On November 20, 1948, a mob of 20 armed white men shot and killed African American Robert Mallard in front of his family. The killing initially garnered little attention, but due in part to the outspokenness of Mallard’s wife, the case soon became national news, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) entered the case.
Annie L. McPheeters was one of the first African American professional librarians in the Atlanta Public Library and an influential proponent of African American culture and history.
One of the first two African American students admitted to the University of Georgia. Also known for her career as an award-winning journalist, Hunter-Gault is respected for her work on television and in print.
The first black woman principal in the Cleveland public school system, an educator, an actress, and an advocate for racial integration.
Orator, poet, suffragist, and an activist for women and African-Americans. She helped found the Ohio State Federation of Colored Women in 1900 and served as its first president while she lived in Cleveland.
African-American civil rights lawyer and civic activist
“The murder of my son has shown me that what happens to any of us, anywhere in the world, had better be the business of us all.”
—Mamie Till-Mobley, mother of Emmett Till, at a NAACP rally in Cleveland, Ohio, September 18, 1955
Marilyn J. Morheuser (1924-1995), was the director and leading attorney of the Education Law Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Dr. Olivia J. Hooker, a survivor of the Tulsa race massacre, blazed a trail as the first Black woman on active duty in the US Coast Guard.
Powerful gospel and rhythm and blues singer