James R. Coffey

In 1905, 37-year-old Sarah Breedlove, the first free-born child from a family of Civil War era slaves, moved to Denver, Colorado. She had just $1.05 in her pocket and was intent on starting a business selling hair-care products that she created, primarily for Black women.   Breedlove sold her products door-to-door. She would teach other Black

In the realm of American folk music, no name is more significant than Woody Guthrie. He embodies the American spirit and epitomizes the struggle of the common man in the most trying of times.  Songs like, “This Land Is Your Land,” “Don’t Kill My Baby & My Son,” and “I’m Blowing Down That Old Dusty

At the age of 59, Nancy Hayes-Green made her debut as “Aunt Jemima” at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition held in Chicago, Illinois. She became the first Black corporate model in American history hired to promote a nationally distributed product.  In character, “Aunt Jemima” stood beside what was touted as the “world’s largest flour barrel”

In the final scene of the final episode of the 1979–80 season of the phenomenally popular TV show Dallas, arch-villain J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) hears a noise outside his office. He walks out to the hall to investigate.  He is then shot twice by an unseen assailant–and collapses to the floor.  This episode was broadcast

Unless you’re an American history buff or student of American Presidential history, you may never have heard the name Edith Bolling Galt Wilson. But for all intents and purposes, she served as the first de facto female President of the United States, from October 1919 to March 1921. She was the second wife of President