People, Locations, Episodes

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 […]

The Peoples Advocate Newspaper is Published

*On this date in 1876, The People’s Advocate published its first edition. This was among the first weekly African American-owned and operated newspapers in Virginia. It was the first African American newspaper in Alexandria, Virginia.    The People’s Advocate was a newspaper founded by Traverse B. Pinn Sr., its first publisher and business manager, and John Wesley Cromwell […]

Lethia Fleming, Women’s Activist born

*Lethia Fleming was born on this date in 1876. She was an African American campaign organizer, women’s and civil rights activist and politician.

Eartha White, Educator, and Humanitarian born

Eartha Mary Magdalene White was born on this date in 1876. She was an African American vocalist, educator, administrator, and humanitarian.

Sue M. Wilson Brown, Activist born

*Sue M. Wilson Brown was born on this date in 1877. She was a Black activist for women’s suffrage. Sue M. Wilson was born in Staunton, Virginia, to Jacob Wilson and Maria Harris Wilson. As a child, her family moved to Iowa, living near Buxton and mining coal. Brown was educated at the Oskaloosa High School and […]

S. Edward Hall, Businessman, and Activist born

*S. Edward. Hall was born on this date in 1878. He was an African American businessman and civil rights activist.

One of five children (two brothers and two sisters), he was born in Elgin, Illinois to John and Julia Hall. He came to St. Paul in 1900, married his wife Hattie in 1906 and opened his barbershop with his brother Orrie the same year. His place of business was located on 6th street near downtown and many of his customers were prominent white entrepreneurs in the early years of the Minnesota milling industry, the McMillians, Pillsbury’s, James J. Hill and others.

Arthur Spingarn, Historian, and Lawyer born

*On this date in 1878 Arthur Spingarn was born. He was an Jewish American historian, lawyer and activist.

From New York City, in 1897 he was the younger brother of Joel Spingarn and received his A.B. degree from Columbia University in New York. In 1899, he received a M.A. from Columbia University, in 1900 his LL.B., from Columbia University and practiced law until the 1960s in New York. From 1917-1919, he was a Captain in the Sanitation Corps, American Expeditionary Force, United States Army. In 1919, he married Marion Meyer.

Jesse Max Barber, Dentist, and Journalist born

*Jesse Barber was born on this date in 1878. He was a Black journalist, teacher, and dentist. He was born in Blackstock, South Carolina, to former slave parents.    Jesse Max Barber was educated at Benedict College and Virginia Union University, where he was student editor of the University Journal and president of the Literary Society. After graduation in 1903, he began […]

Kathryn Johnson, Writer, and Activist born

On this date in 1878, Kathryn Magnolia Johnson was born. She was an African American civil rights activist.

She was born in Drake County (a Colored Settlement) near Greenville, Ohio. She attended public schools in New Paris, Ohio, and studied at Wilberforce University from 1897-98 and 1901-02. She also studied at the University of North Dakota in 1908. Johnson began teaching in 1898 in the Indiana and Ohio school systems. In 1910, after moving to Kansas City, she shifted her career to “race work.” Johnson is credited by many as the first field worker for the NAACP.

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 in Charleston, South Carolina, to Edward Perry Waring and Anna Thomasine Waties. He graduated second in class […]

Henry Moskowitz, Activist born

*On this date, in 1880, Henry Moskowitz was born.  He was a white Jewish-American administrator and 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 from the City […]

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 […]