Langston Hughes Alex

Born: February 1, 1902 Joplin Missouri

Died: May 22, 1967

Era: Freedom with equality and civil rights

Family: James and Carrie Hughes and

Grandma

Education: Writing poetry

Wrote poems, novels, plays,

and essays

Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. Langston’s dad

wanted Langston, his mom, and his grandmother to live in Mexico but when they went

there was an earthquake so they changed their minds.

Langston lived in Lawrence, Kansas with his mother but then his mom needed to

find a job so she needed Langston to move to Lincoln Illinois with his grandmother.

When Langston was 13 his grandmother died so he moved back in with his mom.

When Langston moved back in with his mother she got married again and so Langston

has a new step dad and a mew step brother. Langston and his family moved to

Cleveland Ohio where he went to Central High School and Langston started offering his

poems to school magazines.

Langston wanted to Columbia University in New York but he couldn’t afford it so

he went to Mexico to ask his dad for money for college. Langston’s dad had a lot of

money but didn’t like to spend it so he said no. Langston stayed in Mexico and taught

English and wrote. Langston published lots of poems and Essays to US magazines. After

Hughes success’ his dad agreed to pay for one year at Columbia University.

When Hughes started classes he didn’t like Columbia so he decided not to go for a

second year. Hughes got a job on a ship to Africa and then sailed to Europe from Africa.

Hughes got inspired to write a play he called The Weary Blues was published in 1926. In

1926 Langston started classes at Lincoln University near Philadelphia. In 1927 His second

book of poems were published. Many of Langston’s poems were published in

magazines.

Langston continued writing and publishing. In 1967 Langston went to the hospital.

He was suffering from stomach pain. On May 22, Langston died of stomach suffering

and he was only 65. Langston wrote 15 books, 60 plays, and many short, novels, stories,

essays, and song lyrics.

Bessie Smith Kylee

Born: April 15th, 1898 Chattanooga,

Tennessee

Died: September 26th, 1936 in

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Era: Freedom without Equality

Family: Viola and 6 other children

Education: Had none

Bessie Smith was the most famous

blues singer of her time.

Bessie Smith

Bessie Smith, also known as Elizabeth Smith was the most

famous blues singer of the Freedom without Equality Era. She

inspired many African American musicians that came after her like

Louis Armstrong. Her childhood was rough, since her parents died

when she was very young, and she was raised by her oldest sister,

Viola, with almost no money. She didn’t go to school because of

money problems. She sang on the streets for nickels and pennies

to help Viola pay for food for her siblings and her.

As I said, Bessie Smith was a famous blues singer. She got

many singing jobs at different night clubs, all while earning much

less money than white singers. She once lost her job for yelling

“Hold on, let me spit!” during a show. Her boss was disgusted at

her behavior and fired her immediately. But, although she was

black, she attracted both white and black crowds.

Bessie was often called “The Empress of the Blues”, because

of her amazing singing talent in blues music. She was admired by

other singers all over the U.S.A. She died in a tragic car accident,

and had to go to a black hospital where they didn’t have the tools

to help her. She was grieved by her friends, family, and

coworkers.

Booker T. Washington

Owner of famous school called

Tuskegee Institute

Born: 1856

Died: November 14 1915

Era: freedom without equality

Marriage and Family: 3 sons, 1

daughter, brother, sister, step dad,

mom and 2 wife’s

Education: Hampton Normal and

Agricultural Institute

Booker T. Washington was born in 1856. He worked as a slave and had a

brother, a little sister and a mother. He hated slavery and didn’t like the

treatment that he got from white people. His brother was very nice and

Booker was lucky to have one. He had heard his mother praying to God

and asking for slaves to be freed. Eventually her wish came true. Booker’s

mother found a man who works at the salt and married him. When

Booker first came he had hated the place. But later he saw a boy reading

the newspaper to the other people at the mine. Later he had decided he

wanted to go to school but when he got there he didn’t know his last

name so he said it was Washington. When he was only 15 his dad wanted

him to work in the mines but Booker didn’t want to work in the mines he

wanted to learn how to read. Eventually Booker’s dad forced to work in

the mines him but once Booker was in the mine he had heard of a

teacher who could teach him how to read. Booker had finally decided to

learn how to read. So he told his mom and said that he was going to learn

how to read and run of for a better chance than the mines. So he ran off

to the teacher he has been hearing about and started school. When he

entered he wasn’t treated equally at first but he eventually got to be a

teacher. Then he got a letter that said they wanted him to make his own

school. When he got there there was no school and then at that moment

he had decide to turn it into an all-black school called Tuskegee Institute

which is still here today.

Booker T. Washington

Mary McLeod Bethune Charlotte

Born: July 10th, 1875 in

Mayesville, South Carolina

Died: May 18th, 1955 of a

heart attack in Daytona

Beach, Florida

Era: Freedom without

Equality

Family: Married and

divorced Albertus Bethune, had a son named Albert

Education: Trinity Presbyterian Mission School, Scotia Seminary, and the

college Moody Bible Institute

Mary McLeod Bethune started a

school for African-American girls.

Mary McLeod Bethune

Mary McLeod Bethune began a school for African-American girls with $1.50

and a dream. It was called the Daytona Educational and Industrial Institute,

and opened in 1904 in Daytona Beach, Florida, where she lived for the rest of

her life.

Mary was born in South Carolina and grew up poor and working on the family

farm. She was the only of seventeen children to be educated. She had to walk

five miles to school in the morning, and five miles back home later.

In 1898, she married Albertus Bethune and had a son, Albert, but she

divorced her husband soon after. By 1910, her 6-year-old school was doing

well: it had 106 students. Mary wanted to add a kindergarten and more

classes, but there was a problem. The Daytona Institute did not have enough

money. So she took her students into hotels to sing while Mary talked to

guests about donating money to the school, and the Institute was supported

by some companies. Soon Mary’s dream was thriving again.

In 1972, the school joined with the Cookman Institute for men and became

the Bethune-Cookman College. Mary became the president of the college

later. She was a friend and advisor to Eleanor Roosevelt.

Mary McLeod Bethune spoke out against unequal rights and segregation. She

made a lot out of a little, and made life better for hundreds of fellow African-

Americans.

Garrett Morgan Dylan

Born: March 4, 1877

Died: July 27, 1963

Era: freedom without equality

7th of 11 children, with parents

that were freed slaves

Education: went to an all-black

school in Kentucky, and only

finished 5th grade.

An accomplished African

American inventor

Garrett Morgan Garrett Morgan started out working as a handyman for a rich white landowner. After four

years work, Garrett decided he needed more money. Garrett discovered he had a talent for

fixing things. He took apart sewing machines and saw how they could work better. By doing

that he invented a part for the sewing machine, and he got $50.

He then opened his own sewing machine shop. He was very successful, and he made enough

money to buy a house.

Later he opened a tailor shop. He made dresses, coats, suits, and many other items of clothing.

One day, late at night, he was wiping polish off his hands with a curly towel. Hours later he

discovered that the curls on the towel were straight. That led him to his next invention: hair

straightener.

He got profit from that invention, but his next best invention was a huge hit: the gas mask; a

mask that protects you from harmful gasses. It had a very simple design. It was a helmet with

two pieces of glass for the eyes. There was a long tube attached to the helmet that had a cloth

material that could absorb harmful gasses. That is how he made profit and became a famous

black inventor. Morgan then, got a patent for his invention.

After that, Morgan made the traffic signal that had three colors! That was a lot at the time, so

Garrett got $40,000 dollars for the patent. That too, was a lot in Garrett Morgan’s time so he

became famous.

Later, he made more inventions, but his gas mask and his traffic signal contributed a new level

of safety to the American history, and inspired many to become inventors.

Bessie Coleman Emily

Born: January 26, 1892 in Texas

Died: 1926

Era: Freedom without Equality

One out of 13 kids

Went to college for one semester

She was the first African American

woman to have a pilot’s license

Bessie Coleman

Bessie Coleman lived in Texas with her 13 other siblings, mom, and

dad. Bessie worked hard for many years picking cotton and drying clothes

for her family. Life was harsh but she had a dream and she wanted to

achieve it. She wanted to show the world that she could be the first

African American woman to have a pilot’s license, and she was.

Bessie went to many pilot instructors to learn how to fly, but none

of them would teach her because she was either black or a woman. She

looked everywhere for a teacher and finally went to France and find her

teacher. Her teacher taught her how to fly a plane and become a pilot.

When she came back to the USA she was the first African American

woman to have a pilot’s license. She performed in lots of flight shows and

became very famous. After she had been performing for a long time she

took a big risk in Los Angeles and she crashed. She thought it was the

end, but after she recovered she stood back up and tried again.

When she achieved her dream of becoming the first African

American woman to have a pilot’s license, she had a new dream to open

a flight school. After she died in a terrible crash, a flight school opened in

her honor.

Jan Ernst Matzeliger Emily A.

Born: September 15, 1850 in

Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana

Died: August 24, 1889 in

Lynn, Massachusetts

Era: Freedom without

Equality

Family: Rich Dutch father

and Black Surinamese

mother

Education: Unknown

Invented shoe-lasting machine that

mechanically shaped the upper

portions of shoes

Jan Ernst Matzeliger

Jan Ernst Matzeliger lived in Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana with his aunt.

Every day he wished to sail around the world, and at the age of 19, he finally

got on a ship. It was going to America. During his time on the ship Jan realized

he wanted to be a machinist.

In 1873, the ship docked in Philadelphia. He learned that blacks were not

able to be machinists. In Dutch Guiana, the majority of the population was

black so there wasn’t much racism. He wasn’t used to this and was upset that

he wasn’t allowed to pursue his dreams on account of his skin color. One day

he was wandering around and saw something in a shoe store that he

absolutely fell in love with. It was a shoe making machine! He went inside and

got a job. He was delighted that he could still work with machines.

By 1878, he had learned how to speak English, and moved to Lynn,

Massachusetts, on account of the town’s rapidly growing shoe industry.

There, he became an apprentice in a shoe factory. At this time, most shoes

were made by hand. They had to make a mold of the customer’s foot using

wood or stone. This job was very tedious and wasted a lot of time. Jan

thought that there must be a way to do this automatically.

On March 20, 1883, he received patent number 274,207 for his shoe-

lasting machine. His machine multiplied the number of shoes made a day by

4.5. On August 24th, 1889, Jan Matzeliger died of tuberculosis. He was only 37.

On September 15th, 1991, a Black Heritage postage stamp was issued in his

honor. Even though he passed on, his shoe-lasting machine will live forever.

Wilma Rudolph Georgia

Born: June 23, 1940 in Clarksville,

Tennessee

Died: November 12, 1994

Era: Civil Rights

Family: 22 brothers and sisters,

Mom and Dad

Education: scholarship for

Tennessee University

Olympic gold medalist in track even

though she had polio as a child

Wilma Rudolph

Everybody knew Wilma as the sickly child weighing only 4lbs.

at birth. When she was only 5 years old, she got scarlet fever.

The outcome was very upsetting, Wilma Rudolph had polio.

The first time Wilma walked after getting polio was when she

was 10. She believed in herself. After, all her favorite place was

church. In fact, the first place she walked was church.

Everybody was amazed.

The sport that started her running career was actually

basketball. She played high school basketball. A college sports

coach came to one of Wilma’s games and commented on her

running. Wilma ended up running track in college. The coach

gave her a scholarship to Tennessee State University.

Wilma made it to the Olympics in 1960 the first time it was

filmed on TV. She won 3 gold medals in the 100 meter dash at

only age 16. She became the fastest woman in the world.

After she retired, Wilma created the Wilma Rudolph

foundation for young athletes. She died of cancer.

Marian Anderson Irina

Born: February 27th 1897

In a friendly neighborhood in Philadelphia

Died: April 8th 1993

Era: Freedom without Equality

Family: oldest out of three children

Education: singer

Opera singer who sang at the Lincoln

Memorial when she wasn’t allowed to

sing in a theater because she was a black person

Marian Anderson

Marian Anderson was a singer. She sang at

concerts for black people and white people. By

the time she was in high school, she traveled by

train to other cities. She gave concerts at black

colleges and churches.

Marian Anderson was born on February 27th, 1897 in a friendly

neighborhood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She lived with her mom and

her two younger sisters. She joined the children’s choir and sang every

Sunday morning at church. Everyone thought she had a beautiful voice.

At age 17 Marian Anderson wanted to go to a music school. But the

school would only teach white students, not black students. Marian took

private voice lessons instead. After that, Marian gave concerts at black

churches and music halls.

At age 19 she became a pupil of Giuseppe Boghetti, who was so

impressed with her talent, that he gave free lessons for a year. In 1925

Marian entered a singing contest with two hundred people competing.

Marian won the whole contest.

In 1939 Marian Anderson wanted to sing at the Constitution Hall in D.C.

but the owners would not let her sing there because she was a black.

Marian sang at the Lincoln Memorial instead. In 1955, Marian sang at the

Metropolitan Opera in New York City. She was the first black person to

sing at this famous opera house.

Jesse Owens Isabel H.

Born: September 12, 1913 in

Oakville, Alabama

Died: March 31, 1980

Era: Freedom without equality

Family: Wife Ruth, and daughters

Beverly, Marlene, and Gloria

Education: Ohio State University

His accomplishments: Jesse was the

fastest man in the world at the 1936

Olympics for many years.

Jesse Owens

. Jesse Owens wasn’t the type of child you’d think would turn into an Olympic track star. Born

on September 12, 1913, in Oakville, Alabama, he was weak, thin, and rather sick for most of

his childhood. His large family moved to Cleveland, Ohio when he was nine years old. His

family called him J.C., short for James Coleman. Jesse was rather shy and soft spoken, so when

his new teacher at his Cleveland school asked his name, he said J.C. in his quiet, yet heavy

southern accent and the teacher thought that he said his name was Jesse. J.C. was called Jesse

forever longer.

In Junior High, Jesse started running. He was the star of the track team, but only with the help

of Coach Charles Riley. Jesse and Riley were so close, that Jesse called him Pop. Riley told Jesse

to run like the ground was on fire, and he did as he was told. He became a track star as nearly

as quick as his feet moved.

In his high school years, he ran even faster than before. As a matter a fact, in 1933, he set the

school record for long jump and the 220 yard dash. Later, while he was in college at Ohio State

University at the big ten championship, Jesse set three world records and tied a fourth, all

within 45 minutes in time!

In 1936, German leader Adolf Hitler declared that no black or Jew could run faster than a

white German at the 1936 Olympics. Jesse proved the prejudiced man wrong by setting a

mind-blowing Olympic record of 10.3 seconds for the 100 meter race. To top that off, he set

the world record of 20.7 seconds for the 200 meter race! People all over the world were

astounded by how fast Jesse could run, including Jesse himself!

Even when Jesse came back to the States as a star Olympian, he was still not treated fairly as

an African American man. Jesse went around giving lectures in his free time in his later years

about civil rights and equality. He set the world straight by showing them everyone can run

like the ground is on fire, even people that started off as sick, weak African American children.

She wanted children at schools to

feel equal and get a good education

Born: 1954

Died: still alive

Era: civil rights

Marriage and Family: she is the oldest

out of 8 children

Education: she got through collage and

married and had 4 boys

Ruby Bridges

Ruby Bridges helps students at school feel even, safe, and good.

Ruby used to be bullied at school because her skin color was not like the

others, and that is why she likes to help kids at school that have been

bullied to feel better.

Ruby is from Mississippi. Then she moved to New Orleans, Louisiana.

The court ordered in1960 that Ruby and a couple of other Black kids

should go to an all-White school even though they were Black and some

White kids should go to an all -Black school. When she walked to school

there were guards to make sure she is safe.

Ruby is still alive and when she got married she had 4 boys. Ruby

created the Ruby Bridges Educational Foundation to help Black get a

better education. Ruby wanted schools to be a better place and she did

change that.

Ruby Bridges

Daniel Williams Kate

Born: January 18, 1856 in Hollidaysburg,

Pennsylvania

Death: August 4, 1931

Era: Freedom without equality

6 brothers and sisters

Education: graduated from Chicago

Medical College

Was a doctor and surgeon. Created a

hospital for all races.

Daniel Hale Williams

Daniel Hale Williams was born on January 14, 1856. He died

August 4, 1931. The era he was in was Freedom without Equality. He

graduated from Chicago Medical College, which is one of the best

medical colleges. That was very difficult for him because of his race.

Daniel was a famous doctor and surgeon for all races. He liked doing his

job and was inspired by Dr. Palmer, a famous surgeon and doctor. Later

in his life he had a chance to work with him.

Daniel lived in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania and when he young in

Janesville, Wisconsin. It was very hard for him to get to his patients when

there was no hospital for him to work so he traveled to their home and

operated. When he operated he liked his spaces to be clean. When it

was clean there were less germs, and because it was clean most of his

patients survived.

He made a hospital for all races (nurses, patients, doctors). In that

hospital he performed a daring heart surgery on July 1, 1898.

He was the first black person to get

on a MLB team.

By Leo

Born: January 31, 1919

Died: 1972

Era: Civil Rights

Marriage and Family: He had 3 brothers

and 1 sister

Jackie Robinson

Jackie Robinson was born in Los Angeles on January 31,

1919. He died in 1972. He had 3 brothers and 1 sister. He was

very poor and had no food, as a child so he begged for food

and money. He went to a school and became well educated.

He was also good at sports. He often was challenged in sports

by other students and the prize was food or money.

When he grew up he played baseball in high school. He

loved to play baseball and he was so good that got on an all-

black team. He eventually joined a black team in the Negro

League. He was so good that he got asked to play on to an all-

White team. He was the first black player on a Major League

Baseball team.

He was injured for most of the year and fans were not happy

he was playing. He was treated badly because he was black.

They hit him and kicked him. He did not do anything back

because if he did he would get kicked off the team. When he

got a homerun, everybody loved him. It was the best game

ever for him. He changed baseball because he helped black

players get on teams.

Jackie Robinson

W.E.B. Dubois Mateo

Born: February 23, 1868 in Great

Barrington, Massachusetts

Died: August 27, 1963 in Ghana

Era: Freedom without equality

Family: Married Nina Gomer (1896-

1952) and then Shirley Graham

Education: Fisk College, Harvard

University

Started the

Niagara

Movement and

the NAACP

W.E.B. Dubois

W.E.B Du Bois was the first person in his family to go to high school. The

principal made sure he took classes in Latin and Greek to help get ready for college.

He wanted to go to Harvard University, but he didn’t have the money to go. So, he

graduated from high school and went to Fisk College in Nashville, Tennessee. On

summer vacations, W.E.B Du Bois began to teach school in an old cabin with a dirt

floor. After he graduated from Fisk College when he was 20, he received a scholarship

to Harvard University. He studied the ways people behaved with each other. When

he was 24 years, W.E.B Du Bois got a scholarship to the University Of Berlin in Berlin,

Germany. When he returned to the United States, he got a job teaching at

Wilberforce College in Ohio. He later married one of the students named Nina

Gomer. They had a son, but he later died before he was 2 years old.

When W.E.B Du Bois grew older, he organized a conference to talk about

changing life for African Americans. That conference took place somewhere in

Niagara Falls and the people in the group including W.E.B, created a new group called

the Niagara Movement. The people in the new established group, including W.E.B

Dubois, swore to not use violence to bring about change. Later, a few white activists

invited W.E.B Dubois and some members of the Niagara movement to a different

conference. From that conference, they started a new group called The National

Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He decided to work for

the NAACP in the state of New York. In New York, he created and started a new

magazine called the Crisis. Eventually, he would make and publish a children’s issue

of the magazine once a year.

When he grew older, he went to Atlanta University. He was a teacher there for

a while. When he was asked to leave the university, he disagreed with the decision

and was really mad. The NAACP came and worked something out to make him get his

job back. Soon, he was having arguments with the leader of the NAACP. When he

was 80, the NAACP fired him. Near the same time, Nina got sick and died. He married

again to writer Shirley Graham, one of his students at Atlanta University. They were

married when he was 83. Twelve years later on August 27, 1963, W.E.B Dubois died

in his sleep. The following day, there was a march in D.C. to demand equal rights for

everybody.

Maya Angelou Lexi

Born: April 4 1928 St. Louis

Missouri

Death: Still alive

Era: Post civil rights

Married 2 men and divorced

both. Has one son named Clyde

Johnson and parents were also

divorced. She had one Brother

named Bailey Johnson.

Education: Maya was invited a

scholarship but refused because

she wanted to be independent

Inspirational and powerful writing

Maya Angelou

Maya was born on April 4, 1928. Maya has a Brother, Bailey Johnson.

When Maya and Bailey were young; their parents divorced .Their mother

couldn’t take care of them by herself, so they went to go live with their

grandma. Eventually, they moved back in with their mother.

In 1943, Maya became the first black streetcar conductor. Maya won a

scholarship to California Labor School. In 1945, after she graduated high

school, she had a baby with a man she didn’t know. She was only 17. She

kept the baby and named him Clyde Bailey Guy Johnson. Maya didn’t

know the man that helped her so she didn’t marry him.

After she graduated high school, she wanted to go to college, but she

also wanted to be independent. She skipped college and toughed it out

on her own. Later on she married a different man named Tosh Angelo’s,

but after a year together they divorced.

Maya joined a TV show and traveled the world to perform it. After a

while she stopped and came up with a different hobby. Writing. She

loved it so much but when she wrote a play and it was harshly criticized

she started to lose confidence, However the man named Clarke who

criticized it told her not to give up and to tweak it a little bit. That started

off her career as a writer. She wrote things like, speeches that were

powerful and inspirational. She also wrote some plays, books, and movie

scripts. She is still alive and healthy today with the same power as when

she started.

Carter G. Woodson Michael

Born: December 19, 1875

New canton, Virginia

Died: April 3, 1950

Age 74

Era: Freedom Without Equality

Family: Mother, Father, Two Sisters and

Four Brothers.

Education: Got a PhD at Harvard University

Created Black

History Month

Carter G. Woodson

Carter Woodson worked in coal mines and on

railroads as a kid. Carter had two sisters, four

brothers, and two parents. His parents were born

slaves but got freed. Carter Woodson became a

principle at a school. He also worked as a teacher

and taught about the history of African Americans.

During the time Carter Woodson lived, African

Americans were free people but they were not

given the same rights as whites. Carter Woodson

was motivated to do what he did because there

was very limited information on African

Americans. Carter Woodson Wrote a series of

books on African Americans so everyone could

learn about them. Through Carter Woodson’s

books, lots of people learned about African

Americans.

Rosa Parks Mimi

Born: February 4, 1913 in

Tuskegee, Alabama

Died: August 24, 2005 in Detroit,

Michigan

Era: Freedom without equality

Family: Married to Raymond Parks (1932) No children

Education: Had to leave school in 1929 because of family illness (when

Rosa was 16 years old)

Mother of the Civil Rights

Movement

Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks was a civil rights pioneer. She was born Rosa McCauley in

Alabama in 1913. Rosa and her family were African-American. Her

grandparents taught Rosa that all people should be treated equally. Rosa

believed this, too. She wanted to end segregation laws.

Rosa was a good student, but could only go to school for black

children. When Rosa was sixteen years old she had to leave school,

because of family illness. She didn’t get much education, but Rosa knew

how to read, which was uncommon for black people.

Rosa married Raymond Parks in 1932. They both worked to end

segregation.

One day in 1955, a bus driver asked Rosa to give up her seat to a

white man. Rosa refused. Because of this, she was arrested. Rosa arrest

led black people in her town to boycott riding buses. The boycott lasted

one year. Rosa took her case to the U.S Supreme Court. The court

decided Segregation on public buses was illegal. Rosa had just changed

the world!

Rosa worked all her life for equal rights. She was given the Medal of

Honor in 1999. She died in 2005. People remember Rosa as the, “Mother

of Civil Rights Movement.” Rosa made a very positive impact on the

world, and was a very important person in the United States history.

NATE

Harriet Tubman is famous because

she helped many slaves escape.

Born: 1820

Died: 1913

Era: slavery

Marriage and Family: 1 of 10

brothers & sisters

Education: nothing

Harriet Tubman

Slavery was illegal in the north. Harriet was born in

Maryland. She helped many slaves find freedom.

Harriet was part of the Underground Railroad.

Slaves secretly traveled from one house to

another. During the civil war Harriet worked as a

cook, nurse and a scout. Harriet died in 1913. She

was remembered for what she did.

Harriet Tubman

Matthew Henson Nick

Born: June 8th, 1886 in

Charles County, MD

Died: March 9th, 1955

Era: Freedom without

equality

Family: Mom, Dad, Uncle,

1st wife Helen Eva Flint,

2nd wife Lucy Jane Ross

(no children).

Education: He quit school

at the age of eleven to do

odd jobs for money.

First African American to the North

Pole

Matthew Henson

Matthew Henson was on the team of explorers and Inuit people that

were the first to reach the North Pole. He was the first African American

to reach the North Pole.

It all started in Charles County, Maryland, on June 8th, 1866. That is

where Matthew Henson was born. He was born a free African American,

but African Americans still didn’t have equality. His parents died, and he

and his sister had to live with their uncle. He had to quit school when he

was 11 to earn money for his family. When he was 12, he worked as a

cabin boy on the ship Katie Hines. This is what influenced him to be an

explorer.

Later, he met Robert Peary, an explorer planning to go to the North

Pole. Peary invited him along as a valet, and Matthew accepted.

Matthew, Peary, and a team of Inuit (whom Peary called Eskimos) set off

on their first journey. Sadly, it failed. They attempted more times, but

failed. During these expeditions, Matthew learned to drive a dog sled and

many other life skills essential to the Arctic. Peary was old now, but he

wanted to try one last time. Braving the fierce cold and frigid winds they

finally succeeded!

Although they all reached the Pole, only Peary was noticed.

Matthew got no hero’s welcome, or medal, due to racism. Later during

the Civil Rights era, this was made up for, and Matthew received a medal

and public recognition. Soon after, on March 9th, 1955, he died.

Taught herself how to read and write

Phillis Wheatly Eric

Born: 1753 or 1754 in West Africa

Died: December 5, 1784 in Boston,

Massachusetts

Era: Slavery and Abolition

Family: Married to John Peters

No children

No education

Phillis Wheatly

Phillis Wheatly was born in 1753 or 1754. She was born free person

in West Africa, kidnapped, and then brought to the colonies in 1761 as a

slave. At seven years old she arrived in Boston, Massachusetts weak and

sick.

She was bought by a tailor, John Wheatley, as a servant for his wife,

Susanna. She was treated kindly in the Wheatley household, which was

in the city of Boston. The Wheatleys saw her talent, which caused them

to treat her unusually for a slave, especially for a girl. As a slave, she

taught herself how to read and write (later learned Greek and Latin). She

began to write poetry when she was about 14, and wrote her first poem

the same year.

Phillis and her owners were both deeply religious. So religious that

she even wrote a poem about how her own religion. In 1773, she visited

England, where her Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral were

printed that year; this was the first book of poems made by an African

American.

She married a man named John Wheatley, together they had three

children. Two out of three died early in their life, all except Mary

Wheatley. She wrote two poems on her death bed when she died on

December 5, 1784.

Frederick Douglas

Born: February 14

Died: over 100 years old

Era: slavery and abolition

Family: married to Anna Murray

Douglas

Education: in Baltimore his master

taught him all sorts of math, reading,

geology, geography, and writing.

Short description of his achievements:

antislavery speaker. Wrote papers and

convinced many out of slavery

Frederick Douglas

Frederick Douglas was born in his master’s home in the middle of February.

Frederick worked as a slave as a young boy and got beaten many times. Frederick

lived most of his life in his master’s house. The master he was born with owned

many slaves, some children like him. Then as a teen he moved to a master in Baltimore. Frederick always

worked hard for his freedom. Even as a kid he had a dream of one day not being whipped and chained. His

beliefs convinced many whites to end slavery and also supported the Underground Railroad. His master in

Baltimore was not a mean master and did not beat his slaves for no reason. Frederick negotiated with his

master and told him he would work if his master taught him math and how to write. It was successful. Then

later, he moved to a master whose wife taught Frederick to read but, his master put a stop to it soon. That

made Frederick urge for his freedom even more. This master was a ruthless master he beat Frederick and all

the other slaves weekly. There Frederick met his future wife Anna Murray Douglas.

Finally, with his last master he was beating him regularly and Frederick had had enough so he grabbed

a whip and beat his master in the face then beat him with his fists until he was unconscious. Frederick never

got beaten again. Then he escaped with the help of Anna Murray and later repaid her by being her freedom

just to be safe he married Anna Murray Douglas and changed his name to Frederick Douglas his original name

was Frederick Bailey.

One of the things that convinced Frederick out of slavery was not having the rights to learn like all

other whites and being judged like a slave. Frederick faced many hardships in his life for example he never had

a father and met his mother when he was six then, a year later his mom disappeared. Frederick helped a lot

on the Underground Railroad and also released a lot of families from of slavery.

He was a scientist and inventor and

showed people that people of all

races were equally important.

Benjamin Banneker Sam

Born: November 9th 1731

Died: October 25th 1806

Era: Slavery and Abolition

Family: Three sisters, His father

Robert, and his mother Mary.

Education: He taught himself

Benjamin Banneker

Benjamin Banneker lived along the Patapsco River on a farm. He was a free African American

man. He was a scientist, an inventor, a farmer, a surveyor, an author, and a musician. He

worked long hours on his parents tobacco farm when he was a child. One of the interesting

things that he did was to teach himself astronomy when his parents were asleep. That was

hard because people weren’t that educated back then. In 1789, he spent close to a year

observing the sky every night. His grandmother taught him how to read when he was a child.

From what I said, it sounds easy, but back in the 1700’s it was really hard to read and teach

yourself how to do something.

When Benjamin was 20, he took apart a watch and examined the pieces of the watch. Then he

carved it into a clock. That’s amazing for a man who taught himself to do almost everything.

When Benjamin was older he wanted to make an almanac. People back then used almanacs

for everything like when the sun would rise and set and also how to plant their crops. So

Benjamin started to write his almanac and finally he was finished with it. But then he had to

decide of who would print his almanac. He asked two printers, one was named William

Goddard, and the other, John Hayes. He was denied by them because he was African

American.

Then he thought there was no hope that anybody would print his almanac. Then in late 1790,

James Pemberton from the abolitionist society heard of Benjamin’s almanac and decided to

get his almanac printed for the year 1791. But it was too late to make his published for 1791 so

he decided to make a new almanac for the year 1792. And then finally it was published. Before

Benjamin made his 1792 almanac he helped survey the new Capital of the United States in

1791. Benjamin made more almanacs but tragically on October 25, 1806, after going for a walk

he died. I hope you enjoyed the history of Benjamin Banneker.

Mae Jemison Sophia

Born: October 17, 1956

Era: Post-civil Rights

Mother: Dorothy Jemison

Father: Charles Jemison

Siblings: Ada Sue and Charles (Ricky)

Jemison

Education: Cornell for International

Medicine

First African American

Woman in Space.

Mae Jemison

Mae Jemison was raised loving science, wanting to be a scientist, but

every time she said, “I want to become a scientist when I grow up,” her

mother said, “You mean you want to become a nurse.” When her sister

and brother had science projects for school to do, Mae always helped.

She read about space, and dreamed about planets and stars.

Mae went to Cornell to study international medicine in 1977, after

which she was a doctor in 1981.Then she joined the Peace Corps, where

she travelled to places such as Ghana to fight diseases.

On September 12th, 1992, Mae went to space on the Endeavor. In

the Endeavor, Mae did tests to see how to help humans survive in space.

This is what Mae Carol Jemison is most famous for, being the first

African-American woman in space!

After returning from space, Mae has toured around the world, giving

speeches and visiting schools. She once said, “The thing that I have done

throughout my life is to do the best job that I can and to be me.”