Baptist

Hall (1940-2003) was a pastor, educator, dynamic speaker and a powerful figure in the Civil Rights Movement. She challenged misogyny in the movement and was one of the first women field leaders in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). While working with SNCC, she was shot at and jailed multiple times. On September 9, 1962, Hall led a prayer at Mt. Olive Baptist Church in 'Terrible Terrell' County, Georgia, where Martin Luther King Jr. was present. Her rhythmic repetition of 'I Have a Dream' during this prayer influenced King's famous 'I Have a Dream' speech at the March on Washington. After witnessing the traumatizing aftermath of Bloody Sunday she left SNCC in 1966. She eventually earned her Master of Divinity, Master of Theology, and Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary, becoming a prominent womanist theologian who advocated for the intersection of race, gender, and faith in religious practice.

Quadruple threat: Actress, Singer, Dancer, Director....well known for her character, Whitley Gilbert, A Different World.

Smith (1894 - 1937) was known as the Empress of the Blues and was preeminent during the Jazz Age and Harlem Renaissance.

Burroughs (1879-1961) was one of the most influential women of the early 20th century. She was a businesswoman, unbowed social and political activist, and a key figure in the women’s suffrage movement.

Mary was the first licensed African American nurse in the United States and first African American graduate of an American nursing school. She was born in the spring of 1845 in Dorchester, Massachusetts to freed, formerly enslaved people who relocated from North Carolina for a chance at better civil and economic opportunities for their family.

Spelman College and Yale Law School graduate, the first black woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar (1964), founder of the Children's Defense Fund, and the first woman alum elected to the Yale University Corporation, Marian Wright Edelman has dedicated her life to advocating for children's rights and serving her community.

On July 24, 1903, Maggie L. Walker became the first Black woman to serve as president of a U.S. bank, as well as the first woman founder of a U.S. bank, when she rallied members of the Independent Order of St. Luke to charter and capitalize the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank in Richmond, Virginia.

Clayton is a retired broadcasting executive, talk show host, philanthropist and lifelong civil rights activist and leader. She worked closely with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and played a significant role in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. She has remained committed to honoring and advancing the cause of racial equality and empowering African American communities throughout her career.

Formidable civil rights advocate, Choir Director, Musician, and mother of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Ku Klux Klan bombing of 4 little girls in Birmingham, Alabama - Denise McNair (11), Addie Mae Collins (14), Carole Robertson (14), and Cynthia Wesley (14).

Actress