Honoring those we lost on May 21 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind. Katherine Dunham Born June 22, 1909 — Died May 21, 2006 Field: Dance / Anthropology / Choreography / Black Cultural Scholarship Katherine Dunham was a dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, educator, and social activist. Why it matters: Dunham […]
Honoring those we lost on May 20 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind. Nannie Helen Burroughs Born May 2, 1879 — Died May 20, 1961 Field: Education / Black Women’s Organizing / National Baptist Convention / Labor Nannie Helen Burroughs was an educator, orator, religious leader, and founder of […]
Honoring those we lost on May 19 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind. Mary Turner Born c. 1899 — Died May 19, 1918 Field: Racial Terror / Lynching / Black Women’s History / Georgia Mary Turner was lynched in Georgia after speaking out against the lynching of her husband, […]
Honoring those we lost on May 18 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind. Mary McLeod Bethune Born July 10, 1875 — Died May 18, 1955 Field: Education / Civil Rights / Black Women’s Leadership / Federal Service Mary McLeod Bethune was an educator, institution builder, civil rights leader, founder […]
Honoring those we lost on May 17 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind. E. Franklin Frazier Born September 24, 1894 — Died May 17, 1962 Field: Sociology / Race Relations / Black Intellectual History E. Franklin Frazier was a sociologist whose work examined Black family life, class, race relations, […]
Honoring those we lost on May 16 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind. A. Philip Randolph Born April 15, 1889 — Died May 16, 1979 Field: Labor / Civil Rights / Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters / March on Washington Asa Philip Randolph was one of the most important […]
Honoring those we lost on May 15 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind. Richard Theodore Greener Born January 30, 1844 — Died May 15, 1922 Field: Education / Law / Diplomacy / Reconstruction Leadership Richard Theodore Greener was the first African American graduate of Harvard College. He later became […]
Honoring those we lost on May 14 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind. B.B. King Born September 16, 1925 — Died May 14, 2015 Field: Blues / Guitar / Black Music / American Popular Music Riley B. King, known as B.B. King, was one of the most important blues […]
Honoring those we lost on May 13 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind. Alfred Rush Born date uncertain — Died May 13, 1876 Field: Reconstruction Politics / Racial Violence / South Carolina Alfred Rush was a Black Reconstruction-era South Carolina legislator who was ambushed and murdered. Why it matters: […]
Honoring those we lost on May 12 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind. Oscar DePriest Born March 9, 1871 — Died May 12, 1951 Field: Politics / Congress / Black Political Firsts Oscar DePriest was the first Black person elected to Congress after Reconstruction and the first Black congressman […]