Dorothy “Dot” Counts 1944- Dot Counts, Civil Rights activist, was one of the four first students to integrate the Harry Harding High School in 1956. The photo of her attending her first day inspired these painting. It also inspired James Baldwin who wrote in I Am Not Your Negro: “It made me furious and filled… Continue reading Dot Counts
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Ann Cole Lowe
Ann Cole Lowe , 1898 – 1981 Lowe was an American fashion designer and the first African American to become a noted fashion designer. Lowe’s one-of-a-kind designs were a favorite among high society matrons from the 1920s to the 1960s. She was best known for designing the ivory silk taffeta wedding dress worn by Jacqueline Bouvier when she married John F. Kennedy in 1953. Links to… Continue reading Ann Cole Lowe
Juanita Harrison
Juanita Harrison, 1891 – 1967 Juanita Harrison was an African-American writer known for her autobiography, My Great, Wide, Beautiful World, which narrates her extensive travel abroad. Harrison began her travels at the age of 16, traversing the world and exploring 22 countries all by herself. This was quite rare for her time. Harrison funded her… Continue reading Juanita Harrison
Bessie Coleman
Bessie Coleman, 1892 –1926 Bessie Coleman was an early American civil aviator. She was the first African-American woman and first Native American woman to hold a pilot license. She earned her license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale on June 15, 1921, and was the first Black person to earn an international pilot’s license. Born to a… Continue reading Bessie Coleman
Diane Nash
Diane Judith Nash 1938 – Diane Nash is an American civil rights activist, and a leader and strategist of the student wing of the Civil Rights Movement. Nash’s campaigns were among the most successful of the era. Her efforts included the first successful civil rights campaign to integrate lunch counters , the Freedom Riders, who desegregated interstate travel, co-founding the Student Nonviolent Coordinating… Continue reading Diane Nash
Ida B. Wells
Ida B. Wells, 1862 – 1931 Born into slavery, Ida B. Wells devoted nearly 50 years of her life to fearlessly fighting for racial justice, civil rights, and women’s suffrage. In 1884, while working as a teacher in the Shelby County school system in Memphis, Ida was forcibly removed from her seat in the “ladies… Continue reading Ida B. Wells
Anna Julia Cooper
Anna Julia Haywood Cooper, 1858 – 1964 Born into slavery in 1858, Anna Julia Cooper’s potential was recognized after the Civil War, and at age 9 she got a scholarship to attend the newly opened St. Augustine’s Normal School and Collegiate Institute in Raleigh, N.C. It was founded to train teachers to educate the formerly enslaved,… Continue reading Anna Julia Cooper
Maggie Walker
Maggie Walker 1864-1934 Maggie Walker was one of the most prominent businesswomen in America during the turn of the century. In 1903 she founded the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank in Richmond, Virginia. When she cut the ribbon on opening day, she became the first female bank president in the United States. Walker also established… Continue reading Maggie Walker
Fannie Lou Hamer
Fannie Lou Hamer, 1917-1977 Fannie Lou Hamer was an American voting and women’s rights activist, community organizer, and a leader in the civil rights movement. Hamer organized Mississippi’s Freedom Summer along with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. In 1963 while attending a pro-citizenship conference by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Charleston, South Carolina, Hamer and others on their bus were arrested for not calling an office… Continue reading Fannie Lou Hamer
Biddy Mason
Biddy Mason, 1818-1891 Bridget “Biddy” Mason was born into slavery in Georgia She learned herbal medicine, midwifery and agricultural skills from other female slaves, and cared for the plantation owners, slaves, and livestock. In 1848 the owners and their slaves moved to Salt Lake City. The journey was grueling; Mason walked over 1700 miles carrying… Continue reading Biddy Mason