Historical Figures

Nelson Mandela 1918–2013 Spent 27 years imprisoned, then chose reconciliation over revenge and led South Africa out of apartheid. Nobel Peace Prize, 1993. Justice & Freedom Read more → Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 1929–1968 Led the nonviolent movement that ended legal segregation in America. Nobel Peace Prize, 1964. Justice & Freedom Read more → Harriet Tubman c.1822–1913 Escaped slavery, then returned again and again to lead others to freedom on the Underground Railroad — by her account, never losing a passenger. Justice & Freedom Read more → Frederick Douglass 1818–1895 Taught himself to read in bondage and became the era’s most powerful voice for abolition, calling literacy the pathway from slavery to freedom. Justice & Freedom Read more → Mary McLeod Bethune 1875–1955 Opened a school for Black girls that grew into Bethune-Cookman University, founded the National Council of Negro Women, and became the first Black woman to hold high federal office. Education Read more → Marie Curie 1867–1934 Pioneered the science of radioactivity, won Nobel Prizes in two different fields, and built mobile X-ray units to save soldiers’ lives in WWI. Science & Medicine Read more → Jonas Salk 1914–1995 Developed the first successful polio vaccine and gave it to the world with no patent — asked who owned it, he answered, “The people. Could you patent the sun?” Science & Medicine Read more → Norman Borlaug 1914–2009 Father of the Green Revolution; his high-yield, disease-resistant wheat is credited with saving as many as a billion people from starvation. Nobel Peace Prize, 1970. Science & Medicine Read more → Wangari Maathai 1940–2011 Founded the Green Belt Movement — more than 30 million trees planted by women — and became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, 2004. Environment Read more → Rosa Parks 1913–2005 Refused to give up her bus seat in Montgomery in 1955, helping spark the boycott that became a turning point of the civil-rights movement. Justice & Freedom Read more → Ida B. Wells 1862–1931 Born into slavery, she became a journalist who documented the lynching of Black Americans and helped found the NAACP. Justice & Freedom Read more → New York roots Thurgood Marshall 1908–1993 Argued and won Brown v. Board of Education, then became the first Black justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Justice & Freedom Read more → John Lewis 1940–2020 Marched at Selma and served more than three decades in Congress, urging each generation to make “good trouble.” Justice & Freedom Read more → Katherine Johnson 1918–2020 A NASA mathematician whose calculations put Americans into orbit and helped guide the Apollo missions toward the Moon. Science & Medicine Read more → Jane Goodall 1934–2025 Showed that chimpanzees make and use tools, reshaping how we understand animals, and spent her life as a voice for the natural world. Environment Read more → Dolores Huerta b.1930 Co-founded the farmworkers’ movement and coined “Sí, se puede,” and is still organizing for labor and civil rights. Justice & Freedom Read more → Angela Davis b.1944 A scholar and activist on justice, prisons, and liberation who continues to teach and write today. Justice & Freedom Read more → Muhammad Yunus b.1940 Won the Nobel Peace Prize for pioneering microcredit to lift families out of poverty, and later led Bangladesh’s interim government. Justice & Freedom Read more → Paul Robeson 1898–1976 A world-renowned bass-baritone, actor, and civil rights activist born in Princeton, NJ and educated at Rutgers, Robeson used his artistic platform to champion racial justice and labor rights worldwide. Arts & Culture Read more → Albert Einstein 1879–1955 Though born in Germany, Einstein spent his final decades at Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study, revolutionizing physics with relativity theory while also advocating for civil rights and against racism in America. Science & Medicine Read more → Majora Carter b. 1966 An urban environmental justice pioneer, Carter founded Sustainable South Bronx to bring green jobs and green space to a historically underserved NYC community, transforming environmentalism into an economic and racial justice movement. Environment Read more → New York roots Shirley Chisholm 1924–2005 The first Black woman elected to the U.S. Congress and the first to seek a major party's presidential nomination, Chisholm fought tirelessly for racial and gender equity from her Brooklyn base. Justice & Freedom Read more → Kenneth B. Clark 1914–2005 A pioneering psychologist whose 'doll studies' with wife Mamie Clark provided key evidence in Brown v. Board of Education, Clark co-founded Harlem's Northside Center for Child Development to advance educational equity for Black children. Education Read more → Newark roots Kenneth A. Gibson 1932–2019 Newark's first Black mayor and the first African American to lead any major Northeastern U.S. city, he guided the city's recovery after the 1967 uprising and in 1976 became the first Black president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Civic Leadership Read more → Newark roots Donald M. Payne Sr. 1934–2012 New Jersey's first African American member of Congress, the Newark-born representative chaired the Congressional Black Caucus and championed education, civil rights, and humanitarian relief in Africa across more than two decades in the House. Civic Leadership Read more → Newark roots Amiri Baraka 1934–2014 A Newark-born poet, playwright, and organizer who launched the Black Arts Movement, using verse, drama, and community institutions to advance Black cultural self-determination; he was later named Poet Laureate of New Jersey. Arts & Culture Read more → Newark roots Sarah Vaughan 1924–1990 Raised in Newark and trained in its church choirs, 'The Divine One' became one of the greatest jazz vocalists of the twentieth century, her virtuosic range shaping bebop and the American songbook; she received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Arts & Culture Read more → Newark roots Wayne Shorter 1933–2023 A Newark-raised saxophonist and composer who reshaped modern jazz with Art Blakey, the Miles Davis Quintet, and Weather Report, earning twelve Grammy Awards and recognition as an NEA Jazz Master. Arts & Culture Read more → Newark roots Whitney Houston 1963–2012 One of the best-selling recording artists of all time, the Newark-born singer founded the Whitney Houston Foundation for Children in 1989 to fund literacy programs, scholarships, and parks for underserved youth. Arts & Culture Read more → Newark roots Queen Latifah b. 1970 Born in Newark, the Grammy- and Emmy-winning artist broke barriers for women in hip-hop and later returned home to co-develop affordable housing, investing in the community's revitalization. Arts & Culture Read more → Newark roots Savion Glover b. 1973 A Newark-born, Tony-winning tap dancer and choreographer, he founded a tap school in his home city to pass the art form to a new generation, preserving and renewing the African American tap tradition. Arts & Culture Read more → Newark roots Gloria Gaynor b. 1943 The Newark-born singer recorded 'I Will Survive,' a Library of Congress–honored anthem of resilience embraced worldwide, and received a 2025 Kennedy Center Honor. Arts & Culture Read more → Newark roots Shaquille O'Neal b. 1972 Born in Newark's Central Ward, the Hall of Fame athlete gives back through the Shaquille O'Neal Foundation and major gifts to the Boys & Girls Clubs, funding technology centers, scholarships, and youth programs in underserved communities. Education Read more → Newark roots Larry Doby 1923–2003 A star for Newark's Negro-League Eagles before integrating the American League in 1947, Doby endured the same bigotry as Jackie Robinson to become a seven-time All-Star and Hall of Famer, opening the game for those who followed. Justice & Freedom Read more → New York roots Malcolm X 1925–1965 Muslim minister and human-rights activist who became a defining voice of Black nationalism, race pride, and self-determination; based in Harlem, he was assassinated at Washington Heights' Audubon Ballroom in 1965 while addressing his Organization of Afro-American Unity. Justice & Freedom Read more → New York roots James Baldwin 1924–1987 Novelist and essayist whose works—Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953), Notes of a Native Son (1955), The Fire Next Time (1963)—gave searing voice to Black identity, race, and sexuality in America. Arts & Culture Read more → New York roots Audre Lorde 1934–1992 Poet and essayist who pioneered intersectional feminist thought; author of Sister Outsider and The Cancer Journals, co-founder of Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, and New York State Poet Laureate (1991–1992). Arts & Culture Read more → New York roots Sojourner Truth c.1797–1883 Abolitionist and women's-rights orator born into slavery in Swartekill, Ulster County, NY; freed in 1827, she delivered the landmark 1851 “Ain't I a Woman?” address and recruited Black troops for the Union Army. Justice & Freedom Read more → New York roots Harry Belafonte 1927–2023 The “King of Calypso” whose “Day-O” broke barriers and who became the first Black man to win an Emmy. He bankrolled the civil-rights movement—bailing Dr. King out of Birmingham jail and flying cash to fund SNCC's 1964 Freedom Summer. Arts & Culture Read more → New York roots Lena Horne 1917–2010 Singer and actress who became the first Black woman signed to a major studio (MGM, 1942), starred in Stormy Weather (1943), won a Special Tony (1981), and refused stereotyped roles while championing civil rights. Arts & Culture Read more → New York roots Colin Powell 1937–2021 First Black U.S. Secretary of State (2001–2005) and first Black Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989–1993); a four-star Army general who rose from a South Bronx childhood to the nation's top diplomatic and military posts. Civic Leadership Read more → New York roots Sonia Sotomayor 1954– First Latina U.S. Supreme Court Justice, appointed 2009. A federal judge since 1992, she is known for forceful dissents defending civil rights, criminal-justice fairness, and equal protection. Justice & Freedom Read more → New York roots Ruth Bader Ginsburg 1933–2020 U.S. Supreme Court Justice (1993–2020) who, as founding counsel of the ACLU Women's Rights Project, argued landmark 1970s cases dismantling sex-based legal discrimination and became a defining voice for gender equality. Justice & Freedom Read more → New York roots Langston Hughes 1901–1967 Poet, novelist, and playwright who became a defining voice of the Harlem Renaissance and an early innovator of jazz poetry, chronicling Black American life from his creative home in Harlem for over four decades. Arts & Culture Read more → New York roots A. Philip Randolph 1889–1979 Founded and led the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first major Black labor union, from his Harlem base in 1925, and directed the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom where Dr. King spoke. Justice & Freedom Read more → New York roots Ella Baker 1903–1986 Grassroots organizer whose career spanned five decades; as NAACP field secretary, co-founder of the SCLC (1957), and convener of the 1960 meeting that created SNCC, she championed participatory, bottom-up democracy. Justice & Freedom Read more → New York roots Bayard Rustin 1912–1987 Chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and a key adviser to Martin Luther King Jr., Rustin was a lifelong architect of nonviolent civil-rights and labor organizing. Justice & Freedom Read more → New York roots Marcus Garvey 1887–1940 Founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), headquartered in Harlem, he built the largest Pan-African mass movement in history, championing Black nationalism, self-determination, and pride. Justice & Freedom Read more → New York roots Duke Ellington 1899–1974 Pianist, composer, and bandleader whose Cotton Club residency in Harlem (1927–1931) and its national radio broadcasts made him a defining figure of American music; he wrote nearly 2,000 works across a 50-year career. Arts & Culture Read more → New York roots Jackie Robinson 1919–1972 Broke Major League Baseball's color line on April 15, 1947, with the Brooklyn Dodgers—the first Black player in the modern majors—then served as an NAACP spokesman and civil-rights leader. First African American inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame (1962). Justice & Freedom Read more → Winnie Madikizela-Mandela 1936–2018 Anti-apartheid activist and stateswoman who became the global “Mother of the Nation” during Nelson Mandela's 27-year imprisonment; she endured detention, torture, and banishment, and later served as an ANC Member of Parliament and Women's League president. Justice & Freedom Read more → Coretta Scott King 1927–2006 Civil-rights leader and author who founded the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in 1968 and led the decades-long campaign that made Dr. King's birthday a U.S. federal holiday in 1983. Justice & Freedom Read more → New York roots Betty Shabazz 1934–1997 Educator who earned a doctorate and joined Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn in 1976, rising to director of institutional advancement and public affairs; a public-health and civil-rights advocate who carried forward the legacy of her husband, Malcolm X. Education Read more → New York roots Eslanda Goode Robeson 1895–1965 Anthropologist, journalist, and anti-colonial activist who co-founded the Council on African Affairs (1941), authored African Journey (1946), and championed African independence and civil rights on the world stage. Justice & Freedom Read more → Philip Roth 1933–2018 Pulitzer-winning novelist whose fiction (American Pastoral, Goodbye, Columbus) immortalized Newark's Weequahic neighborhood and its Jewish-American community, and whose personal library now anchors ongoing programming at the Newark Public Library. Arts & Culture Read more → KG Kim Gaddy b. (contemporary) Lifelong Ironbound resident and nationally recognized environmental-justice organizer who has led decades-long campaigns against incinerators, diesel pollution, and port expansion harming Newark's overburdened communities of color. Environment Read more → CP Clement A. Price 1945–2014 Rutgers-Newark historian and 'unofficial historian of Newark' who documented the city's African American history, chaired the Newark Public Library's Charles F. Cummings archive efforts, and mentored generations of students on the city's civic memory. Education Read more → Patricia Bath 1942–2019 Pioneering ophthalmologist and inventor of the Laserphaco Probe for cataract surgery, and the first African American woman to complete a residency in ophthalmology and to hold a medical patent. Science & Medicine Read more → Dionne Warwick b.1940 Grammy-winning vocalist raised in Newark's South Ward and trained in the choir of New Hope Baptist Church, Warwick became one of the most influential singers of the 20th century and a longtime public ambassador for HIV/AIDS awareness and humanitarian causes. Arts & Culture Read more → Clara Maass 1876–1901 New Jersey nurse who volunteered for yellow-fever research trials in Cuba, sacrificing her life to help confirm the transmission mechanism that led to the disease's eventual control; a Belleville, NJ hospital bears her name. Science & Medicine Read more → WA William M. Ashby 1889–1980 Journalist and civil-rights organizer who founded the Newark branch of the National Urban League in 1917 and spent decades fighting housing and employment discrimination in New Jersey. Justice & Freedom Read more → RC Robert Curvin 1934–2015 Civil-rights leader and scholar who served as a key community intermediary during the 1967 Newark uprising and later became a Pulitzer Prize–winning editorial writer chronicling Newark's struggle for justice and renewal. Justice & Freedom Read more → E. Alma Flagg 1918–2011 Trailblazing educator who became the first African American woman to serve as a school principal and later assistant superintendent in the Newark Public Schools, opening doors for generations of Black educators. Education Read more → AB Ana Baptista b. 20th century A scholar and organizer from Newark's Ironbound section, Baptista has spent over two decades fighting environmental racism, co-founding the Ironbound Community Corporation's environmental justice work and helping shape New Jersey's landmark 2020 Environmental Justice Law. Environment Read more → Faith Ringgold 1930–2024 A pioneering painter, quilt-artist, and children's author, Ringgold fused African American storytelling traditions with fine art in works like 'Tar Beach' and 'The American People Series,' and was a vocal advocate for Black and women artists' inclusion in major museums. Arts & Culture Read more → Dr. James Still 1812–1882 Known as 'The Black Doctor of the Pines,' this self-taught New Jersey herbalist-physician built a successful medical practice and land holdings despite being barred from formal medical schooling, becoming a celebrated figure in African American medical history. Science & Medicine Read more → Dr. Gloria Bonilla-Santiago b.1954 A Rutgers University distinguished professor and founder of LEAP Academy University Charter School in Camden, Bonilla-Santiago has spent decades building pathways from underserved New Jersey neighborhoods to college for thousands of low-income and Latino students. Education Read more → Lawrence 'Larry' Hamm b.1955 Newark-born organizer who at 17 became the youngest person elected to a major city school board and in 1983 founded the People's Organization for Progress, which has led decades of Newark-based marches and campaigns against police violence and for economic justice. Justice & Freedom Read more → Walter S. McAfee 1914–1995 placeholder Science & Medicine Read more → JW Junius Williams b. 1943 A Newark-born civil-rights attorney and community organizer who led 1960s–70s campaigns for community control of schools and housing, later founding the Abbott Leadership Institute at Rutgers University–Newark to train grassroots education-justice leaders. Justice & Freedom Read more → Ivan Van Sertima 1935–2009 Guyanese-British scholar and longtime Rutgers University professor whose research on African contributions to world civilizations, notably 'They Came Before Columbus,' reshaped Africana studies curricula nationwide. Education Read more → Louis T. Wright 1891–1952 Pioneering African American surgeon who became the first Black physician on staff at Harlem Hospital and chaired the NAACP national board, advancing both medical innovation and civil-rights advocacy in the New York region. Science & Medicine Read more → ML Maria Lopez-Nuñez living (birth year undisclosed) Newark-based environmental-justice organizer with the Ironbound Community Corporation who helped pass New Jersey's landmark 2020 Environmental Justice Law and serves on the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. Environment Read more → Cissy Houston 1933-2024 Newark-born gospel and soul vocalist, matriarch of the Houston musical family, and Grammy-winning member of The Sweet Inspirations who mentored generations of singers, including her daughter Whitney Houston. Arts & Culture Read more → BW Booker Wright 1926–1973 For about twenty-five years he waited tables at Lusco's, a white-owned restaurant in Greenwood that printed no menus — he recited them from memory. He also built and owned Booker's Place, his own cafe, where he was nobody's servant. In 1965 he sat down in front of Frank De Felitta's NBC News camera and described, plainly and under his own name, what it cost him to serve people who abused him. The film, "Mississippi: A Self-Portrait," aired nationally in May 1966. He knew what speaking would cost, and he spoke. Justice & Freedom Read more → TL Toussaint Louverture 1743–1803 Born enslaved on the Bréda plantation, he joined the 1791 rising first as a healer and became the revolution's commanding general. He drove out the British and the Spanish, governed the colony, rebuilt its roads and schools, and in 1801 promulgated a constitution naming himself governor for life. Slavery was abolished in Saint-Domingue in 1793 and only afterwards ratified in Paris — the people of Saint-Domingue opened that door themselves. Justice & Freedom Read more → NT Nat Turner 1800–1831 A preacher who could read, and who read the world he was born into as a thing that could be ended. In August 1831 he led the most consequential rebellion of enslaved people in United States history. Virginia's legislature debated abolition in its aftermath and then chose the opposite course, tightening the laws against literacy, assembly and preaching — a measure of how completely he had frightened the institution. Justice & Freedom Read more → MB Marion A. Bolden b.1949 As the first woman to serve as Superintendent of Newark Public Schools (2000–2008), Bolden led reform efforts in one of New Jersey's largest urban districts during a pivotal period of state oversight and community advocacy for equitable education. Education Read more → MI Monte Irvin 1919–2016 Raised in East Orange, NJ, Irvin starred for the Negro Leagues' Newark Eagles before becoming one of the first Black players in the National League and, later, Major League Baseball's first Black front-office executive, helping break down racial barriers in professional sports. Justice & Freedom Read more → JM James Moody 1925–2010 A pioneering bebop saxophonist and flutist raised in Newark, NJ, Moody rose from the city's music scene to become a core member of Dizzy Gillespie's band and composed the jazz standard 'Moody's Mood for Love.' Arts & Culture Read more → LJ Lisa P. Jackson b.1962 After serving as Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Jackson became the first African American to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, advancing environmental-justice policy for communities like Newark before continuing that work in the corporate sustainability sector. Environment Read more → CD Charles R. Drew 1904–1950 A surgeon and researcher at Columbia University and Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, Drew developed the techniques and organizational methods that made large-scale blood banking possible, then resigned from the American Red Cross in protest of its policy of racially segregating donated blood. Science & Medicine Read more → TM Toni Morrison 1931–2019 Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist ('Beloved,' 'Song of Solomon') whose work centered Black interior life and history; her Princeton teaching archive and frequent presence in school book-ban controversies keep her legacy central to literary-heritage and free-expression debates today. Arts & Culture Read more → EM Effa Manley 1897–1981 Co-owner and business manager of the Newark Eagles Negro League franchise, she fought for fair pay and treatment of Black ballplayers and used the team as a civic and NAACP fundraising platform; in 2006 she became the first woman inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Justice & Freedom Read more → WS Woody Shaw 1944–1989 Raised in Newark, this virtuoso jazz trumpeter became one of the defining voices of post-bop and modal jazz in the 1970s and 80s, extending the legacy of Newark's jazz community alongside figures like Sarah Vaughan and Wayne Shorter. Arts & Culture Read more → WJ Whitney M. Young Jr. 1921–1971 As executive director of the National Urban League headquartered in New York City, Young transformed the organization into a driving force for civil rights and economic opportunity, advising U.S. presidents and helping shape the War on Poverty. Justice & Freedom Read more → IT Irvine Turner c.1915–1994 Elected in 1954 as the first African American to serve on Newark's Municipal Council, Turner broke a decades-long color barrier in the city's governing body and championed housing and jobs for Newark's Black Central Ward residents. Justice & Freedom Read more → BW Booker T. Washington 1856–1915 Founder of the Tuskegee Institute, he built one of the era's most influential Black educational institutions and became a leading national voice on vocational education and economic self-reliance for African Americans. Education Read more → WB W. E. B. Du Bois 1868–1963 Pioneering Black sociologist and the first African American to earn a Harvard PhD, Du Bois co-founded the NAACP and edited its magazine The Crisis from New York City, shaping decades of scholarship and strategy on race and justice in America. Education Read more → DJ Dr. Percy Lavon Julian 1899–1975 Groundbreaking chemist who overcame pervasive racial barriers to synthesize cortisone and other steroid drugs affordably, transforming treatment of arthritis and other conditions and opening industrial chemistry to future Black scientists. Science & Medicine Read more → GC George Washington Carver 1864–1943 Agricultural scientist who pioneered crop rotation, soil conservation, and sustainable farming methods that helped liberate Southern Black farmers from destructive cotton monoculture after emancipation. Environment Read more → FH Fannie Lou Hamer 1917–1977 Sharecropper-turned-voting-rights organizer whose 1964 televised testimony before the Democratic National Convention exposed brutal suppression of Black voters and helped transform the national Democratic Party. Justice & Freedom Read more → DJ Donald M. Payne Jr. 1958–2024 Succeeding his father in Congress, Payne Jr. represented Newark and NJ's 10th District for over a decade, championing health equity, criminal-justice reform, and economic opportunity for underserved communities until his sudden death in office in 2024. Justice & Freedom Read more → NS Nina Simone 1933–2003 Singer, pianist, and composer whose music became an anthem of the civil rights movement, blending classical training with jazz, blues, and gospel to confront racial injustice directly in songs like 'Mississippi Goddam.' Arts & Culture Read more → SW Sarah Breedlove (Madam C. J. Walker) 1867–1919 Self-made entrepreneur and philanthropist who built a hair-care empire employing thousands of Black women, funded scholarships, YMCAs, and anti-lynching campaigns, and modeled Black economic self-determination from her Harlem base. Education Read more → OD Ossie Davis 1917–2005 placeholder Arts & Culture Read more → KC Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) 1941–1998 A civil rights organizer who coined the phrase 'Black Power' and helped lead the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, pushing the movement toward self-determination and global Pan-Africanism. Justice & Freedom Read more → DR David Ruggles 1810–1849 A free Black abolitionist and Underground Railroad conductor in New York City, Ruggles sheltered hundreds of freedom seekers (including Frederick Douglass) and ran the first Black-owned bookstore and press in the U.S., publishing anti-slavery pamphlets and exposing kidnappers of free Black people. Justice & Freedom Read more → MP Melvin Van Peebles 1932–2021 An independent filmmaker, playwright, and musician based for decades in New York, Van Peebles wrote, directed, scored, and self-distributed 'Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song' (1971), igniting the Black independent-cinema movement and inspiring generations of Black artists to control their own creative work. Arts & Culture Read more → RC Robert L. Carter 1917–2012 As NAACP Legal Defense Fund counsel and later a federal judge in the Southern District of New York, Carter co-strategized Brown v. Board of Education and argued more Supreme Court civil-rights cases than any lawyer of his era besides Thurgood Marshall. Justice & Freedom Read more →