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IRobert Sengstacke Abbott was an American lawyer, newspaper publisher, and editor best known for founding The Chicago Defender in 1905. Born around 1868–1870 in Georgia to formerly enslaved parents, he became one of the first self-made African American millionaires through the paper's success.aaas.umd+3

Abbott studied printing at Hampton Institute and earned a law degree from Kent College of Law in Chicago in 1898, but racial barriers prevented him from practicing law effectively. Raised by his mother and stepfather, a Congregationalist minister, he developed a passion for education and journalism early on.wikipedia+2

He launched The Chicago Defender with a 25-cent investment, turning it into the nation's largest Black-owned newspaper by circulation, dubbed "America's Black Newspaper." The paper aggressively covered racial injustice, lynching, and Jim Crow laws while promoting job opportunities and social justice in the North.britannica+3

Abbott studied printing at Hampton Institute and earned a law degree from Kent College of Law in Chicago in 1898, but racial barriers prevented him from practicing law effectively. Raised by his mother and stepfather, a Congregationalist minister, he developed a passion for education and journalism.

He founded the Bud Billiken Parade in 1929, now a major Chicago event celebrating Black youth and culture. Abbott died on February 29, 1940, leaving the paper to his nephew; his work shaped Black media and civil rights.georgiaencyclopedia+2

Ms. Height has been called the matriarch of the Civil Rights Movement and often worked behind the scenes. After receiving two degrees from New York University in the 1930s, Height worked for the New York City Welfare Department and then became the assistant executive director of the Harlem Y.M.C.A. She was involved in anti-lynching protests, brought public attention to the exploitation of African-American women working in “slave markets” and escorted First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to the National Council of Negro Women, a council she served on for more than 40 years.

In the 1950s, she lobbied President Dwight D. Eisenhower to take an aggressive stance on school desegregation issues. Height also worked with Martin Luther King Jr., and she stood on the platform with him when he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech in August 1963.

Ethel Waters first entered the entertainment business in the 1920s as a blues singer before making history. Waters was the first to integrate Broadway, appearing in Irving Berlin’s As Thousands Cheer, and eventually became the highest-paid performer on Broadway. In addition to becoming the first African American to star in her own television variety show in 1939, The Ethel Waters Show., she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the film Pinky in 1950. 

Also in 1950, Waters was the first Black actress to star in a television series,Beulah, which aired on ABC. In 1962, she became the first African American woman to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by a Leading Lady for the show Route 66.

Ruby Bridges was the first African American child to desegregate the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana during the New Orleans school desegregation crisis on November 14, 1960. She was six years old at the time. Despite intimidation and discrimination, Bridges never missed a day of school. 

Bridges has written two books on her experience and has been honored with the Carter G. Woodson Book Award. Bridges is also a lifelong activist for racial equality. In 1999, Ruby established The Ruby Bridges Foundation to promote tolerance and create change through education. In 2000, she was made an honorary deputy marshal in a ceremony in Washington, DC.