*Hallie Almena Lomax was born on July 23, 1915. She was a Black journalist and activist. Hallie Almena Davis was born in Galveston, Texas. Her parents, Clifford and Geneva Davis, moved the family to Chicago and Los Angeles, where she graduated from Jordan High School in the Watts neighborhood. She briefly studied journalism at Los […]
learn more*Erna P. Harris was born on this date in 1908. She was a Black journalist, businesswoman, and activist. Erna Prather Harris was born in Kingfisher, Oklahoma, to Frances A. “Frankie” and James E. Harris. Her father was a postman. As an admirer of Mahatma Gandhi, he influenced his daughter’s later activism. Unlike most men in […]
learn more*The Dawn settlement was formed on this date in 1842. Often called Dawn, this was a Canadian refuge community and a place of work for former American slaves. Josiah Henson and Hiram Wilson formed it with 200 acres of property purchased. Henson also purchased an additional 200 acres of land adjacent to the community, later […]
learn more*Hiram Wilson was born on this date in 1803. He was a white-American anti-slavery abolitionist. Hiram Wilson, the son of Polly McCoy and John Wilson, was born in Acworth, New Hampshire. He attended the Oneida Institute in upstate New York, which was at that time the most abolitionist school in the country. He attended a […]
learn more*This date in 1817 is celebrated as the birth date of Henrietta Duterte. She was a Black funeral homeowner, philanthropist, and abolitionist. Henrietta Bowers was born to an affluent, free Black family and raised on Middle Alley, now called Panama Street, in Philadelphia’s Society Hill. Known for her fashionable attire, she began her career as […]
learn more*Sadie Chandler Cole’s birth is celebrated on this date in 1865. She was a Black singer, music educator, and activist. Sadie Chandler was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was the daughter of Abraham Washington Chandler and Sarah Hatfield Chandler. Her parents were involved in the Underground Railroad movement and helped found a Baptist church in […]
learn more*Marion Wilkinson was born on this date in 1870. She was a Black suffragist and community activist. Marion B. Wilkinson was born in Charleston, South Carolina, the eldest daughter of Richard Birnie and Anna Frost Birnie. Her family’s status and relative wealth allowed her to study at the Avery Normal Institute, which ingrained an ethic […]
learn more*Mamie Garvin Fields was born on this date in 1888. She was a Black teacher, civil rights and religious activist, and writer. Mamie Elizabeth Garvin was born in Charleston, South Carolina. She was the daughter of George Washington Garvin and Rebecca Mary Logan Bellinger. She attended school at Shaw University and Claflin College. She received […]
learn more*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, […]
learn more*Vera Pigee was born on this date in 1924. She was a Black businesswoman and civil rights worker. Vera Mae Berry was born to sharecropper Wilder Berry and his wife, Lucy Wright Berry, near Glendora in Leflore County, Mississippi. When she was fourteen, she married Paul Pigee Jr., who was four years older, and their […]
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