People, Locations, Episodes

Artemisia Bowden, Educator, and Administrator born

*Artemisia Bowden was born on this date in 1879. She was a Black school administrator and civil rights activist. Artemisia Bowden was born in Albany, Georgia, to former slaves Milas and Mary Bowden. She was the oldest of four children, and in her early life, she grew up in Brunswick, Georgia. There she attended Athanasius’ […]

Homer Phillips, Lawyer and Public Policy Advocate born

*Homer Phillips was born on this date in 1880. He was a Black lawyer and public policy advocate. Homer Gilliam Phillips was born in Sedalia, Missouri. He was the son of a Methodist minister, but he was orphaned in infancy and raised by an aunt. Phillips’s interest in law led him to Washington, D.C., where […]

João Felisberto, Afro Brazilian Activist born.

*João Felisberto was born on this date in 1880. He was an Afro Brazilian sailor and activist.   João Cândido Felisberto was born in Encruzilhada do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, to a poor Afro Brazilian family. His father and mother were former slaves. He entered the Brazilian Navy in 1894 at the age of 13. The […]

Julius W. Waring, Judge born

*Julius Waring was born on this date in 1880.  He was a white-American lawyer and judge who played an important role in the early legal battles of the American Civil Rights Movement.    Julius Waties Waring was born to Edward Perry Waring and Anna Thomasine Waties in Charleston, South Carolina. He graduated second in class […]

Henry Moskowitz, Activist born

*Henry Moskowitz was born on this date in 1880. He was a white Jewish-American administrator, civil rights activist, and one of the co-founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).    He was born in Hușse, Romania, and his family migrated to the United States in 1883. He attended the New York City public schools and graduated […]

William Pickens, Journalist, and Educator born

*William Pickens was born on this date in 1881.  He was a Black author, educator, journalist, and essayist.   William Pickens was born near Pendleton in Anderson County, South Carolina. He was the sixth of ten children born to former slaves Jacob and Fannie Pickens. His father was a tenant farmer, and his mother worked as a cook […]

Frank Boyd, Union Activist born

*The birth of Frank Boyd in 1881 is celebrated on this date. He was an African American Pullman Porter and labor activist.

The Minnesota Women’s Sufferage Association is Founded

*The Minnesota Woman Suffrage Association (MWSA) was founded on this date in 1881. MWSA was an organization devoted to women’s suffrage in Minnesota. After the American Civil War and the fall of Reconstruction, activism from Blacks and women found common ground against voter suppression. Created at the Presbyterian Church in Hastings, Minnesota, the MWSA members organized marches, wrote petitions […]

Jennie Belle Murphy Covington, Feminist and Activist born.

*Jennie Belle Murphy Covington was born on this date in 1881. She was a Black feminist and activist. Jennie Belle Murphy was born in Clinton, Texas, to an unknown father and Rachel Thomas. She was raised in Dement, Texas, by her aunt and uncle, Jane and Will Jones. She attended Guadalupe College in Seguin, Texas, […]

Williana Burroughs, Educator, and Activist born

*Williana Burroughs was born on this date in 1882.  She was a Black teacher, communist political activist, and politician.  Williana “Liana” Jones Burroughs was born in Petersburg, Virginia.  Her mother was a slave; her father died when Williana was four. Her widowed mother left Virginia for New York City, bringing Williana with a sister and a brother, where she worked as a cook.  Her mother could not […]

John Wesley Dobbs, Atlanta Civic Leader born

The birth of John Wesley Dobbs in 1882 is celebrated on this date. He was an African American postal clerk, civic leader, and activist.

Often called the Unofficial “Mayor” of Auburn Avenue,
Dobbs was born in Marietta, Georgia. In 1897, he went to Atlanta, worked at a drugstore, and attended Atlanta Baptist College (Morehouse College). In 1903, Dobbs passed the U.S. postal exam to become a postal clerk and assumed a highly respected position for a Black man at the turn of the century. Three years later he married Irene Ophelia Thompson, and together they would have six daughters.

Augustus Dill, Editor, Manager, and Activist born.

*Augustus Dill was born on this date in 1882. He was a Black business manager, musician, and activist. Augustus Granville Dill was born in Portsmouth, Ohio. His parents were John Dill and Elizabeth Jackson. He received his B.A. from Atlanta University in 1906, a second B.A. from Harvard in 1908, and his M.A. in 1909 from Harvard. […]

Jane E. Hunter, Community Activist born

*On this date in 1882 Jane Edna Hunter was born. She was an African American activist and reformer.

Lawrence Nixon, Physician, and Voting Advocate born

*Lawrence Nixon was born on this date in 1883. He was a Black physician and voting-rights advocate.

Hubert Harrison, Activist born

*The birth of Hubert Harrison in 1883 is marked on this date. He was an African American activist, educator, and writer.