Educating a slave was considered a crime at this time. Booker did go to school, not to learn as he would have liked, but to carry the books for one of James Burroughs's daughters.
He was so desperate to learn that at the age of 16, Booker walked 500 miles back to Virginia to enroll in a new school for black students.
Booker went on to teach at Hampton, he then became the principal and leading force behind the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, which he founded in 1881.
In the last season of his life, Booker T. Washington openly attacked the social disease of racism.
The Jim Crow laws of the late 1800's continued to suppress the African-American population under the guise of "separate but equal".
The laws included segregation in schools, transportation and restaurants where blacks were forced to sit in the back or in specially designated sections.
The laws included segregation in schools, transportation and restaurants where blacks were forced to sit in the back or in specially designated sections.
Growing up in the rural D.C. area around the turn of the century Charles witnessed firsthand the cruelty and injustice of the Jim Crow laws that had been imposed on the African-American community.
A true champion to the anti-slavery cause was born a slave but escaped to freedom at an early age. For the remainder of his life, Frederick Douglass courageously fought to defeat racial injustice.
Frederick Douglass was fascinated with reading and writing, and practiced these in secret. He would ask white children to teach him to read, and many complied.
Frederick married a free black woman named Anna Murray in 1838, and changed his name from Bailey to Douglass after a character in a book by Sir Walter Scott.
Frederick married a free black woman named Anna Murray in 1838, and changed his name from Bailey to Douglass after a character in a book by Sir Walter Scott.
Very few people achieve in a lifetime what George Washington Carver did over the course of his 80 some odd years. While details about his birth are sketchy, a census record from June of 1870 has him listed as 10 years old at the time.
Because there was no school for children of his race near his home, Carver was forced to move away to southwest Missouri.
Because there was no school for children of his race near his home, Carver was forced to move away to southwest Missouri.
Agricultural achievements aside, Carver was an accomplished artist and musician as well. His paintings garnished honorable mention at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago.
Harriet Tubman Ross is one of the most well known African-American abolitionist figures during the American Civil War.
Harriet was born a slave in Maryland's Dorchester County around 1820. Her maiden name was Araminta Ross, which she changed after marriage.
In 1844, she married a free black man named John Tubman. In 1849, she learned she was to be sold, and decided to escape from slavery.
Her attempts to free slaves had made her famous by the time she had made her fourth or fifth trip back to the South.
During his high school and junior college years Robinson excelled in baseball, football, basketball and track, lettering in all four sports and was named the regions MVP in baseball in 1938.
In the mid 1940's professional baseball wasn't integrated, so Robinson was relegated to playing in Negro leagues whose teams traveled around the country to play each other.
Robinson did endure brutal attacks for the color of his skin from the fans and opposing players, the media and even his own teammates.
After Robinson announced his retirement in January of 1957 he became a prominent spokesman for injustice and civil rights, even testifying before Congress on discrimination issues.
He is best known for his efforts in the "Back to Africa" movement, which encouraged African-Americans to return to their home roots in Africa.
Marcus Garvey was the youngest of 11 siblings. His father loved to read, and passed the love of books on to young Marcus.
In 1914, Marcus Garvey founded the UNIA, and began promoting his message of black pride and independence to the world. He called for freedom for black citizens in African nations, and for African-Americans to return to their roots in Africa.
He formed the Black Star Line shipping company in 1919, to promote trade between black nations, and to provide transport for passengers wishing to return to Africa.
Prince Hall was an enigmatic figure who spent the majority of his adult life as a civil rights defender and abolitionist.
Some have theorized that he was born in Barbados, in the late 1740's while others claim that he arrived in Boston from Africa around 1765. Nothing can be definitively stated about his life prior to 1770.
After 21 years of loyal service, slave owner William Hall gave Prince his freedom by certificate of manumission. A certificate of manumission was a legal document that feed an enslaved person, and could be issued by the slave owner.
Hall became a land owner, taxpayer and registered voter. He organized rallies and demonstrations to protest slavery and to promote causes of the African-American community.
Tiger's career had a very early start. After noticing his son's interest in hitting golf balls, Earl Woods began teaching his child the basics of the game before his first birthday.
Tiger won five junior championship titles by the age of 15. He quickly followed that achievement by becoming the youngest player in golf history to win the U.S. National Junior Championship.
He has become one of the few professional players to have such command over the field. His domination as a professional golfer is shared by very few and puts him in an elite circle with the likes of Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.
2006 dealt Tiger a huge blow when Earl Woods, his beloved father and coach died of cancer. A grieving Woods failed to make the cut at the U.S. Open that year.
W.E.B. Du Bois published The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America, 1638-1870, a dissertation on the problems of slavery in 1895.
DuBois was one of the founders of the NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and served as a director for this organization for almost 25 years.
In the early 20th century, the NAACP was at the forefront of civil rights protests, and Du Bois was one of its most vocal members.
Du Bois received many honors during his lifetime, and is considered to be the foremost African American intellectual of his period in America.