African-American History in Maryland

Eubie Blake was a ragtime composer and performer.

Benjamin Banneker was the first African-American Inventor.

John Henry Murphy, Sr. turned The Afro-American into one of the leading black newspapers

Isaiah Fassett fought in the Civil War as a free man & was the next-to-last Civil War soldier in Maryland when he died on June 24, 1946.

Harriet Elizabeth Brown was a Calvert County teacher who worked hard for equal pay for teachers in Maryland, regardless of race
Photo Courtesy of
the Calvert County Board of Education

Dominique Dawes was a member of the 1996 Gold Medal Olympic Team where she also became the first African-American to win an individual event medal with her bronze on floor.

Fanny Jackson Coppin was a pioneer in teacher education.

Frederick Douglass was one of the foremost leaders of the abolitionist movement.

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was an author, orator, social reformer, and suffragist.

Matthew Henson was a member of the first expedition to reach the North Pole.

Billie Holiday was one of the world's most acclaimed blues singers.

Joshua Johnston - one of the greatest portrait painters of the early nineteenth century

Henry Blair - one of the earliest black inventors to receive a patent

Sugar Ray Leonard was a boxer who was named Fighter of the Decade for the 1980s.

Thurgood Marshall was the first African-American justice of the Supreme Court .

Garrett A. Morgan was an African-American businessman and inventor.

Roberta Sheridan was the first African American teacher in the State of Maryland

Vivien Thomas taught medical students Johns Hopkins for many years.

Charles A. Tindley founded one of the largest churches which served African-Americans on the East Coast

James A. Porter was the author of Modern Negro Art, the first history of African-American art.

Harriet Tubman from slavery herself, and played a major role in freeing many others

Dr. Ben Carson has dedicated his life to inspiring others to excel by using their talents.

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