An escaped slave who became a leader in the abolitionist movement and wrote several autobiographies detailing his experiences in slavery
Who is Frederick Douglass
100
Rochester's first African American settler in 1795
Who is Asa Dunbar
100
One of the greatest heavyweights in boxing history who won a gold medal
Who is Muhammad Ali
100
Civil Rights Activist. She refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger and was arrested.
Who is Rosa Parks
200
Inventor of the Blood Bank
Who is Dr. Charles Richard Drew
200
The first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard. Co-founded the NAACP and was the editor of its magazine the Crisis
Who is W.E.B. DuBois
200
The creator of boss sauce
Who is Eddie Harris
200
The first African American to play Major League Baseball
Who is Jackie Robinson
200
Civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He promoted nonviolent civil disobedience and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964
Who is Martin Luther King Jr.
300
Inventor of the x-ray spectrometer and worked for NASA
Who is George Alcorn
300
Poet, novelist, and playwright and inventor of “jazz poetry”
Who is Langston Hughes
300
Rochester's first licensed African-American doctor
Who is Dr. Charles T. Lunsford
300
The first black athlete to compete in international tennis and to win a Grand Slam
Who is Althea Gibson
300
He served 27 years in prison after being convicted of conspiracy to overthrow the South African government, and afterwards helped end apartheid and was elected president in 1994
Who is Nelson Mandela
400
Developed many hair and beauty products and became a self-made millionaire
Who is Madame C.J. Walker
400
Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer. Her famous novels include The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon and Beloved
Who is Toni Morrison
400
Tony Award-winning choreographer who moved to Rochester in 1970. He still resides in Rochester
Who is Garth Fagan
400
A brazilian footballer (soccer) who is thought to be the greatest player of all time
Who is Pele
400
Abolitionist and promoted women’s suffrage. She escaped slavery and then helped rescue many others through the Underground Railroad.
Who is Harriet Tubman
500
Inventor of the gas mask and traffic signal
Who is Garrett Morgan
500
American Playwright best known for The Pittsburgh Cycle which is 10 plays set in different decades highlighting the black experience during the 20th century
Who is August Wilson
500
The first African-American member of the Rochester Police Department in 1948 and became the first African American captain in the department 30 years later
Who is Charles Henry Price
500
Won 3 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronze medals in the Olympics for track. Named greatest female athlete of the 20th century by Sports Illustrated
Who is Jackie Joyner-Kersee
500
Tje first black child to attend an all-white elementary school in the South after the court ordered schools to be integrated