“The Man Who Killed Jim Crow” Charles Hamilton Houston was born in Wash. D.C. in 1895. He graduated valedictorian from Amherst College in 1915. He served in the Army in France during World War I. He graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School. He worked extensively as Special Counsel for the NAACP. His work focused on taking down Jim Crowe …
Phillis Wheatley
The first African-American woman to publish a book. Phillis Wheatley was born in 1753 in Senegal She was sold into slavery at age 7 and taken to America. She was purchased by John Wheatley in Boston. The Wheatley family taught her to read and write. At age 12 she started writing poetry. Many of her poems were dedicated to famous …
Edward Brooke
The first African-American US Senator. Edward Brooke was born in Washington D.C. in 1919. He joined the army in 1941 and saw combat in Italy. In 1962 he was elected Attorney General of Massachusetts. Making him the 1st African-American AG elected in any state. In 1966 he was elected Senator of Massachusetts. He served 2 terms from 1967 to 1979. …
Madam C.J. Walker
Meet America’s first self-made female millionaire. Sarah Breedlove was born in Louisiana in 1867. First in her family born free after Emancipation Proclamation. Her first job was in her brothers’ barber shop in St. Louis. Like many women of the era, she suffered from hair loss. She moved to Denver to start her own hair care business. She married Charles …