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The first professional African-American and Native-American sculptor, Edmonia Lewis earned critical praise for work that explored religious and classical themes. Synopsis Edmonia Lewis was born in 1844 in Greenbush, New York. Her first notable commercial success was a bust of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. The money she earned selling copies of the bust allowed her to sail to Rome, Italy, where she mastered working in marble. She quickly achieved success

Pioneering African American writer Richard Wright is best known for the classic texts 'Black Boy' and 'Native Son.' Who Was Richard Wright? Richard Wright was an African American writer and poet who published his first short story at the age of 16. Later, he found employment with the Federal Writers' Project and received critical acclaim for Uncle Tom's Children, a collection of four stories. He is well-known for his 1940

Barbara Jordan was a U.S. congressional representative from Texas and was the first African American congresswoman to come from the Deep South. Who Was Barbara Jordan? Born on February 21, 1936, in Houston, Texas, Barbara Jordan was a lawyer and educator who was a congresswoman from 1972 to 1978—the first African-American congresswoman to come from the deep South and the first woman ever elected to the Texas Senate (1966). She

Earnest Everett Just was an African-American biologist and educator best known for his pioneering work in the physiology of development, especially in fertilisation. Synopsis Born on August 14, 1883, in Charleston, South Carolina, Earnest Everett Just was an African-American biologist and educator who pioneered many areas on the physiology of development, including fertilisation, experimental parthenogenesis, hydration, cell division, dehydration in living cells and ultraviolet carcinogenic radiation effects on cells. Just's

Dorothy Johnson Vaughan worked as a mathematician on the SCOUT Launch Vehicle Program that sent America’s first satellites into space. Who Was Dorothy Johnson Vaughan? Dorothy Johnson Vaughan was an African American mathematics teacher who became one of the leading mathematical engineers in early days of the aerospace industry. After the U.S. defence industry desegregated, Vaughan worked with leading computer operators and engineers, becoming an expert in the FORTRAN programming

Marsha P. Johnson was an African American transgender woman and revolutionary LGBTQ rights activist. She is credited for being an instigator in the Stonewall riots. Who Was Marsha P. Johnson? Marsha P. Johnson was an African American transgender women who was an LGBTQ rights activist and an outspoken advocate for trans people of colour. Johnson spearheaded the Stonewall uprising in 1969 and along with Sylvia Rivera, she later established the

Born in Accra in the Gold Coast to parents with roots in Barbados, Trinidad and Dominica, she became Britain’s youngest and first Black woman book publisher, when in 1967 she co-founded Allison & Busby with Clive Allison (1944-2011). “We started off with virtually no money and thought we would go into making volumes of poetry accessible and affordable to young people like ourselves. So we printed 15,000 paperback poetry books