People, Locations, Episodes

Minnie Crosthwaite, Social Worker born

Minnie Lee Crosthwaite’s birth in 1872 is celebrated on this date. She was an African American social worker and community leader.

Born and raised Minnie Lee Harris, she was a product of Nashville, Tennessee. She attended Fisk University in her hometown and taught first grade in a Nashville public school for two years. She resigned her teaching position in 1889 to marry David N. Crosthwaite, the principal of the first all-Black high school in Nashville. In 1895 they moved to Kansas City, where Crosthwaite’s husband had accepted a job teaching at Lincoln High School.

Fredericka Douglass Sprague Perry, Philanthropist born

*The birth of Fredericka Douglass Sprague Perry is celebrated on this date in 1872. She was a Black philanthropist and activist. Fredericka Douglass Sprague was born in Rochester, New York. She was the granddaughter of Frederick Douglass and the fifth oldest of seven children of Rosetta Douglass Sprague and Nathan Sprague. She attended public school in Washington, DC, […]

Ionia Rollin Whipper, Obstetrician born

*Ionia Rollin Whipper was born on this date in 1872.  She was a Black obstetrician and public health outreach worker.   Both of Whipper’s parents were from Beaufort, South Carolina, and were from Black families that had been free before the American Civil War. Her father, the lawyer William James Whipper, moved from Philadelphia to […]

Geraldine Trotter, Publisher, and Activist born

*Geraldine Trotter was born on this date in 1872.  She was a Black publisher, editor, writer, and activist.  From Everett, MA., Geraldine Pindell was the daughter of Charles Edward Pindell and Mary Francis Pindell.  Pindell received her initial education at the Everett Grammar School, then enrolled in a local business college. For ten years after […]

Albert Meyzeek, Educator, and Activist born

*Albert Meyzeek was born on this date in 1872. He was a Black educator and activist. Albert Ernest Meyzeek was born in Toledo, Ohio, the son of John E. and Mary (Lott) Meyzeek. He spent his early childhood years in Toronto, Canada. His father, of Huguenot French ancestry, married Mary Lott, a Black woman, in […]

The Colfax Massacre Occurs

*On this date in 1873, the Colfax Massacre happened. Also called the Colfax Riot, the violence erupted in Grant Parish Courthouse in Colfax, Louisiana.

Mary Dunlop Maclean, Journalist born

*Mary Dunlop Maclean was born on this date in 1873.  She was a white-American writer, journalist, and first managing editor of The Crisis from 1909 until her death.   Mary Dunlop Johnson was born to Harriet Darling Johnson and Samuel Otis Johnson in Nassau, Bahamas. Her mother, a descendant of Revolutionary War hero Paul Dudley Sargent and Governor John Winthrop, […]

Ludie Clay Andrews, Nurse, and Nursing Advocate born

*Ludie Clay Andrews was born on this date in 1874. She was a Black nurse and administrator. Ludie Clay Andrews, a Mulatto was born in Milledgeville, Georgia, where she graduated from Eddy High School. Shortly after, she entered nurse training at MacVicar Hospital at Spelman College in Atlanta, graduating in 1906. Spelman College later closed its nursing […]

Nellie F. Francis, Suffragist born

*Nellie Francis was born on this date in 1874.  She was a Black suffragist, racial justice advocate, and activist.   Nellie F. Griswold was born in Nashville, Tennessee.  Her parents were Maggie Seay and Thomas Garrison Griswold, and she had a sister, Lula Griswold Chapman, who died in 1925.  Her grandmother was Nellie Seay, a house slave to Colonel Robert Allen, […]

Eva Del Vakia Bowles, Activist born

*Eva Del Vakia Bowles was born on this date in 1875. She was a Black administrator and activist. From Albany, Athens County, Ohio, her grandfather, John R. Bowles, served as chaplain of the all-Black 54th Massachusetts Infantry during the American Civil War and later became the first Black teacher hired by the Ohio Public School […]

Joel Spingarn, Educator, and Activist born

Joel Elias Spingarn, a Jewish American educator, literary critic, and activist, was born on this date in 1875 in New York City.

He was the older brother of Arthur Spingarn and a professor of comparative literature at Columbia University from 1899 to 1911. He also served in the US Army in World War I as a Colonel. In 1919, he was a co-founder of the publishing firm of Harcourt, Brace and Company. Spingarn was a liberal who helped settle a dispute between W.E.B. DuBois and the followers of Booker T. ashington.

Mary McLeod Bethune, Educator, and Activist born

Mary McLeod Bethune, African American civil rights administrator and educator was born on this date in 1875.

Edward B. Ceruti, Lawyer, and Activist born

*Edward Ceruti was born on this date in 1875. He was a Black attorney and racial justice activist. Edward Burton Ceruti was born in Nassau, the Bahamas. His parents were Eliza Jane Anderson, a mulatto, and Edward Burton Ceruti, Sr. The family moved to the United States when he was four years old. According to the 1880 census, […]

Lutie Lytle, Lawyer and Teacher born

*Lutie A. Lytle was born on this date in 1875. She was a Black lawyer and teacher. Lutie A. Lytle was born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and was one of six surviving children of John R. and Mary Ann “Mollie” (Chesebro) Lytle, both formerly enslaved people. In 1882, the Lytle family moved to Topeka, Kansas. Lutie […]

James R. Johnston, Canadian Lawyer born

*James R. Johnston was born on this date in 1876. He was a Black Canadian lawyer and community leader. James Robinson Johnston was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and was the eldest of the five sons of William Johnston, a shoemaker, and Elizabeth Ann Thomas. His maternal grandparents were Reverend James Thomas, a white man from Wales who headed […]