langston hughes - montgomery county public schools · langston hughes was born on february 1, 1902...
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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.”