Everyone learns and teaches about common historical Black heroes like Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, or Martin Luther King Jr. They have all made a very huge impact and their legacies live on and on. But there were others.
I’ve picked four unsung heroes in Black history. So if you’re standing, sit down. Grab your glasses if you need them and get comfortable because your about to get a history lesson.
Alice Allison Dunnigan
Alice Dunnigan was known as a journalist, civil rights activist and author. As a journalist, she broke ground being the first Black female correspondent to receive White House credentials, leading her to be the first Black female member of the Senate and House of Representatives press galleries. At the age of 13, she loved to write, and that love grew from there. Dunnigan became the chief of the Associated Negro Press in 1947 which led her to be the first female African American to follow a presidential campaign on the road. Later she would serve as an education consultant on the president’s committee on equal employment opportunity until 1955. She was born April 27, 1906, and went to Kentucky State University and died May 6, 1983.
Amelia Boynton Robinson
Amelia Robinson was known for being a civil rights activist. She began her civil rights activism in the 1930s, when she started advocating for voting rights after becoming one of the few Black women registered to vote in Selma, Alabama. In 1964, she became the first Black American to run for office in Alabama, while also being the first woman to run for the ticket of the Democrats in the state. The following year, she helped Martin Luther King Jr. Plan the March from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama on March 7, 1965, infamously known as “Bloody Sunday.” Robinson, in 1965, was invited to the White House when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act. Additionally, she received the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Medal. Amelia Robinson was born Aug. 18, 1905 and she went to Tuskegee University. She died Aug. 26, 2015.
Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler
Rebecca Crumpler was known for being the first Black American woman to earn a medical degree in the United States. Crumpler challenged the prejudice that prevented Black Americans and women from pursuing medical careers. She was the first Black woman to practice medicine as a physician and was also the first Black woman to author a medical text, titled “A book of Medical Discourses,” published in 1883. From 1855 to 1864, Crumpler was employed as a nurse, physician and author. She experienced extreme racism and sexism, and her care focused on freedmen and freedwomen In 1860, she was accepted into the New England Female Medical College. She won a tuition award from the Wade Scholarship Fund. One of the first medical societies for Black women, The Rebecca Lee Pre-Health Society at Syracuse University and the Rebecca Lee Society, were named after her. Rebecca Crumpler was born Feb. 8, 1831, and died on March 9, 1895.
Madam C.J. Walker
Lastly, one of my favorite historical figures is Madam C.J. Walker, known as the first female self made millionaire in America. She made her fortune through the creation of her homemade line of hair care products for Black women; this came about after she experienced her own hair loss, which led to the creation of the “Walker System” of hair care. Walker founded several beauty training schools. Her birth name was Sarah Breedlove. And later changed by her second husband, Charles J. Walker. Walker was also known for her leadership in philanthropy and activism in the 1900s. She moved to Indianapolis to build a factory and establish a permanent company headquarters. Her legacy left its stamp through her alliances with groups like the National Association of Colored Women, and she funded schools and social service agencies led by Black women. Using business as leverage for social justice, Walker enlisted her company’s sales agents in local charities and advocacy work. She was born on Dec. 23, 1867. She went to her competitor Annie Malone’s Poro College. Later in life she died from hypertension on May 25, 1919.