Richard ‘Rush’ Allen (1760–1831). Minister, educator and writer. Founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), the first independent black denomination in the United States.
Henry Plummer Cheatham (1857-1935). Educator, farmer and politician. Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina.
Robert Reed Church Sr. (1839-1912). Entrepreneur, businessman and landowner in Memphis. He founded Solvent Savings Bank, the first black-owned bank, which extended credit to blacks.
Joseph Carter Corbin (1833-1911). Journalist, educator and conductor on the Underground Railroad. He later served as superintendent and principal of public Arkansas schools.
Alexander Crummell (1819-1898). A minister, academic, African nationalist and lecturer. He established the first independent black episcopal church in Washington, D.C.
Frederick Douglass (1818-1895). Social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He was a firm believer in the equality of all peoples and took on suffrage causes.
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868-1963). Historian, civil rights activist, writer and founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Wesley John Gaines (1840-1912). Bishop and community leader in Georgia. Vice president of Payne Theological Seminary and co-founder of Morris Brown College.
R. F. Hurley. A minister, addresses the question of the influence of black culture on the United States. He asks blacks and whites to confront the past honestly and to learn to live together on an equal basis.
William Decker Johnson (1869-1936).
Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and founder of Johnson Home Industrial College in Archery, Georgia.
John. M. Langston (1829 -1897). Abolitionist, attorney, educator, activist, diplomat and politician. The first dean of the law school at Howard University and the first president of what is now Virginia State University.
Emanuel K. Love (1850-1900). Minister and leader in the Baptist church in Savannah as well as civil rights advocate involved with anti-lynching laws. He advocated for black leadership of Baptist institutions, especially schools.
Edward H. Morris (1858-1943). Lawyer and social activist. He was the fifth African American lawyer admitted to the Illinois Bar and was a member of the Illinois House of Representatives.
Gertrude Emily Hicks Bustill Mossell (1855-1948). Journalist, author, teacher, and activist. She strongly supported black newspapers and advocated for more women to enter journalism.
William R. Pettiford (1847-1914). A minister and banker in Birmingham. He founded the Alabama Penny Savings Bank, which played an important role in black economic development in the South.
Harry T. Pratt. Author, civil rights advocate. Advocates for practical education and gainful employment and sees black suffrage at the heart of the "race problem."
Joseph Charles Price (1854-1893) Orator and founder and first president of Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina. A leader of African Americans in the southern United States.
William Paul Quinn (1788-1873). The fourth bishop of the A.M.E. Church, the first independent black denomination in the United States based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Doctor John Anthony Savage (1857-1933). Minister and principal of the Albion Academy in North Carolina. He dedicated his life to the education and spiritual instruction of black youth in North Carolina.
Mary Church Terrell (1863-1954).
Civil rights and suffrage activist and educator. One of the first African American women to earn a college degree, she went on to help found the National Association of Colored Women and the National Association of College Women.
Carrie A. Tuggle (1858-1924). Educator, philanthropist, and social activist. She sought equality in education and the right to vote. She established the Tuggle Institute for black children who were destitute orphans and juvenile defendants.
