African Descent Archives - Page 56 of 70

Rachael Baptist

Celebrated singer in Dublin’s pleasure gardens in the 1750s

Christine Buckley

Irish nurse, midwife and advocate for survivors of childhood abuse in religious and state-supported institutions

Ophelia Settle Egypt was a medical social worker and women’s rights advocate. She is remembered for many things, including her work to make women’s and reproductive healthcare accessible to the Black communities in Southeast Washington, DC. However, she was also critical in preserving the histories of formerly enslaved African Americans in the early twentieth century, fighting against preventable ailments in Black communities across the country, and for authoring a children’s book.

Bernice Johnson Reagon

Bernice Johnson Reagon is a renowned composer, historian, musician, and activist. She is also credited with founding Sweet Honey in the Rock, an all-female and all-Black acapella group. Much of her work centers Black identity and social justice and many of her musical projects highlight the Civil Rights Era.

Loretta Ross

Loretta Ross is an academic and activist who has dedicated many years to advocating for women’s rights and reproductive justice. Most notably, she is a cofounder of SisterSong and Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, served as a previous Executive Director of the D.C. Rape Crisis Center, and is one of twelve women credited with coining the phrase and framework “reproductive justice.”

Dr Betty Shabazz

Educator and civil rights activist Dr Betty Shabazz was the wife, and later widow, of Malcolm X.

Vivienne Malone-Mayes

Vivienne Malone-Mayes was an American mathematician and educationalist.

Euphemia Lofton Haynes

Euphemia Lofton Haynes was an American mathematician and educator, and the first African-American woman to earn a PhD in mathematics.

Evelyn Boyd Granville

Evelyn Boyd Granville was only the second African-American woman to receive a PhD in mathematics from an American University. She worked in computing.

Etta Zuber Falconer

Etta Zuber Falconer was an American mathematician and educator. She was one of the earlier African-American women to receive a Ph.D. in mathematics.