Marlon Riggs (1957-1994)

Marlon Riggs (1957-1994)

Marlon Riggs was a black gay writer, filmmaker, and social activist. He was born in Fort Worth, Texas to a military family on February 3, 1957, and spent his childhood at various military posts, including time spent living in Georgia and Germany. Riggs graduated with...
Francis Johnson (1792-1844)

Francis Johnson (1792-1844)

Francis Johnson, musician, composer, and bandmaster, was born in 1792 in Martinique in the West Indies and emigrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1809 at the age of 17.  By that point, he had already mastered the keyed bugle and the violin.  By his early 20s, he...
Thomas L. Purce (1946- )

Thomas L. Purce (1946- )

Thomas “Les” Purce, politician, businessman, educator, university administrator, and grandson of pioneering Black Idahoans, was born on November 13, 1946, to John and Idaho Purce in Pocatello, Idaho.  His grandfather, Tracey Thompson, was a well-known Idaho rodeo...