Names to Know
This woman is one of the most well-known civil rights activists today, being one of the first few people, women especially, to refuse to give up their seat to a white person in Montgomery.
Who was Rosa Parks?
This man focused on creating many different products with the peanut, creating the well-known peanut butter we all know and love today.
Who was George Washington Carver?
Born Araminta Ross, this woman believed that God would speak directly to her throughout her life, leading her to bring over 300 slaves to the free land of Philadelphia no matter how dangerous the route was.
Who was Harriet Tubman?
Leading a rebellion of 75 Slaves to kill his master, Joseph Travis, along with many other corrupt white masters, this man is rarely even discussed in the history books as the man to stand up against racial injustice in 1831.
Who was Nat Turner?
Most known for her book, "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings", as well as her poem "On The Pulse of Morning", ______'s works are considered a defense of Black culture; however, some schools and universities have tried to ban her books.
Who was Maya Angelou?
Professional boxer, activist, entertainer, poet, and philanthropist, _______ is still one the greatest, most significant, and celebrated sports figures since the 1960s.
Who was Muhammad Ali?
This man created a more efficient and improved version of the traffic light, which is now a worldwide used technology. Furthermore, he is the most well known for his invention of safety, which was a precursor to the gas mask.
Who was Garret Morgan?
Closely aligned with Elijah Muhammad in the 1950s through mid-'60s, this man spread the truth of Islam to the people of New York City before his assassination by gunshot in 1965 at 40 years of age.
Who was Malcolm X?
Author, anthropologist, and filmmaker, the woman's novels, short stories, and plays often depicted the African American life in the South, as well as her struggles as an African American woman. She influenced many writers, such as Toni Morrison and Gayl Jones.
Who was Zora Neale Hurtson?
This 24-year-old Black woman was the one to deliver a poem at the inauguration of President Joe Biden, the title being, "The Hill We Climb", also reciting a poem at the 55th Super Bowl, "Chorus of the Captains".
Who is Amanda Gorman?
The first black woman billionaire created the Wonderful Hair Grower due to the loss of her hair from unhygienic surroundings, this healed her scalp and allowed her hair to grow back longer and healthier.
Who was Madam CJ Walker?
This man created a safer control unit for the pacemaker, also inventing the wire precision resistor.
Who was Otis Boykin?
American abolitionist and women's rights activist born into slavery in Swartekill, New York, she was the first black woman to win a case against a white man to recover her son from slavery. During the Civil War, this woman strived to secure land grants from the government for former slaves, which can be summarized as the promise of "forty acres and a mule"; her efforts were to no avail.
Who was Sojourner Truth?
On March 2 of 1955, this fifteen-year-old woman was arrested for being the first person to refuse to give her seat to a white woman on a Montgomery bus that was segregated and crowded; she was in fact the pioneer of this action, as Rosa Parks came to do the same thing only 9 months after her!
Who was Claudette Colvin?
At 68, this woman has been dubbed the "Queen of All Media", as she was the richest African-American of the 20th century. She is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. Her high-rated television program of its kind in history, and ran in national syndication for 25 years.
Who is Oprah Winfrey?
This African American woman was a singer, songwriter, and pianist, also being referred to as the "Queen of Soul". With global sales of over 75 million records, _____ was one of the best-selling music artists from the second half of the 20th century to the present; one of her most famous songs is "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman".
Who was Aretha Franklin?
This woman was a chemist who created a safer and more efficient treatment for leprosy, also being the first woman to earn a master's degree in chemistry.
Who was Alice Ball?
Born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, this man was an abolitionist, public speaker, writer, and statesman. After he escaped from slavery in Maryland, he became a national leader of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts and New York, famous for his public speeches and incisive antislavery writings.
Who was Fredrick Douglas?
The first African American, and the first Native American, female pilot; she was nicknamed, “Brave Bessie,” “Queen Bess,” or even“The Only Race Aviatrix in the World.” Giving speeches and showing films of her air tricks in churches, theaters, and schools to earn money, this woman refused to speak anywhere that was segregated or discriminated against African Americans.
Who was Bessie Coleman?
This African American author of novels and poetry for young adults and the middle-grade audience was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in neighboring Oxon Hill, Maryland. This man found inspiration in rap and had an early focus on poetry, publishing several poetry collections before his first novel in 2014, "When I Was The Greatest".
Who is Jason Reynolds?
African-American dentist, abolitionist, surgeon, pharmacist, and inventor. He improved the refrigerator, hoping to prevent the decay of food or human corpses. He also patented an improvement in the chamber-commode, a precursor to the toilet.
Who was Thomas Elkins?
This man's research focused on the field of blood transfusions as he developed improved techniques for blood storage. He also created methods of storing blood plasma for transfusion and organized the first large-scale blood bank in the U.S.
Who was Charles Drew?
This man created the idea of the month of February to be devoted to the history of Black people; this idea originally accounted for the second week of February to be "Negro History Week".
Who was Carter G. Woodson?
American ophthalmologist, inventor, humanitarian, and academic _______ was the inventor of laser cataract surgery, her invention called Laserphaco Probe. She was the first woman to do many things in the ophthalmology field, such as being the first Black female member of the Jules Stein Eye Institute, as well as the first woman to lead a post-graduate training program in ophthalmology.
Who was Patricia Bath?
This 78-year-old novelist, short-story writer, poet, essayist, and activist has written one of the most famous movies in Black History today, The Color Purple; this film began as a novel, earning her a Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award in 1983.
Who is Alice Walker?