Lucy Craft Laney (1854-1933): Life, Major Works and Accomplishments
At a time when African-Americans did not have the luxury of enjoying certain rights and freedoms in the United States, one woman decided to change that. Her name was Lucy...
Category: U.S. History
What was the Great Chicago Fire? – Causes and Cost
The Great Chicago Fire was one of the terrible disasters to ever hit the United States. The conflagration, which began on October 8 1871, lasted for over 40 hours. It...
Onesimus: The enslaved African who introduced inoculation to the United States
On April 22, 1721 a ship from the Caribbean arrived in Boston carrying a sailor with smallpox. Though he was quarantined, it didn’t prevent a smallpox outbreak from ravaging the...
Francis Daniel Pastorius: The German-born educator and social activist famed for his anti-slavery advocacy
On August 20th, 1683, German-born Francis Daniel Pastorius arrived in Pennsylvania from Germany to help set up Germantown, the first permanent German-American settlement, which eventually became a haven for other...
Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955): Founder of the National Council of Negro Women
Mary McLeod Bethune sacrificed a lot in her life to improve the lives of African Americans. Founder of the National Council of Negro Women, the educator spent the majority of...
Bass Reeves (1838 – 1910): The first black deputy U.S. marshal west of the Mississippi River
It’s said that in the late 19th century when the United States’ government needed someone to curb lawlessness in the Indian Territory, Bass Reeves was the man they turned to....
Meet Claudette Colvin – the 15-year-old school girl who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white woman
On March 2, 1955, Claudette Colvin’s life changed forever. During that period, Black Americans in Montgomery, Alabama, and in many other states, were heavily discriminated against due to harsh segregation...
Who was Charles Lindbergh? His Life and Legacy
The year was 1927, nine years after the world experienced perhaps its deadliest conflict up until then, the First World War. While countries were beginning to find their feet after...
What were the Thirteen American Colonies?
Between the 17th and 18th centuries, the British Empire, which was buoyed on by it maritime dominance, continued to expand its territories and presence in North America. They established 13...
Macon Bolling Allen (1816-1894)
In 1844, Macon Bolling Allen excelled in his bar exams which earned him the license to practice law in Maine, United States. By doing so, he became the first American...
Hattie McDaniel: The First African American to win an Oscar
Hattie McDaniel was a trailblazer in the American entertainment industry. At a time when black performers were given limited opportunities in Hollywood, the Kansas-born movie star broke every barrier to...
Tulsa Massacre of 1921: The Race Riot That Devastated America’s “Black Wall Street”.
The days between May 30 – June 1, 1921 were tumultuous days for the African-American residents living in the prosperous Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Following years of racial tension...
Life Story and Major Works of Omar ibn Said, the West African scholar who became a slave in America
In spite of the less-than human conditions that many slaves in America lived, there were quite a good number of them that went on to leave their mark on the...
War of 1812: The First Time the United States Declared War
The United States’ share in the Trans-Atlantic trade began to fall when Britain entered the Napoleonic Wars that had erupted in 1803. Both Britain and France tried to control the...
Cassius Marcellus Clay – Biography, Achievements & Facts about the Emancipationist
Despite being born into a wealthy family of enslavers in the southern United States, Cassius Marcellus Clay rose to become one of the country’s leading slavery abolitionists. Popularly known as...
