Born free in Baltimore, Harper was an abolitionist, suffragist, poet, teacher, public speaker, and writer.
She helped slaves make their way along the Underground Railroad to Canada. In 1894, she co-founded the National Association of Colored Women.

Robert Abbot was the founder of The Chicago Defender, a black newspaper that paved the way for other black publications like Jet and Ebony. Abbot was one of the nation's most prominent post-slavery black millionaires. 

After being the first black woman to graduate from Yale Law School, Jane Bolin became the first female African American judge. She served on New York's family court for forty years.

Paul Robeson was a cultural icon. The singer, actor, athlete, and activist took a strong stance during the Civil Rights Movement.

Maurice Ashley is the first African American to be named a chess Grandmaster and the first black player ever in the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame.

Wangari Maathai became the first black woman to win the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize for her environmental work. She was also the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree.

Lonnie Johnson, a former engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, made contributions to NASA's missions and studies of Jupiter and Saturn. But, you might be more familiar with his invention of the Super Soaker squirt gun.

A theoretical physicist, Shirley Ann Jackson was the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She is the inventor of Caller-ID, and the second African American woman in the United States to earn a doctorate in physics.