People, Locations, Episodes

The Niagara Movement is Founded

This date marks the founding of the Niagara Movement, the first significant Black organized protest movement of the 20th century in America.

It also represented the attempt of a small yet articulate group of radicals to challenge the then dominant ideals of Booker T. Washington. At the turn of the century there were divisions in African American political life: those who believed in accommodation, led by Booker T. Washington; and the more militant group, led by W.E.B. Du Bois and William M. Trotter.

John C. Robinson, Aviator born

*John Robinson was born on this date in 1905.  He was a Black aviator and activist.  John Charles Robinson was born in Carrabelle, Florida, and spent his early years in Gulfport, Mississippi. His father died when he was a baby, leaving him and his four-year-old sister, Bertha, with their mother, Celeste Robinson, who married Charles Cobb. Robinson was inspired by flight at an […]

I. Myrtle Carden, Community Activist born

 *This date in 1905 is celebrated as the birth date of I. Myrtle Carden, a Black social worker and administrator.  I. Myrtle Carden was born in Philadelphia, PA., and graduated from Temple University and the Pennsylvania School of Social Work. Soon after, she worked at the Sharpe St. Settlement House in Baltimore. In 1929, Carden […]

Nellie Stone Johnson, Businesswoman, and Union Activist born

*Nellie Stone Johnson was born on this date in 1905. She was an African American activist, administrator and businesswoman.

Anna Tanneyhill, Writer born

*Anna Tanneyhill was born on this date in 1906. She was an African American administrator, writer and activist.

Amy Barbour-James, British Activist born

*Amy Barbour-James was born on January 25, 1906. She was a Black British-born Guyanese civil rights activist and civil servant. Caroline Amy Aileen Barbour-James was born in Acton, London, to Guyanese parents, John and Caroline Barbour-James, one of their eight children. They were a middle-class family. Her father, John Barbour-James, was an administrator in West […]

Paul Cornely, Physician and Public Health Advocate born

*Paul Cornely was born on this date in 1906. He was a Black physician, public health pioneer, and activist. Paul Bertau Cornely was born in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe. His mother was Adrienne Mellon, and his father was Eleodore Cornely. At the age of three, his family moved to Puerto Rico. He moved to the United States as […]

Corinthian Nutter, Teacher, Pianist, and Education Activist born

*Corinthian Nutter was born on this date in 1906. She was a Black teacher, musician, and education activist.  Corinthian Clay Ricks (her birth name) was born in Forney, Texas, to Robert R. and Roxie Anna (Ford) Ricks. Her father worked for the railroad. Her mother was an itinerant worker, and Nutter was frequently taken out […]

Grace Hamilton, Woman’s Advocate, and Politician born

*On this date in 1907, Grace Towns Hamilton was born. She was an African American civil rights advocate, feminist, and politician.

From Atlanta, she was the eldest of four children to George and Nellis McNair Towns. Towns graduated from American University in 1927, enrolling in graduate school at Ohio State University where she paid her way through school as a secretary at the YMCA. In 1930, she married Henry C. Hamilton, dean and professor of education at Lemoyne College. Grace Hamilton was the first African American woman to serve in the Georgia legislature (1966-1984).

Helen Claytor, YMCA Administrator born

Helen J. Claytor was born on this date in 1907. She was an African American educator, YWCA administrator, and activist.

Leon Washington Jr., Newspaper Publisher born

*Col. Leon H. Washington Jr. was born on this date in 1907. He was a Black newspaper publisher. Washington was born in Kansas City, Kansas, and attended Washburn University. He began his career in journalism by working for several newspapers. In 1933, he founded the Sentinel, an African American newspaper in Los Angeles. During this time, Washington […]

Oliver W. Hill, Lawyer, and Activist born

Oliver W Hill, Sr., an African American attorney and activist, was born on this date in 1907.

Hazel Harvey Peace, Educator, and Humanitarian born

*Hazel Harvey Peace was born on this date in 1907. She was a Black educator, activist, and humanitarian. She was born Hazel Bernice Harvey in Waco, Texas, to Allen H. and Georgia Mason Harvey; the family moved to Fort Worth as a baby. Peace’s father was a Pullman Porter on the Missouri and Pacific Railroad, and her […]

Lulu Belle Madison White, Activist born

*Lulu Belle Madison White was born on this date in 1907. She was a Black teacher and activist in Texas during the 1940s and 1950s. Lulu Belle Madison was born in Elmo, Texas, to Samuel Henry Madison and Easter Madison. She was the tenth of their twelve children. Elmo was a predominately black community thirty-five […]

Shirley Graham DuBois, Composer, Novelist, and Activist born

On this date in 1907, Shirley Graham DuBois was born. She was an African American author, playwright, composer, and activist.