Absalom Jones (1746-1818)

Absalom Jones (1746-1818)

Absalom Jones was born into slavery in Sussex, Delaware in 1746.  He taught himself to read in his early teens from books he purchased by saving pennies given to him by visitors to his master’s home.  At the age of sixteen, Jones’ family was separated when his...
Moranda Smith (1915-1950)

Moranda Smith (1915-1950)

Moranda Smith was a union organizer and rank-and-file leader of tobacco workers in North Carolina, who throughout the 1940s initiated a challenge to the racial discrimination, disfranchisement, and economic exploitation of workers in the South. The first...
Paul Chiles (1949- )

Paul Chiles (1949- )

Paul Chiles is the youngest of three children, born to Ruth and Raymond Chiles in Spokane, Washington on April 11, 1949. Raised in Seattle, he graduated from Garfield High School. Chiles was drawn to civil rights at an early age and founded the Black Student Union at...