
went to school until he was 10 years old. Then he went on to work at a
Machine shop. At age 16 he worked on the Iron Mountain Railroad, and at
age 24 he opened his own Machine shop.
The era he lived in was Freedom without Equality. The biggest decision
he had to make for his job was turning down a job offer by Thomas
Edison because he wanted to work on his own. He was important because
he helped train travel become safer for the conductor and the people riding
the train.
The invention let train crews find out if there were trains in front or behind
them. They could also use the system to find trains in the area. He
invented the “Third Rail” which lets a train use more electricity. In 1902
he improved train brakes. One of his more famous inventions was called
the Incubator which let you heat 50,000 chicken eggs at once. Granville
Woods died January 30, 1910 because of a stroke.
Harriet Tubman
Born: early 1820’s
Died: 1913
Era: slavery and abolition
Family: married to John Tubman
Education: no education
Helped slaves escape from
slavery.
Harriet Tubman
No one knows when Harriet was actually born. People say it might be
in the 1820s. Harriet lived in a log cabin. When Harriet was six, she was
brought to a family and she was a slave for that family. Harriet hated
being a slave. Whenever she did something bad she got whipped. One
time got hit in the head with a metal weight and almost died.
When Harriet got older she escaped from slavery by running away in
the woods. Then Harriet saw her sisters getting sold to be slaves.
Harriet then helped them escape slavery. She was part of the
Underground Railroad. It was just called a railroad. There were not
trains but she helped strangers escape from slavery.
Harriet worked for the North. During the civil war Harriet worked as a
cook, nurse, spy and a scout for the North. Then Harriet got married to
John Tubman. A few years later she died. She was remembered by
helping slaves escape to freedom.
Ida Wells-Barnett
Born: July 16th, 1862
Died: March 25th, 1931
Era: Freedom without Equality
Family: Married to Ferdinand L.
Barnett and had 4 children
Education: Rusk Collage and Fisk
University
Helped stop
violence between
African Americans
and whites
Ida Wells-Barnett
Ida Wells Barnett was born into a family or slaves, though they were
freed a few years after she was born. When Ida was 16 her parents and
baby brother died of yellow fever. After her parents and brother died, the
neighbors took in Ida’s siblings. She moved to Tennessee and became a
teacher. She took the train to the school. On the train, the conductor told
her to move from her seat and Ida bit him. She sued the railroad
company and won, but then the railroad company took her to court and
this time they said yes it is fair that she should have moved. Since she
talked out about her opinions she got fired. She then decided that she
was going to fight for African American rights.
Ida started a newspaper called Memphis Free Speech. She wrote
about the unfair laws given to African Americans. It was years until the
African Americans really started to help fight. Whites disagreed and
burned her office down, but thankfully, she got out of the office in time.
Despite all of Ida’s hard work Congress never passed anti-lynching
legislation. Still, she made a larger black women's movement possible.
Jan Matzeliger
Born: Dutch Guiana (Suriname) on
September, 15, 1852
Died: August, 24, 1889 at an age of 37
Era: of Freedom without equality
African American shoemaker
that made shoe making so
much easier.
Jan Matzeliger
Jan Matzeliger pronounced Yon Matzeliger was a black
shoemaker from Dutch Guiana now called Suriname he was born on
September, 15, 1852. Not much is known about Jan’s childhood, until he
was 19 and he got on a boat and sailed for two years before he ended up
in a town called Lynn, Massachusetts. And it just ended up that that town
is known for shoemaking.
He had a hard time finding work in Lynn because he was black but
eventually found work where he had to make 50 pairs of shoes in ten
hours each day. Then after a while he thought about how shoe were
made, and he wanted to make it easier.
At age 30 (1833) Jan invented a machine called the shoe lasting machine
that connects the upper part of the shoe to the rest of it. That is why Jan
became famous. He made shoe making 1,000 times easier. Jan Died at an
age of 37 (August, 24, 1889) in peace. Now we just put on are shoes
rarely thinking about who made the machine that makes them be made
so easily.
Langston
Hughes
Born: 1902, Joplin Missouri
Died: 1962
Family: no Children, No Wife
Era: Freedom without Equality
Education: Brooklyn High School
Great African American Poet
Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes was an African American poet born in the 1902 in Joplin Missouri. 2 years
after he was born, his father decided to move the family to Mexico City, because they would
have a better life there. After a while Langston and his mother departed from Mexico, leaving
his selfish father there by himself. By the time Langston was 6 years old, his mother sent him
to live with his grandma, in Brooklyn, because she could not afford to support both of them in
the same time. Langston was having a good life there in Brooklyn, where many of his race was
living it was the only place where he felt he belonged. Langston’s father then mailed Langston
and told him to come and visit him there in Mexico, where he was very successful and didn’t
give a single dollar to Langston or his mom. When Langston got to Mexico and his father
showed all the things he succeeded in. Langston saw how selfish and ignorant his father was,
Langston’s father treated his workers like dirt and for all the work the workers did Langston’s
father didn’t give them any money. When Langston got back to Brooklyn he decided that he
wanted to go to college, but the only problem was that he didn’t have any money, so Langston
got a job, at first Langston thought he could pay it off, but when he saw he couldn’t afford it,
he called his dad for money. He asked his father for the money, his father then said to him to
come to Mexico and then he would give him the money. On his way over there on the train he
made the poem “The Negro Speaks of rivers” then sent it to publishers who then approved it.
When he got to Mexico his father gave him the money and asked him to stay there with him to
live in Mexico, Langston refused. He started writing many poems about his life and race, and
then everybody knew who Langston Hughes was, the great African American poet.
Mae C. Jemison
Born: October 17th, 1956
Decataur, Alabama
Died: Not Dead
Era: Modern day/civil rights
Family: Currently not married with no
children
Education: National Achievement
scholarship, Stanford University Medical
Degree, Cornell University
First African American women to
be sent into Space
Mae C. Jemison
Mae Carol Jemison had a great career and childhood filled with great
experiences even though she was an African American and a women. She
always wanted to be a scientist from when she was a little girl all though
school years but at the time there weren’t many opportunities for a black
woman to be a scientist. But little Mae never forgot her dream.
Mae’s life depended a lot on her education because her parents always
told her that school was very important and she was very smart. She was
smart enough to skip seventh grade and entered high school when she
was only twelve years old. Four years later she started to attend Stanford
University when she was merely sixteen. In class she experienced racism
from teachers and fellow students. After college she attended Cornell
Medical school where she got her medical degree. She worked in the
Hematology lab at the National Institute of health after school and later
became a doctor.
When Mae stopped work as a doctor she developed an interest for space.
Mae got a job at NASA and started to train to be an astronaut. Then in
September 1992 Mae and her crew flew into space on the Endevour. In
space she had great experiences that some people cannot say they had.
She also did experiments to test how gravity affected the development of
complex organisms. Mae experienced her biggest goal too. She became
the first African American to go into space.
Happily Mae C. Jemison is still alive and is currently teaching at
Dartmouth College.
Marian Anderson
Born: 1897
Died: 1993
Era: Civil Rights
Married to Orpheus Fisher
No children
Education: Went to high school
Was a very talented singer
Marian Anderson
Marian Anderson was born at 1897. Marian Anderson loved to sing
as a little girl. When she was 6, she sang at the junior choir. At age
13, she sang at the senior choir. At age 17, she enrolled for singing
lessons. Marian Anderson was a very talented singer. She gave
concerts at churches and halls. This is how she became famous. She
participated in a singing concert and won. The prize was to sing in a
concert. She was an excellent singer. She wanted to sing in a
‘Europeans only’ hall. The owner of the hall didn’t allow her to sing.
Marian Anderson didn’t get angry. Instead, she went to the Lincoln
Memorial. She got lots of applause. In 1965, she gave out her final
concert. After that, she didn’t give out anymore concerts. Instead,
she helped the poor. She died at age 96.
Martin Luther king Jr
Born: January 15th 1929, Atlanta, Georgia
Died: April 4th, 1968Memphis, Tennessee
Era: civil rights
Jobs: pastor, doctor, teacher, civil rights leader
Known for: leading the bus boycott
Family: married with 1 daughter
School: Morehouse College, Atlanta Georgia
Ended segregation
using peaceful ways
Martin Luther King Jr
Martin Luther king lead a little bit of a disappointing childhood, for starters, he liked playing with his friends a
LOT. But few days later, his friends’ mom said: “GET AWAY FROM US! WE’RE WHITE & YOU’RE BLACK!!!!!” it
made him sad. His mom told him black people were brought in chains & sold as slaves. Even though slavery
was outlawed in 1863 blacks didn’t have the same rights as whites.
About his education, martin started college at age 15 because he skipped several grades, he graduated at
Morehouse college, there; he decided to become a minister. After martin graduated from Morehouse, he
studied for a doctorate at Boston University.
Martin started his first job as a pastor in Montgomery, Alabama. Later that year Rosa parks was arrested for
sitting in the “white only” section of a bus. Martin led many marches for freedom, one night somebody threw
a bomb in his house martin wasn’t hurt, but his wife and child barely escaped. Martins followers where angry
& they wanted to fight, martin told them no, “we must meet love with hate.” Martin told them.
One of martin’s fights resulted in martin getting sent to jail. That was the time that he wrote: “a letter from
Birmingham jail” after he was sent out fewer years later, he gave his famous “I have a dream” speech in
Washington D.C. more than 250,000 people gathered there in 1963. The next year he received the Nobel
peace. In 1968 while martin was in a hotel in Florida, A man named James earl ray was hiding there and he
shot martin. He was taken to jail for the rest of his life. Meanwhile, an hour later, dr. king was dead. To this
day a memorial is placed in Washington; the martin Luther king Jr memorial, it is based in Washington D.C.
Mary McLeod Bethune
Born: July 10 1875 in Mayesville South Carolina
Died: 1955 Mary died of a heart attack
Era: Freedom without equality
Family: Married to Albertus Bethune in 1898 in
1899 she had a child named Albert
Education: She went to Trinity Presbyterian
school and Scotia Seminary school
She opened a
coeducational college for
African Americans
Mary Mcleod Bethune
Mary Mcleod Bethune opened a school for African American girls in
Daytona Beach Florida around 1904. She believed that all children should
go to school no matter what color skin they had. When she was a child
she was the only one in her family who went to school. She cared so
much about school. In 1923 Mary’s school became a coeducational
college.
She also was the first black woman to head a federal agency. Presidents
Calvin Coolidge , Herbert Hoover , Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman
appointed her many government posts and she became the special
advisor of Minatory affects .
She died of a heart attack in 1955 but the things she did will be
remembered because she is also the first African American to have a
national monument. Also after her death her death in 2007 her school
became a university.
Maya Angelou
Born: April 4, 1928
Era: Civil Rights
Family: Married twice, one
child
Education: got high school
diploma
African American writer
and poet.
Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou is an African American writer and poet. She grew up in
Stamps, Arkansas with her brother and grandmother. She went to
elementary school and also graduated high school. But, she did not go to
college. Maya had to get a job to help her child so she decided to live her
dream. She went into show business.
It was the time on Civil Rights. It meant that African Americans were
discriminated and were treated badly. With the problems in America,
poor pay, and supporting her child Maya decided to put her thoughts on
paper.
So, she became a writer. She wrote I Know Why a Caged Bird Sings which
was a popular book at that time. She wrote books about black pride. That
gave hope to African Americans everywhere. As a Civil Rights activist she
got many awards from special people. In 1993, Maya was chosen to write
and recite a poem for President Clinton’s inauguration. That was a great
honor for her. Also, she was given the Medal of Freedom by President
Obama.
MATTHEW HENSON
Born: August 8th, 1866 Charles
County, MD
Died: March 9th, 1955
Era: Freed Without Equality
Family: Married, had no kids
Education: At 13, stopped going to
school to wash dishes at local store
because his family needed money.
No college degree.
First African American to go to the
North Pole
MATTHEW HENSON
Born August 8th, 1866 in Charles County, MD, Matthew Henson would
soon become one of the first African American explorers. While he was
still young, both of his parents died. At the age of 11, Henson stopped
going to school to work at the local restaurant, washing dishes in the
back because his family needed more money. When he was 13, he met
Captain Childs. Childs saw Henson’s skill with his hands and made him his
captain’s boy on his ship.
Matthew served on Child’s ship for four years (he was 17), Captain Childs
died. Henson moved in with his sister in D.C. There he worked at his
sister’s clothing store. A couple years later, Matthew met Robert Peary.
Peary was looking for someone to go with him to map a place in northern
Canada.
Peary saw how he could do many things many others couldn’t do. Peary
asked Henson to come with him as his valet. Henson accepted. Soon after
that, Peary asked him to go to the North Pole with him. In 2 months,
Henson and a couple of Inuit were the only ones who actually got to the
Pole. When they got back, Peary was the one that got credit. Henson was
finally known after he died.
Nat Turner
Born: October 2, 1800 in
Southampton, VA
Died: Friday November, 11
1831
Era: Slavery & Abolition
Family: Married Cherry, no
children
Education: No formal type of
education
He led the most famous and
effective slave revolt in U.S.
history
Nat Turner
On October 2, 1800 Nat Turner was born in Southampton, VA. He
grew up a slave and was taught to read at age five. He was probably
taught how to read by a member of the Turner family. When Nat was a
baby his mom tried to kill him but ended up saving him. He was also very
young when his father ran away from the Turners. Nat never saw him
again. He told kids story’s that he overheard men and women talking
about. When he was a kid everyone said he was the chosen one and very
blessed by god.
Nat Turner was put to work in the fields at age twelve. As he grew
up he started working an preaching at an all-black Methodist church. He
had many visions at different times and shared all of them in his
preaches. He was a big believer in God and read the bible many times.
People loved his preaches and thought he was the most blessed by God
in many different ways.
Nat’s role model was God. Nat started the revolt because god told
him too. During his slave revolt Nat and his men killed over sixty white
men, women, and kids. And over seventy people in all. It was the most
effective slave revolt in U.S. history. He hoped to lead black people out of
slavery. Nat was captured and hung along with other men on Friday
November, 11 1831. He was thirty years old.
Phillis Wheatley
Born: 1753 in Africa
Died: 1784 at age 31
Era: Slavery and Abolition
Family: Married to John Peters
and had 3 kids
Education: Taught by Susannah
Wheatley
African American
Female Poet
Phillis Wheatley
Phillis Wheatley was a slave and poet. When she was 8, she was put
on a slave boat to Boston. On the boat, she got very sick, but once she
was in Boston, her health got better again. John Wheatley bought Phillis
for a few dollars because she looked weak. Susannah Wheatley, John’s
wife, quickly realized that Phillis was very smart and decided to teach her
how to read and write. Out of everything Susannah taught her, Phillis
liked writing poems the best.
One of her poems, an elegy for George Whitefield, was published all
over the colonies and even in England. After that, Susannah tried to get a
whole book of Phillis’s poems published but many people didn’t believe
that a slave girl could really write poetry that well. Susannah eventually
got a book of Phillis’s poems published in England.
When Phillis was 14, she went to England to share the book of
poems she had written, was freed as a slave, and got her first poem
published in a newspaper. Her poems were about her religion, the war,
and slavery. She lived her life in poverty and died penniless, before she
was able to secure a publisher.
Ralph Bunche
Born: August 7, 1904 in Detroit, MI
Died: December 9 1971
Era: Freedom without equality
Married to Ruth Harris
No children
Education: U.C.L.A, and Harvard
First African American to win
Nobel Peace Prize
Ralph Bunche
Ralph Bunche helped make peace around the world. He helped start the
United Nations. With the U.N. he tried to make peace in the Arab-Israeli
war in 1948. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950 because of it. His first
job was teaching political science at Howard University. There he met
Ruth Harris who was also a teacher. He worked in the state department
during World War 2. He was involved in the Civil Rights Movement.
Ralph Bunche was born August 7 1904 in Detroit, Michigan. When he was
11 years old his parents died so he moved to Los Angeles to live with his
grandmother. There he got the highest grades in his high school but he
wasn’t asked to go to an honors class because he was black.
Ralph Bunche went to two colleges. First he went to U.C.L.A. for a year
before going to Harvard to study in political science. Then he went to
Africa to continue studying and in 1934 he got an advanced degree.
Bunche died on December 9 1971. He was sixty seven. Ralph Bunche was
an amazing man.
Rosa Parks
Born: February 4th
1913 Alabama
Era: freedom
without equality
Family: married
Raymond Parks
Education: from 1st
to 6th grade, in an old
school room. Rosa
continued school in
Alabama high school.
Died: October 24th
2005 Michigan
Mother of civil rights movement
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks was born on February 4th 1913. She and her parents lived
with her grandparents in their house. When she was old enough she
worked on her grandparent’s farm. At the time a group called the KKK
(Klue Klux Klan) hated African Americans and did terrible things to them.
When Rosa was little her mother taught her how to read. Then at
age six she started 1st grade in an old school room until 6th grade. She
continued school at Alabama high school.
A couple years later she met Raymond Parks, who was in the NAACP
(National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). After
meeting Raymond she joined the NAACP too. She was elected secretary
of the NAACP. During that time she was also a seamstress.
One day she got on a bus and sat in the front seat. As the bus
started to fill up there was no more room in the front. A white person
asked her to move but she didn’t. African American people got beat or
even killed for doing this, luckily she just got fined.
People of the NAACP got mad about Rosa getting arrested and
started to boycott busses. The busses were losing money because of this
so they changed the law and let African Americans sit in the front.
Ruby Bridges
Born: Sept. 8 1954 Tylertown,
Mississippi
Died: Not dead yet
Era: Freedom without equality
Family: Married to Malcom hall has 4
sons
Education: William Frantz Elementary
School
The first African American to go
to a white school
Ruby Bridges
6 year old Ruby Bridges is the first African American to go to a white
school. Her family was very poor and her dad lost his job so she and her
family had to move to New Orleans. Every day Ruby went to church. In
September 1960 a judge selected Ruby to go to a white school. Ruby
went every day and she became a very smart girl.
Every day there were angry mobs at the school telling Ruby to leave.
Ruby had to have body guards. Ruby Bridges was the only kid at the
school because the white parents took their kids out of school. Every day
before school Ruby would pray to god telling him to forgive the angry
mobs.
By the time Ruby was in second grade the white parents put their kids
back in school and more black kids joined the school. The angry mobs
gave up protesting. Ruby Bridges ended up graduating high school. She
worked as a travel agent for a few years and then became a business
woman. She also made the Ruby Bridges foundation. Ruby married a
building contractor and had four sons. Ruby Bridges is still alive.
Sarah Breedlove Walker
Born: December 23, 1867 in Delta, Louisiana
Died: May 25, 1919 in Irvington-on-Hudson, New
York
Era: Freedom without Equality
Married to Moses McWilliams (1883-1885) then
married, then separated after two years, then
married again to Charles Joseph Walker
Had a daughter named Leila
Never went to school
First African American
Millionaire
Sarah Breedlove Walker
Born two days before Christmas the year her family was freed from
slavery, her family had high hopes for Sarah’s future. But when Sarah was
six, all of her family and relatives except her older sister were killed by
Yellow Fever. She was left with no land, no money, only an older sister
who could care less about her. She lived with her sister until she married
Moses McWilliams at age 16, but Moses died two years later.
She found she hated her hair because it was too thin and dry. She
started experimenting with chemicals and came up with a product that
made her hair grow thicker and softer. Sarah made more products and
made a salon that black and whites alike came to. She married again to a
man whose name no one knows and soon divorced. She called her
business Madam C. J. Walker.
She earned thousands of dollars a month. Sarah moved to St.
Louis, Missouri to set up another salon. She married happily to Charles
Joseph Walker and set up more salons, selling her products all over
America. Sarah gave speeches all over America, so she will always be
remembered how, as she always said, “I got myself a start by giving
myself a start”.
Thurgood Marshall
Born: July 2nd 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland
Died: January 24th 1993 in Bethesda, Maryland
Era: Civil Rights
Married: Vivian Burey and then Cecilia Suyat
Children: Thurgood Jr. and John
Education: Lincoln University
First African American justice on
the Supreme Court
Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1908. He often got
into trouble at school and was sent to the basement to read the Constitution
and often saw court cases in his youth. He went to Lincoln University which
was an all-black school. During those years he met his wife Vivian Burey. He
then went to law school at another all- black college after being refused from
The University of Maryland.
Then Thurgood became a lawyer for the NAACP. One of his first cases was to
represent a student who was trying to gain admission to The University of
Maryland the same school Thurgood had been refused from. He won and the
student became the first African American admitted to The University of
Maryland. After becoming the chief lawyer of the NAACP he argued his first
case before the Supreme Court. He Represented 3 African Americans who
had been accused of murder. He argued they had been forced to confess and
he won his first of 29 cases wins out of 32 tries before the Supreme Court.
In 1954 he argued his most famous case before the Supreme Court. You’ve
probably heard of it. It was Brown VS. Board of Education and he won this
case and ended school segregation. In 1967 Lyndon Baines Johnson appointed
him to the United States Supreme Court the first African American ever to be
appointed. His wife Vivian Burey died and then he remarried to Cecilia Suyat.
They had two kids who were named Thurgood Junior, and John. He retired
from the court in 1991and died in 1993. Thurgood Marshall lived a long, full
life.
Booker T. Washington
Born: Spring 1856
Died: 1915
Married: Did not marry
Education: Hampton University
Era: Freedom without Equality
He taught in a school
that only had two
buildings but he built it
into a great institute.
Booker T. Washington
In 1856, Booker T. Washington was born a small log cabin in Virginia
and lived there until slaves were freed in 1865. He then moved to West
Virginia and his step-father made him and his brother work in a salt mine.
He didn’t like it because he wanted to go to school but no one in his
family had ever gone to school. He taught himself to read and write but
his step-father still wouldn’t let him go to school.
Booker quit the salt mines and found a job working for the salt mine
owner’s wife. He heard from another employee about Hampton
Institute. Hampton Institute was an all black college in Virginia. He
walked from West Virginia to Virginia. The Head of the College made him
clean a classroom three times and then admitted him to Hampton. He
graduated and became a teacher.
Booker taught at an old rundown school in Tuskegee, Alabama. He
believed that blacks could prove themselves equal to whites if they had
similar educational opportunities. W.E.B. DuBois believed that blacks
could achieve this just by protesting. Booker found money to renovate
the old rundown school that he taught in. He made many speeches about
giving equality to blacks. Booker used all the money that he made to
create the Tuskegee Institute. It was one of the only all-black Institutes at
the time. He believed that his institute would help blacks achieve
equality.
W.E.B. Du Bois
Born: February 23, 1868 in Great
Barrington, Massachusetts
Died: August 27, 1963 in Ghana
Era: Freedom without Equality
Married to Nina Gomer and then to
Shirley Graham
Had 1 boy, Burghardt who died at a
young age, and also had 1 girl,
Yolande
Education: Fisk collage in Nashville,
Tennessee and got a scholarship for
Harvard, got scholarship to study at
University of Berlin, Germany
African American Leader
W.E.B. Du Bois
Du Bois was born February 23, 1868 in GREAT
Barrington, Massachusetts and he died August 27, 1963 in Ghana. When
Du Bois was young his dad left him and his mom and had a great
education starting by getting to collage when hardly any blacks got to
high school.
During summer at his first collage in Tennessee he would teach
slaves and after seeing what they did to the blacks in the south he
decided to write books on how blacks don’t have the same equality as
whites.
Some of his books that he wrote were The Philadelphia Negro, also
The Souls of Black People. Du Bois started some movements like the
Niagara Movement witch promised not to use violence to bring about
change. Another movement that he was in was the Pan –African
Movement that he helped while helping France.