Black History Pioneers Biographical Timeline Fine Art Posters

Frederick Douglass Black History Biographical Timeline Art Poster

Frederick Douglass
b. 2-14-c.1818; MD
d. 2-20-1895

Poster Text: "Strive earnestly to add to your knowledge. So long as you remain in ignorance, so long will you fail to command the respect of your fellow man."

Born into slavery, Frederick Douglass grew up to become a leader in the antislavery and women's rights movements. He was the first black citizen to hold a high rank in the United States government.

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W. E. B. DuBois Black History Biographical Timeline Poster

W. E. B. DuBois
b. 2-23-1868; Great Barrinton, MA
d. 8-27-1963; Ghana

“The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line.”

A noted scholar, writer, educator, and activist, W. E. B. Dubois devoted his life to studying and addressing the social and economic condition of black people. He was admired by his contemporaries for fighting injustice and defending freedom.

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Paul Laurence Dunbar
b. 6-27-1872; Dayton, OH
d. 2-9-1906

Paul Laurence Dunbar was a prolific writer of poetry - in both the dialect of Southern blacks and standard English. He also wrote short stories and plays. Dunbar's work often addressed the difficulties encountered by blacks and their efforts to achieve equality in America. He was the first African-American writer to achieve a national reputation and to be accepted by both black and white audiences.

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• "In Dahomey" poster

Martin Luther King, Jr.
b. 1-15-1929; Atlanta, GA
d. 4-4-1968; Memphis, TN

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

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Thurgood Marshall
Black History Pioneers Biography Timeline Poster
b. 7-2-1908; Baltimore, Maryland
d. 1-24-1993

"A child born to a black mother in a state like Mississippi...has exactly the same rights as a white baby born to the wealthiest person in the United States... I challenge anyone to say it is not a goal worth working for."
A key figure in the 20th century civil rights struggle, Thurgood Marshall worked through the judicial system to erase the legacy of slavery and destroy the racist Jim Crow system.

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Rosa Parks
b. 2-4-1913; Tuskegee, AL
d. 10-24-2005; Detroit, MI

"I would like to be known as a person who is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity for all people." Described by some as "the mother of the civil rights movement," Rosa Parks is best known for being arrested for refusing to giver her seat to a white man on a racially segregated Montgomery, AL, bus. Her action led to a successful 380-day boycott of Montgomery buses and a Supreme Court ruling against segregation.

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Harriet Tubman
b. c 1820; Dorchester Co. MD
d. 1913; NY

“I had reasoned this out in my mind, there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other."
Harriet Tubman devoted her life to fighting slavery, helping slaves and ex-slaves, and championing the rights of African Americans and women. She served as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, a secret system of people of all races who helped slaves escape to freedom. An extremely brave person, Tubman was called the “Moses of her people.”

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Sojourner Truth
b. c 1797, NY
d. 11-26-1883; Battle Creek, MI

“I was to travel up and down the land, showing people their sins, and being a sign unto them.”
Sojourner Truth was an outspoken advocate of women's rights and black freedom. A riveting speaker and preacher, she made a lasting impression everywhere she spoke. During her legendary life, she challenged injustice wherever she saw it. Sojourner Truth was one of the first people in the country to link the oppression of black slaves with the oppression of women.

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Booker T. Washington
b. 4-5-c. 1855; Virginia
d. 11-14-1915; Alabama

"I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed."
Born into slavery, Booker T. Washington went on to become the foremost black educator and leader of his time. He was also the founder of Tuskegee Institute, one of the leading African-American educational institutions in America. Washington steadfastly maintained that economic independence was the way to achieve social equality.

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