by LaKisha | Feb 21, 2020 | Black History
Dorothy Johnson was born in Kansas City, Missouri on September 20, 1910. At age seven, her parents, Leonard and Anne Johnson moved the family to Morgantown, West Virginia. She graduated from Beechurst High School in 1925, and four years later, received a Bachelor of...
by LaKisha | Feb 20, 2020 | Black History
Mary Winston Jackson was born on April 9, 1921, in Hampton, Virginia, the daughter of Ella and Frank Winston. She attended Hampton’s all-black schools and graduated with high honors from George P. Phenix Training School in 1937. Five years later, she earned dual...
by LaKisha | Feb 19, 2020 | Black History
Sarah Boone was born Sarah Marshall in 1832 in Craven County, North Carolina. At 15, she married James Boone. She worked as a dressmaker and her husband was a brick mason. Sarah Boone made her name by inventing the ironing board. Boone was a rarity during her time, a...
by LaKisha | Feb 18, 2020 | Black History
Oprah Gale Winfrey was born in the rural town of Kosciusko, Mississippi, on January 29, 1954. She had a troubled childhood with her mother, Vernita where she was sexually abused by several male relatives. She eventually moved to Nashville to live with her father,...
by LaKisha | Feb 17, 2020 | Black History
Tyler Perry, aka Emmitt Perry Jr., was born September 13, 1969, in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is one of four children and had a difficult childhood, suffering years of abuse from his father. He also had problems outside the home, as he later admitted he was sexually...
by LaKisha | Feb 16, 2020 | Black History
Born in Norfolk, Virginia, on December 13, 1903, Ella Baker grew up in rural North Carolina. She was close to her grandmother, a former slave, who told Baker many stories about her life, including a whipping she had received at the hands of her owner. A bright...
