Johnie Driver is one of the few non-violent civil rights activists to emerge in Utah in the 1960s. Yet, even to this day, very little is known about him beyond the fact that he was President of the Salt Lake Branch of the National Association … Read MoreJohnie Driver (?-?)
The New Year’s Day March, the first major civil rights demonstration in South Carolina, was a 1,000-person march that protested segregated facilities at the Greenville, South Carolina Municipal Airport (Now Greenville Downtown Airport) on January 1, 1960. The march was prompted by Jackie Robinson and … Read MoreNew Year’s Day March, Greenville, South Carolina (1960)
The case of the Jena Six exposed racial injustice and inequality following an incident involving six male African American teenagers. The arrest of the students, all enrolled at Jena High School in Jena, Louisiana, ignited a national movement to address longstanding injustices in what has … Read MoreJena Six (2006)
George Metcalfe was a civil rights leader in Natchez, Mississippi, who led one of the most successful yet little-known movements in the Deep South. Metcalfe was born on September 20, 1911, in Franklin, Louisiana, to parents Ernest Metcalfe and Alberta Simon Metcalfe. He was a … Read MoreGeorge Metcalfe (1911-1989)
Eugene T. Hinson was one of six founders of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, the oldest African American Greek Letter Fraternity in the United States. The others were Henry Minton, Algernon Jackson, Edwin Howard, Richard Warrick, and Robert Jones Abele. Eugene T. Hinson was born in … Read MoreEugene T. Hinson (1873-1960)
Dr. John Bowman (“J.B.”) Banks was the first Black physician to practice medicine in Natchez, Mississippi. He recruited Dr. Albert Woods Dumas, the second Black physician to practice in the city. Together with four other businessmen, they founded an African American bank in Natchez called … Read MoreJohn Bowman Banks (1862-1911)
Belford Vance Lawson Jr. was the first African American attorney to win a Supreme Court case. He was born on July 9, 1901, in Roanoke, Virginia. Lawson attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He played for the university football team and was … Read MoreBelford Vance Lawson Jr. (1901-1985)
Addie Fletcher Booth was an educator, civil rights activist, and labor organizer. She was born Addie De Vault on October 29, 1902 in Independence, Texas to Reuben and Anis Gee De Vault. Although very little is known of her early life, she enrolled in Prairie … Read MoreAddie Fletcher Booth (1902-1996)
Charles Howard Wright was a Detroit physician and founder of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. He was born on September 18, 1918, in Dothan, Alabama and attended the State Teachers College (later known as Alabama State College, and now Alabama State … Read MoreCharles H. Wright (1918-2002)
Major George William Ford was an original member of the 10th Cavalry (Buffalo Soldiers) and later a Major with the Second Battalion of the 23rd Kansas Volunteers during the Spanish American War. Ford was born on November 23, 1847, on the Mount Vernon Plantation in … Read MoreGeorge William Ford (1847-1939)
