African Descent Archives - Infinite Women

Minnie Gentry

“The First Lady” of Karamu Theater, this critically acclaimed artist received a Tony nomination in 1972 and the Outstanding Pioneer Award for her contributions to Black theater in 1985.

Jane Edna Hunter

Prominent African-American social worker who founded the Phillis Wheatley Assocation

Brittany Stergis

A transgender woman who was killed in 2013.

Hazel Mountain Walker

The first black woman principal in the Cleveland public school system, an educator, an actress, and an advocate for racial integration.

The first African American woman from Ohio elected to the United States House of Representatives, who served the state’s eleventh congressional district for nearly ten years. Prior to her election to Congress, Tubbs Jones was Chief Prosecutor of Cuyahoga County.

Jean Murrell Capers

In 1949, she became the first African-American woman elected to Cleveland City Council.

Helen Maria Chesnutt

Latin instructor and co-author of a Latin textbook

Carrie Williams Clifford

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.

Lethia Cousins Fleming

Lethia Cousins Fleming directed national campaign efforts among African American women for three Republican presidential candidates, and led the National Association of Republican Colored Women (1920) and women’s activities in Cleveland’s 11th Ward for almost a decade (1920s).