African American History & Figures

Tuskegee Airmen (Red Tails)

• Context: Group of African American pilots who fought in World War II.

• Key Points: Booker T. Washington founded the Tuskegee Institute, which trained many of these pilots.

John Brown

• Context: Abolitionist who believed in violent uprisings to end slavery.

• Key Points: Led the raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859.

Ida B. Wells

• Context: African American journalist and activist.

• Key Points: Led anti-lynching campaigns and fought for racial equality

W.E.B. Du Bois

• Context: Co-founder of the NAACP and leading figure in the early civil rights movement.

• Key Points: Advocated for the "Talented Tenth" and believed in political and civil rights for African Americans.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

• Context: Women's rights activist and key figure in the suffrage movement.

• Key Points: Co-organized the Seneca Falls Convention (1848), advocating for women's rights and suffrage.

James Meredith

• Context: First African American to attend the University of Mississippi.

• Key Points: His enrollment sparked riots, but he became an icon for civil rights activism.

Booker T. Washington

• Context: Prominent African American educator and leader.

• Key Points: Founded the Tuskegee Institute and advocated for vocational training and gradual progress for African Americans.

Harriet Beecher Stowe

• Context: Author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852).

• Key Points: Her novel fueled anti-slavery sentiment in the North and helped to ignite the Civil War.

Rosa Parks

• Context: Civil rights activist known for her role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955).

• Key Points: Refused to give up her seat to a white man, sparking a year-long boycott and challenging segregation laws.

Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK)

• Context: Leader of the Civil Rights Movement.

• Key Points: Advocated for nonviolent civil disobedience and led key events like the March on Washington and the Selma to Montgomery marches.

John F. Kennedy (JFK)

• Context: U.S. president during the early 1960s.

• Key Points: Advocated for civil rights and federal intervention in the South. Assassinated in 1963.

Robert F. Kennedy (RFK)

• Context: U.S. senator and civil rights advocate.

• Key Points: Strong supporter of civil rights and fought for racial justice, assassinated in 1968.

Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ)

• Context: U.S. president during the Civil Rights Movement.

• Key Points: Signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965, which aimed to end racial discrimination.

Alice Paul

• Context: Women’s suffrage leader and key figure in the fight for the 19th Amendment.

• Key Points: Founded the National Woman’s Party and advocated for a more militant approach to women’s rights.

Schwermer, Chamey, Goodman

• Context: Civil rights workers who were murdered in the South during the Freedom Summer of 1964.

• Key Points: Their deaths highlighted the violent opposition to civil rights activism.

Ralph Abernathy

• Context: Civil rights leader and close ally of Martin Luther King Jr.

• Key Points: President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) after MLK’s death.