Black Educators, Intellectuals, and Politicians Quiz
Why has Dr. Carter G. Woodson been called the "father of Negro history"?
- Woodson was educated at the University of Chicago and Harvard University and later worked as a teacher and principal. Concerned that history textbooks ignored the role of African Americans in the nation�s history, he proposed Black History Week to be celebrated during February near the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. First celebrated in 1926, Black History Week was expanded to Black History Month in 1976.
African-American political scientist Ralph Bunche won the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize for which achievement?
- Bunche was the first black to be awarded a Nobel prize.
Hiram Revels, the first African-American U.S. senator, took his oath of office on which date?
- Revels was elected to the U.S. Congress by the Mississippi legislature to fill the unexpired term of Jefferson Davis.
Who founded Tuskegee Institute, one of the leading African-American educational institutions in America, in 1881?
- Educated at Hampton Institute (now Hampton University), Washington emphasized the importance of economic independence for African Americans. A talented public speaker, he lectured at home and abroad on the subject of his work. An agricultural chemist, Carver joined the staff of Tuskegee Institute in 1896. He discovered hundreds of uses for the peanut, the sweet potato, and the soybean and advocated practices for improving the soil.
U.S. representative Barbara Jordan earned which distinction in 1976?
- Elected to the Texas Senate in 1966 and to the US House of Representatives in 1972, Jordan worked diligently for civil rights and women�s issues. Her reputation as a fine orator was already well established when she gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in New York City.
Malcolm X, militant black nationalist leader, was assassinated on which date?
- He was shot to death in New York City at a meeting of his Organization for Afro-American Unity.
Author, educator, and civil rights activist W.E.B. DuBois published which collection of essays and sketches in 1903?
- DuBois was a leading African American thinkers and writers of his time, and the first Black person to earn (1895) a PhD at Harvard University.The novel Native Son was published in 1940, and the essays Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin in 1955.
Mary Mcleod Bethune, a founder of Bethune-Cookman College and the National Council of Negro Women, also served in which capacity?
- She was also a consultant on interracial understanding at the 1945 conference that led to the formation of the United Nations.
Marian Wright Edelman, a successful lawyer and activist, established which organization in 1973?
- Children's Defense Fund benefits poor, minority, and handicapped children. The organization known as PUSH (People United to Save Humanity) was founded in 1971 by Reverend Jesse Jackson to further political and economic causes. Habitat for Humanity was founded in 1976 by Millard Fuller and provides secure, affordable housing for low-income individuals and families.
Who described herself as a "black lesbian, mother, warrior, poet"?
- The daughter of Caribbean immigrants who settled in Harlem, Lorde became a poet, teacher, and a respected advocate for the rights of women, African Americans, and gays and lesbians. A writer during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s, West�s novel The Wedding was recently made into a TV minseries. Once a performer in theaters and nightclubs in New York City, Angelou became active in the civil rights movement in the 1960s and later became known for her written works of autobiography and poetry.
