Famous Faces From Black History

Maya%20Angelou%20is%20an%20accomplished%20poet%2C%20memoirist%2C%20playwright%2C%20and%20civil%20rights%20activist%2C%20Angelou%20has%20been%20widely%20recognized%20for%20her%20work.%20%28Photo%20by%20Kris%20Connor%2FGetty%20Images%29

Toni%20Morrison%20is%20a%20Nobel%20Prize-winning%20author%2C%20editor%2C%20and%20professor.%20Her%20novels%20are%20known%20for%20their%20epic%20themes%2C%20vivid%20dialogue%2C%20and%20richly%20detailed%20African%20American%20characters.%20She%20won%20the%20Pulitzer%20Prize%20for%20Fiction%20in%201988%20for%20her%20novel%20%26%238220%3BBeloved%26%238221%3B.%20In%202001%20she%20was%20named%20one%20of%20the%20%26%238220%3B30%20Most%20Powerful%20Women%20in%20America%26%238221%3B%20by%20Ladies%26%238217%3B%20Home%20Journal.%20%28Photo%20Credit%3A%20AP%29

Martin%20Luther%20King%20Jr.is%20the%20best%20known%20leader%20of%20the%20Civil%20Rights%20struggle.%20He%20believed%20in%20peaceful%20protests%20to%20bring%20about%20change.%20He%20had%20a%20dream%20that%20one%20day%20Americans%20would%20not%20judge%20each%20other%20by%20their%20skin%20color%2C%20but%20by%20what%20they%20are%20like%20as%20people.%20%28Photo%20Credit%3A%20AP%29

Louis%20%26%238220%3BSatchmo%26%238221%3B%20Armstrong%20and%20his%20Orchestra%20was%20one%20of%20the%20most%20popular%20bands%20in%20Jazz%20history%20and%20one%20of%20the%20driving%20forces%20of%20Swing%20style%20that%20came%20to%20dominate%20popular%20music%20of%20the%201930s%20and%201940s.

Jack%20Roosevelt%20%26%238220%3BJackie%26%238221%3B%20Robinson%20became%20the%20first%20African-American%20major%20league%20baseball%20player%20of%20the%20modern%20era%20in%201947.%20While%20not%20the%20first%20African%20American%20professional%20baseball%20player%20in%20United%20States%20history%2C%20his%20Major%20League%20debut%20with%20the%20Brooklyn%20Dodgers%20ended%20approximately%20eighty%20years%20of%20baseball%20segregation%2C%20also%20known%20as%20the%20baseball%20color%20line.%20%28Photo%20credit%3A%20AP%29

This%20file%20photo%20dated%2028%20November%2C%201999%20shows%20US%20civil%20rights%20icon%20Rosa%20Parks%20waving%20to%20the%20audience%20before%20receiving%20the%20Congessional%20Medal%20of%20Honor%20at%20a%20ceremony%20in%20Detroit.%20Rosa%20Parks%20is%20generally%20considered%20the%20Mother%20of%20the%20Civil%20Rights%20Movement.%20Her%20refusal%20to%20give%20up%20her%20seat%20on%20a%20bus%20to%20a%20white%20passenger%20triggered%20the%201955-56%20Montgomery%20bus%20boycott.%20%28Photo%20credit%3A%20JEFF%20KOWALSKY%2FAFP%2FGetty%20Images%29

Barack%20Obama%20became%20the%2044th%20president%20of%20the%20United%20States%20on%20January%2C%2020th%2C%202009%20and%20the%20first%20African%20American%20President%20in%20the%20history%20of%20the%20U.S.%20%28Photo%20credit%3A%20AP%29

Jesse%20Jackson%2C%20Sr.%20is%20an%20American%20civil%20rights%20activist%20and%20Baptist%20minister.%20He%20was%20a%20candidate%20for%20the%20Democratic%20presidential%20nomination%20in%201984%20and%201988%20and%20served%20as%20%26%238220%3Bshadow%20senator%26%238221%3B%20for%20the%20District%20of%20Columbia%20from%201991%20to%201997.%20%28Photo%20by%20Oli%20Scarff%2FGetty%20Images%29%20

Thurgood%20Marshall%20was%20the%20first%20African-American%20justice%20of%20the%20US%20Supreme%20Court.%20Marshall%20was%20on%20the%20team%20of%20lawyers%20in%20the%20historic%20Supreme%20Court%20trial%20concerning%20school%20desegregation%2C%20Brown%20v.%20Board%20of%20Education%20%281954%29.%20As%20a%20result%20of%20this%20trial%2C%20the%20%26%238220%3Bseparate%20but%20equal%26%238221%3B%20doctrine%20in%20public%20education%20was%20overthrown.%20After%20a%20successful%20career%20as%20a%20lawyer%20and%20judge%20fighting%20for%20civil%20rights%20and%20women%26%238217%3Bs%20rights%2C%20Marshall%20was%20appointed%20to%20the%20high%20court%20in%201967..%20On%20the%20high%20court%2C%20Marshall%20continued%20his%20fight%20for%20human%20rights%20until%20he%20retired%20in%201991.%20%28Photo%20credit%3A%20AP%29

Sojourner%20Truth%20was%20an%20American%20preacher%20who%20dedicated%20her%20life%20to%20fighting%20for%20civil%20and%20human%20rights.%20She%20was%20born%20a%20slave%20in%20New%20York%20State%2C%20but%20was%20freed%20in%201827.%20After%20becoming%20a%20preacher%2C%20she%20campaigned%20for%20the%20abolition%20of%20slavery%20and%20for%20women%26%238217%3Bs%20rights.%20During%20the%20US%20Civil%20War%2C%20she%20helped%20black%20Union%20soldiers%20obtain%20supplies%20and%20also%20worked%20as%20a%20counselor%20for%20the%20National%20Freedom%20Relief%20Association.%20%28Photo%20credit%3A%20AP%29

Shirley%20Chisholm%20was%20the%20first%20African-American%20woman%20elected%20to%20the%20US%20Congress.%20After%20being%20a%20teacher%20and%20serving%20as%20a%20New%20York%20state%20assemblywoman%2C%20Chisolm%20was%20elected%20as%20a%20Democrat%20to%20the%20House%20of%20Representatives.%20She%20served%20in%20Congress%20for%20seven%20terms%2C%20from%20January%203%2C%201969%2C%20until%20January%203%2C%201983.%20In%201972%2C%20Chisholm%20was%20the%20first%20African-American%20woman%20to%20run%20for%20a%20major-party%20presidential%20nomination.%20During%20her%20long%20political%20career%2C%20she%20fought%20for%20the%20rights%20of%20women%20and%20minorities.

Oprah%20Winfrey%20revolutionized%20the%20talk%20show%20market%20with%20her%20unique%20and%20natural%20style%20and%20rose%20to%20become%20the%20host%20of%20the%20most%20watched%20daytime%20show%20on%20television.%20She%20is%20the%20first%20African%20American%20to%20own%20her%20own%20TV%20studio.%20The%20multitalented%20Winfrey%20is%20also%20a%20millionaire%20businesswoman%2C%20a%20talented%20actress%2C%20owner%20of%20a%20movie%20production%20company%2C%20and%20committed%20philanthropist.%20%28Photo%20credit%3A%20AP%29

Medgar%20Evers%20was%20a%20prominent%20voice%20in%20the%20struggle%20for%20civil%20rights%20in%20Mississippi.%20He%20was%20assassinated%20in%20the%20driveway%20of%20his%20Mississippi%20home%20June%2012%2C%201963%20by%20KKK%20member%20Byron%20De%20La%20Beckwith.%20%28Photo%20credit%3A%20AP%29

Poet%2C%20playwright%20and%20novelist%20Langston%20Hughes%20wrote%20in%20many%20literary%20genres%20but%20he%20always%20considered%20himself%20a%20poet%20first.%20Hughes%20was%20best%20known%20for%20his%20work%20during%20the%20Harlem%20Renaissance%20and%20is%20now%20considered%20one%20of%20the%20most%20important%20American%20writers%20of%20the%2020th%20century.%20%28Photo%20Credit%3A%20AP%29

James%20Cleveland%20%26%238220%3BJesse%26%238221%3B%20Owens%20was%20an%20African%20American%20track%20and%20field%20athlete.%20He%20sprinted%20his%20way%20into%20the%20history%20books%20with%20his%20stunning%20victories%20and%20achievement%20of%20four%20gold%20medals%20at%20the%201936%20Olympic%20Summer%20Games%20in%20Berlin%2C%20Germany.%20He%20was%20awarded%20the%20Presidential%20Medal%20of%20Freedom%20in%201976.%20%28Photo%20credit%3A%20AP%29

Ida%20B.%20Wells%20Barnett%20was%20born%20to%20slave%20parents%20in%20Holly%20Springs%2C%20Mississippi%20in%201892.%20She%20was%20an%20anti-lynch%20crusader%20and%20the%20Co-Founder%20of%20the%20NAACP.%20%28Photo%20credit%3A%20Encyclopedia%20Britannica%20Online%29

Harriet%20Tubman%20was%20a%20slave%20who%20escaped%20from%20captivity%20and%20made%20thirteen%20missions%20to%20rescue%20more%20than%20three%20hundred%20slaves%20on%20the%20Underground%20Railroad.%20She%20is%20also%20the%20first%20African-American%20to%20be%20honored%20on%20a%20U.S.%20Stamp%20in%201978.%20%28Photo%20credit%3A%20AP%29

One%20of%20the%2020th%20century%26%238217%3Bs%20greatest%20scientists%2C%20George%20Washington%20Carver%26%238217%3Bs%20influence%20is%20still%20being%20felt%20today.%20Rising%20from%20slavery%20to%20become%20one%20of%20the%20world%26%238217%3Bs%20most%20respected%20and%20honored%20men%2C%20he%20devoted%20his%20life%20to%20understanding%20nature%20and%20the%20many%20uses%20for%20the%20simplest%20of%20plant%20life.%20He%20is%20best%20known%20for%20developing%20crop-rotation%20methods%20for%20conserving%20nutrients%20in%20soil%20and%20discovering%20hundreds%20of%20new%20uses%20for%20crops%20such%20as%20the%20peanut.%20%28Photo%20credit%3A%20AP%29

Frederick%20Douglass%20was%20one%20of%20the%20foremost%20leaders%20of%20the%20abolitionist%20movement%2C%20which%20fought%20to%20end%20slavery%20within%20the%20United%20States%20in%20the%20decades%20prior%20to%20the%20Civil%20War.%20He%20was%20also%20an%20editor%2C%20orator%2C%20author%2C%20statesman%20and%20reformer%20and%20became%20recognized%20as%20one%20of%20the%20America%26%238217%3Bs%20first%20great%20black%20speakers.%20%28Photo%20credit%3A%20AP%29

Duke%20Ellington%2C%201899-1974%2C%20is%20regarded%20as%20one%20of%20the%20most%20important%20composers%20and%20performers%20in%20jazz%20music%20during%20the%2020th%20Century.%20%28Photo%20credit%3A%20AP%29

Bob%20Moore%20%28l%29%2C%20historian%20for%20the%20National%20Parks%20Service%2C%20points%20to%20drawing%20of%20Dred%20Scott%20and%20his%20wife%20Harriet%20%28r-l%29%2C%20slaves%20who%20sued%20unsuccessfully%20for%20their%20freedom%20in%20the%20famous%20Dred%20Scott%20v.%20Sandford%20case%20of%201856.%20%20%28Photo%20credit%3A%20AP%29

Carter%20G.%20Woodson%20is%20known%20as%20the%20%26%238220%3BFather%20of%20Black%20History.%26%238221%3B%20He%20devoted%20his%20life%20to%20researching%2C%20publishing%2C%20and%20increasing%20public%20awareness%20of%20black%20history.%20He%20founded%20Negro%20History%20Week%20in%201926%20and%20it%26%238217%3Bs%20now%20known%20as%20Black%20History%20Month.%20%28photo%20credit%3A%20Blackhistorymonthlogo.com%29

Booker%20T.%20Washington%20was%20an%20American%20educator%2C%20author%20and%20leader%20of%20the%20African%20American%20community.%20He%20was%20freed%20from%20slavery%20as%20a%20child%2C%20gained%20an%20education%2C%20and%20after%20the%20Civil%20War%2C%20became%20founder%20and%20first%20principal%20of%20the%20Tuskegee%20Institute.%20From%20this%20position%20of%20leadership%20he%20rose%20into%20a%20nationally%20prominent%20role%20as%20spokesman%20for%20African%20Americans.%20%28Photo%20credit%3A%20AP%29

M.%20Athalie%20Range%20was%20a%20civil%20rights%20activist%20and%20politician%20who%20was%20the%20first%20African-American%20to%20serve%20on%20the%20Miami%20City%20Commission%2C%20and%20the%20first%20African-American%20since%20Reconstruction.%20In%201971%2C%20newly%20elected%20Florida%20Governor%20Reubin%20Askew%20appointed%20Range%20as%20Secretary%20of%20the%20Department%20of%20Community%20Affairs%2C%20the%20first%20woman%20to%20head%20a%20Florida%20state%20agency.%20Range%20was%20inducted%20into%20the%20Florida%20Women%26%238217%3Bs%20Hall%20of%20Fame%20in%201997.%20%28Photo%20credit%3A%20CBS%29

William%20E.B.%20Du%20Bois%20is%20among%20the%20most%20influential%20blacks%20of%20the%20twentieth%20century.%20He%20was%20an%20African%20American%20civil%20rights%20activist%2C%20editor%2C%20author%20and%20he%20helped%20found%20the%20National%20Association%20for%20the%20Advancement%20of%20Colored%20People%20%28NAACP%29.%20%20%28Photo%20credit%3A%20AP%29