activists, scholars, and politicians “we are made by history.” —martin luther king, jr
TRANSCRIPT
Activists, Scholars, and Politicians
“We are made by history.” —Martin Luther King, Jr.
Activists, Scholars, and Politicians
Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson Dred Scott Sojourner Truth Frederick Douglass Harriet Tubman Booker T. Washington Ida B. Wells-Barnett W.E.B. Du Bois Thurgood Marshall Rosa Parks Malcolm X Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Medgar Evers Colin Powell Dr. Condoleezza Rice
Roy Wilkins with a few of the 250,000 participants on the Mall heading for the Lincoln Memorial in the NAACP March on Washington on August 28, 1963. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-USZ62-77160]
Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson
Woodson was born on December 19, 1875, in New Canton, Virginia, to former slaves James and Eliza Woodson.
He worked as a miner in the Fayette County, West Virginia, coal mines and could not afford to attend school on a full-time basis.
Finally, at the age of 20, he entered Douglass High School in Huntington, West Virginia, earning his diploma in only two years.
1875–1950
Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson
Woodson earned degrees from Berea College, the Sorbonne, the University of Chicago, and Harvard University.
In 1912, he became the second African American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard.
He worked diligently as an educator—first as principal of his high school alma mater—and later at both the high school and college level.
Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson
Woodson served in many capacities as a scholar and a leader, including supervisor of the schools in the Philippines, a high school language teacher in Washington, D.C., and Dean of the Schools of Liberal Arts at Howard University and West Virginia State College.
Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson
Woodson founded The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) in 1915 in an effort to promote the history and culture of African Americans.
He established Negro History Week in 1926, a celebration of African American history and culture, which evolved into Black History Month in 1976.
Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson
His other achievements include publishing the Journal of Negro History and the Negro History Bulletin, which remains in publication as the Black History Bulletin.
Woodson’s additional contributions include organizing the Associated Publishers in 1920 and writing many scholarly texts on important African American issues.
Dred Scott
Born into slavery in Southampton County, Virginia, Dred Scott—and his legendary lawsuit—served as one of many catalysts to the Civil War.
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-US-262-5092-307977]
1795–1858
Dred Scott
After being transported from a slave territory to a free territory (and back again), Scott sued his slaveholder for false imprisonment and battery, claiming that his time spent in a free territory made him a free man.
Scott’s case made its way to the Supreme Court of the United States just as sectional conflict and political tensions flared over the issue of slavery. The Court delivered its decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford in 1857.
Dred Scott
On March 6, 1857, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney delivered the majority opinion.
Taney ruled against Scott, claiming that African Americans were not citizens and could not participate in the judicial process.
Further, the Court’s decision called the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional.
Dred Scott
Despite losing his case before the Supreme Court of the United States, Dred Scott eventually won his freedom.
On May 26, 1857, Dred Scott’s owner freed him. Scott remained in St. Louis, Missouri, until his death on September 17, 1858.
Sojourner Truth
Isabella Van Wagener was born into slavery in Ulster County, New York.
After escaping to New York City in 1927, she became active as a high-spirited suffragist and abolitionist.
1797–1883
President Lincoln shows Sojourner Truth the Bible presented by the Colored People of Baltimore.Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-US262-16225]
Sojourner Truth
Isabella left New York in 1843, taking the name Sojourner Truth.
Truth’s reputation for charismatic speeches and preaching drew large crowds.
She supported herself through the sale of her book, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth.
Sojourner Truth
Truth’s constant activism included gathering supplies for black volunteer regiments of the Civil War. In the nation’s capitol, she helped integrate street cars and aid refugees.
In 1864, Truth accepted a position with the National Freedmen’s Relief Association, where she counseled former slaves.
Truth settled in Battle Creek, Michigan, where she remained until her death on November 26, 1883.
Frederick Douglass
Known as one of the most influential human rights leaders of the 19th century, Douglass, who was born into slavery, became one of the first black U.S. citizens to hold a high-ranking office in the U.S. government.
1817–1895
Frederick Douglass, American AbolitionistLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-US262-24165]
Frederick Douglass Douglass was born Frederick Augustus Washington
Bailey on February 7, 1817, at Holme Hill Farm in Talbot County, Maryland.
In 1838, he escaped from slavery, fleeing to New York and later Massachusetts. In an effort to escape slave hunters, Frederick changed his last name to Douglass.
After delivering a moving, eloquent speech at an 1841 antislavery convention, Douglass was asked to be an agent for the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society.
Frederick Douglass
From that point forward, Douglass was a tireless supporter of the Abolitionist Movement.
In 1845, Douglass published the first of three autobiographies, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, and was forced to flee to England to avoid being recaptured by his owner, whose name he mentioned in his book.
British supporters purchased Douglass’s freedom from Hugh Auld in 1846, and he returned to the United States as a free man.
Frederick Douglass
During the Civil War, he served as a consultant to President Abraham Lincoln.
Once the war ended, he advocated civil rights for freedmen and women’s rights.
Douglass’s posts included assistant secretary of the Santo Domingo Commission, president of the Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company, U.S. Marshall of the District of Columbia, and Minister to Haiti.
Frederick Douglass
Douglass’s literary contributions include his three autobiographies:
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick DouglassMy Bondage and My Freedom Life and Times of Frederick Douglass
He also published an antislavery newspaper, known as the North Star, from 1847 to 1860.
Douglass died in 1895 at his home in Cedar Hill, Anacostia.
Harriet Tubman
Araminta Ross was born into slavery around 1820 in Dorchester County, Maryland. She later changed her name to Harriet in honor of her mother.
1820–1913
Harriet TubmanLibrary of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-USZ62-7816]
Harriet Tubman
Harriet’s childhood was stable, and she grew up in a loving and religious family. She married John Tubman in 1844.
Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery to Pennsylvania in 1849, where she began planning how she would free the rest of her family from slavery. Within eight years, she had freed her entire family, including her mother and father.
Harriet Tubman
Tubman began working to free other slaves—a mission that brought her into contact with other abolitionists, including John Brown, William H. Seward, Susan B. Anthony, William Still, and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
She became even more active in 1775, working with the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage, and for Improving the Condition of the African Race.
Harriet Tubman As a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad, she
made at least 19 trips into the South, helping to free around 300 slaves.
She worked as both a nurse and a spy during the Civil War, returning to Auburn, New York, after the war had ended.
After the war, Tubman worked with women’s groups in the continued struggle for women’s rights. In 1896, she served as a delegate for the National Federation of Afro-American Women.
Harriet Tubman
In 1908, she opened the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged and Indigent Colored People in Auburn, New York.
Sadly, Tubman lived out the last two years of her life as a resident of this home. She died of pneumonia on March 10, 1913.
Harriet Tubman, full-length portrait, seated in chair, facing front, probably at her home in Auburn, New York. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-DIG-ppmsca-02909]
Harriet Tubman
Her life’s work was honored posthumously at a memorial service in Auburn, New York, where Booker T. Washington delivered the address.
During World War II, in her honor a liberty ship was christened the Harriet Tubman by Eleanor Roosevelt.
In 1978, the U.S. Postal Service issued a Harriet Tubman commemorative stamp as its first stamp in the Black Heritage Series.
Booker T. Washington
Booker Taliaferro was born into slavery on April 5, 1856 in Franklin County, Virginia.
As a young boy, he attended school and worked in the salt mines of Malden, West Virginia.
1856–1915
Booker T. Washington (1902)Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-US262-3444]
Booker T. Washington
Booker became confused and embarrassed when his teacher called attendance, thinking he did not have two names like the other children. He quickly added “Washington” to his name, changing his name to Booker Taliaferro Washington.
Booker T. Washington
In 1872, Washington entered Hampton Institute, where he studied college-level courses and masonry while working as the Institute’s janitor.
He graduated from Hampton Institute in 1876. In 1879, he returned to serve on its faculty and was charged with the education of 100 Native American students.
In 1881, he founded the Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama.
Booker T. Washington
From 1881 to 1915 Washington led the Institute, which became a pioneer in agricultural learning and extension.
He believed that learning a trade was crucial for African Americans.
Carnegie Library, Tuskegee Institute, AlabamaLibrary of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Detroit Publishing Company Collection, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-D4-10865]
Booker T. Washington Washington delivered his famous
Atlanta Compromise speech in 1895, expressing his views on race and education.
White leaders in the North and South were pleased with Washington's speech, but black intellectuals feared that Washington's philosophy would result in blacks’ indefinite subservience to whites.
This fear led to the Niagara Movement and to the founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Booker T. Washington
In 1900, Washington founded the National Negro Business League.
He died in 1915; his birthplace is a national monument.
The Booker T. Washington launched on September 29, 1942.
Construction of the liberty ship "Booker T. Washington." The "Booker T. Washington," first liberty ship to be named for a Negro, is shown being rushed to completion on one of the ways of the California Shipbuilding Corporation.Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-USF34-9058-C]
Ida B. Wells
Ida. Bell Wells was born into slavery in Holly Springs, Mississippi, just six months before the Emancipation Proclamation freed all slaves.
1862–1931
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-USF34-9058-C]
Ida B. Wells
In 1878, when she was only sixteen, her parents and some siblings died from yellow fever, leaving Wells to raise her younger brothers and sisters. She worked as a teacher to support her family.
In 1887, she was offered—and accepted—a position and part ownership with the newspaper Memphis Free Speech and Headlight.
Ida B. Wells
An anti-lynching advocate, Wells ran an editorial blaming Memphis’s white community for the death of three African Americans in 1892. She left town before the paper hit the streets.
Forced to become a journalist in exile, Wells took on the pen name “Iola.”
Ida B. Wells
In 1895, Wells settled in Chicago, where she married Frederick Barnett, a lawyer and newspaper owner.
Throughout the 1890s and early 1900s, Wells ran anti-lynching campaigns. She also joined the women’s rights movement, fighting for the right to vote.
Ida B. Wells
Wells died in 1931. Chicago honored her contributions to the city by naming a public housing project after her.
Chicago, Illinois. Ida B. Wells housing project. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-USF34-9058-C]
W.E.B. Du Bois
Du Bois was a scholar, an important leader in the 20th century African American protest movement, and an advocate of Pan-Africanism.
1868–1963
W.E.B. Du BoisLibrary of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Carl Van Vechten Collection, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-USZ62-36176 ]
W.E.B. Du Bois
Notably, Du Bois is the first in this series of activists, scholars, and politicians who was not born into slavery.
He was born on February 23, 1868, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.
Du Bois graduated as valedictorian of his high school and went on to obtain a number of degrees from colleges and universities.
W.E.B. Du Bois
These degrees included a Bachelor of Arts from Fisk University in 1888 and a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1895.
His Harvard dissertation and a study conducted while he was a professor of the University of Pennsylvania are considered his two greatest works:
The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America, 1638–1870The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study (1899)
W.E.B. Du Bois
His goals were to gain equal treatment for African Americans in a society dominated by whites and to dispel through research what he believed was the myth of racial inferiority.
Du Bois was one of many African American intellectuals who disagreed with the popular views of Booker T. Washington.
In 1905, Du Bois founded the Niagara Movement as an opposition force to Washington’s philosophy.
W.E.B. Du Bois
In 1909, Du Bois helped to found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
From 1910 to 1934, Du Bois was the NAACP director of publicity and research, a member of the board of directors, and editor of The Crisis, the NAACP’s monthly magazine.
W.E.B. Du Bois
In 1934, Du Bois resigned from his positions and returned to teach at Atlanta University—where he founded the magazine Phylon—for a decade before returning to the NAACP.
Having always considered himself a Socialist, Du Bois also identified with Russian causes—a political view that resulted in his being indicted as a spy. The charges were eventually dropped.
W.E.B. Du Bois
In 1961, outraged and disenchanted with the United States, Du Bois moved to Ghana and joined the Communist Party.
Du Bois died in Ghana on August 27, 1963—the night before the famous March on Washington.
Thurgood Marshall
Marshall became the first African American appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States, a post he held from 1967 to 1991.
1908–1993
Thurgood Marshall
He was born and raised in Baltimore and graduated with honors from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania.
Marshall graduated first in his class from Howard University Law School in Washington, D.C., in 1933.
In 1936 he joined the legal staff of the NAACP and soon became its chief counsel, or head attorney. In this capacity, he argued more than 30 cases before the Supreme Court, most of which he won.
Thurgood Marshall
Perhaps Marshall’s most important victory was Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954). This landmark case declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional, overturning the Court’s 1896 decision in Plessy v. Ferguson.
Before becoming a Supreme Court justice, Marshall served on the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals and later as solicitor general of the United States.
Rosa Parks
An important civil rights leader, Rosa Parks was born in Tuskegee, Alabama. She attended Alabama State College and made her living as a seamstress.
1913–
Rosa Parks, three-quarter length portrait, seated toward front of bus, facing right, Montgomery, Alabama Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-USZ62-111235]
Rosa Parks
Early in her life, Parks became active in the Montgomery Voters League and the NAACP Youth Council. She eventually became secretary of the Montgomery branch of the NAACP.
Her greatest contribution to the civil rights movement began in December 1955. Parks violated segregation laws by refusing to give up her seat on a bus for a white person.
Rosa Parks
After the police arrested her, Martin Luther King, Jr., organized a massive boycott of the bus system.
Woman fingerprinted. Mrs. Rosa Parks, Negro seamstress, whose refusal to move to the back of a bus touched off the bus boycott in Montgomery, Ala.Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-USZ62-109643]
Rosa Parks
In 1956, segregated seating on buses was challenged in court and soon was ruled unconstitutional. Buses were officially desegregated.
Parks moved to Michigan, where she continued to work as a seamstress and a fundraiser for the NAACP. In 1987, she founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development, which offered guidance to young African Americans.
Malcolm X Malcolm X was born
Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska. He had a tragic childhood. The Ku Klux Klan burned down his house, his father was murdered, and his mother was placed in a mental institution.
1925–1965
Malcolm X at Queens Court / World Telegram & Sun photo by Herman Hiller.Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-USZ62-119478]
Malcolm X
As a teen, he moved to Boston where he was imprisoned for burglary. While in prison, he converted to Islam and joined the Black Muslim movement (Nation of Islam).
Malcolm soon became the most prominent spokesperson for the Nation of Islam. He founded many mosques and greatly increased the movement’s membership.
Malcolm X
Malcolm X spoke powerfully and effectively against white exploitation of African Americans. He opposed the civil rights movement and instead encouraged black separatism and self-dependence.
His support of violence in self-defense was rejected by many civil rights leaders, who thought he was a fanatic. In 1964, he left the Nation of Islam after a dispute with its leader.
Malcolm X
In April 1964, he made a pilgrimage to Mecca, where he reaffirmed his Islamic faith. He also modified his views on black separatism and decided on a vision of world brotherhood.
In 1965, he was shot to death during a rally with his followers. Three Nation of Islam members were convicted of the crime.
Medgar Wiley Evers
Another civil rights leader, Evers began his career serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. During his service, he fought in France and Germany.
1925–1963
Medgar Evers, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing right, wearing jacket and tie.Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-USZ62-109400]
Medgar Wiley Evers Evers earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from
Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College in Mississippi. While there, he married Myrlie Beasley, with whom he had three children.
Soon after graduation, Evers became highly active in the NAACP and organized local groups in his home city of Philadelphia, Mississippi.
In 1954, he was appointed Mississippi's first field secretary for the NAACP.
Medgar Wiley Evers
Evers conducted campaigns to register African American voters in his home state and organized boycotts of companies that practiced racial discrimination.
His boycott of Jackson merchants in the early 1960s and his efforts to have James Meredith admitted to the University of Mississippi in 1962 attracted national attention.
Medgar Wiley Evers
Evers and his family were continually threatened by racists, who firebombed his house in May 1963. In June 1963, he was murdered outside his home. He received a military funeral at Arlington National Cemetery.
Mrs. Medgar Evers with her children at Medgar Evers' grave, Arlington National cemetery.Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-USZ62-119494
Medgar Wiley Evers
Although a suspect for the murder was quickly found (Byron de la Beckwith), Beckwith survived two trials. Finally, in 1994, a third trial using new witnesses resulted in Beckwith’s conviction.
Evers’ wife, Myrlie, was elected chairwoman of the board of directors of the NAACP in 1995.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was born “Michael Luther” on January 15, 1929 and became the greatest force behind the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.
1929–1968
Roy Wilkins with a few of the 250,000 participants on the Mall heading for the Lincoln Memorial in the NAACP march on Washington on August 28, 1963. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-USZ62-77160]
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
King received a Bachelor degree in sociology from Morehouse College and studied religion at Crozer Theological Seminary.
He continued his studies in religion at Boston University. While in Boston, he met Coretta Scott. The couple married in 1953.
The Kings settled in Alabama, and in 1954 King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In 1957, Dr. King rose from local to national leadership. On January 11, he became chairman of the Southern Negro Leaders Conference on Transportation and Nonviolent Integration, a group that was later renamed Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Despite rising tensions and setbacks, King continued his activism for more than a decade.
On August 28, 1963, more than 250,000 demonstrators joined the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
Dr. King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech, which remains one of the most moving speeches in American history.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
On April 4, 1968, Dr. King was shot to death on the balcony of his motel in Memphis, Tennessee.
His murder set off rioting across the United States. Dozens of people were killed, and National Guard and federal troops were needed to restore order.
President Johnson declared a national day of mourning on April 9—the day Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was buried.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Many who had heard Dr. King speak on April 3 recalled his eerily prophetic words: I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go to the mountain. And I've looked
over, and I've seen the Promised Land! I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the Promised Land.
On April 11, President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968. It did not create a promised land for African Americans, but it did bring them closer.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In 1986—fifteen years after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was murdered—President Ronald Reagan declared the third Monday in January a federal holiday honoring Dr. King's birthday.
Dr. King is entombed on Freedom Plaza, which is located in Atlanta, Georgia, and surrounded by the Freedom Hall Complex of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Historic Site.
Colin Powell
Colin Powell is one of the most prominent African American leaders of our time. He was appointed Secretary of State of the United States in 2001.
1937–
Colin L. Powell, full-length portrait, standing, facing left] / Official White House photograph. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-USZC4-2965
Colin Powell
The son of Jamaican immigrants, he was born on April 5, 1937, in New York City.
Powell attended City College of New York, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in geology in 1958.
During college he distinguished himself in the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. He graduated with the rank of cadet colonel, the highest rank awarded.
Colin Powell
Powell was commissioned a second lieutenant in the army, serving first in West Germany and later as a military adviser in South Vietnam in 1962.
While in service, he was wounded in action. Later he received the Soldier’s Medal for rescuing other soldiers from a burning helicopter.
Colin Powell
Powell received a Master’s degree in business in 1971 from George Washington University, and he worked for the White House in the Office of Management and Budget from 1972 to 1973.
Powell continued to move up through the military ranks, receiving the rank of major general and serving as military assistant to the secretary of defense.
Colin Powell
Powell was chosen to serve as national security adviser in 1987.
In 1989, he was promoted to the rank of four star general and became the first African American chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the most prestigious military post in the country. In this position he coordinated U.S. efforts during Desert Storm.
Dr. Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice—born in the segregated South—has broken many barriers.
She was the youngest person, the first woman, and the first African American to hold the position of provost in Stanford University’s 110-year history.
In 2001, she became the first female national security adviser in U.S. history.
1954–
Dr. Condoleezza Rice
From 1989 to 1991, Rice served as Senior Director of Soviet and East European Affairs in the National Security Council and as Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs under the first Bush Administration.
Her education includes a Bachelor degree in political science from the University of Denver, a Master’s degree from the University of Notre Dame, and a Ph.D. from the University of Denver.
On Your Own
Research the Internet to learn more about African American activists, scholars,and politicians, including:
Rep. Maxine Waters Kofi Annan Rep. Harold Ford H. Carl McCall Jesse Jackson, Jr. Shirley Chisholm Louis Farrakhan Marcus Garvey Alex Haley Charlayne Hunter-Gault Ralph David Abernathy Benjamin Banneker