Lewis A. Jackson was a Black aviator, Tuskegee Airman Instructor, and later an HCBU president. Jackson was born on December 29, 1912, to unnamed parents in Angola, Indiana. At eight, Jackson started working to contribute to his family’s income. He also constructed model airplanes and … Read MoreLewis A. Jackson (1912-1994)
Orchestral pianist, violinist, conductor, composer, and arranger of the Swing to Bebop eras, Teddy Wilson was born Theodore Shaw Wilson on November 24, 1912, in Austin, Texas. He and his brother Gus Wilson, however, were reared on the campus of Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), … Read MoreTeddy Wilson (1912-1986)
Frank S. Greene, Jr. is an inventor, scientist, venture capitalist investor, educator, and the first African American to graduate from the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps. He is also responsible for developing the world’s fastest microchip in the 1960s. Greene was born on October … Read MoreFrank S. Greene, Jr. (1938-2009)
Dennis W. Weatherby was an administrator and scientist, responsible for leading the team that developed the chemical formula for what is now known as Cascade Dishwashing Detergent. Weatherby was born in Brighton, Alabama on December 4, 1959, to Willie and Flossie Mae Weatherby. He became … Read MoreDennis Weatherby (1959-2007)
Sharlene D. Newman is an American cognitive neuroscientist, executive director of the Alabama Life Research Institute at the University of Alabama (UA), professor in the Department of Psychology at UA, and associate professor in the Department of Psychology and Brain Sciences at Indiana University. Her … Read MoreSharlene Newman
Sheila Guyse was an actress, and singer during the 1940s and 1950s. She was born Etta Drucille Guyse, on July 14, 1925, in Forest, Mississippi. Her parents, Wilbert Vincent Guyse and Ethel Williams, separated and divorced shortly after she was born. Guyse was raised by … Read MoreSheila Guyse (1925-2013)
Kristen Nicole Hayden is the first African American woman to win a national diving championship. Born March 2, 1998 in Hillsborough, New Jersey, she is the second child of Kay and Glen Hayden. She trained in gymnastics and swimming until age ten, when she took … Read MoreKristen Nicole Hayden (1998- )
Dr. Dolores Irene Silas was a person of many Tacoma, Washington “firsts”–the first woman of color to become a school principal at DeLong Elementary School (1970), the first to become a member of the City Council (1991), the first to be Deputy Mayor (1995) and … Read MoreDolores Irene Silas (1926-2021)
Media critic Eric Deggans was born on November 6, 1965, in Washington, D.C. to Chuck Deggans and Carolyn Jean McClellan Deggans Williams, a life member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. Deggans was reared, however, in Gary, Indiana, and graduated from Andrean High School, a … Read MoreEric Deggans (1965- )
R&B bass guitarist and 6’ 9” professional basketball player Wayman Lawrence Tisdale was born on June 9, 1964, in Fort Worth, Texas, the youngest of six children of Louis Tisdale, a minister, and Deborah “Momma Tiz” Mathias Tisdale. He was reared, however, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, … Read MoreWayman Lawrence Tisdale (1964-2009)
