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Established in 1831 by Elizabeth Harvey in Harveysburg, the Elizabeth Harvey Free Black School was the first school for freed African American children in Ohio. Harvey had 25 pupils in her first class. (Harmon Museum: Art, History & Culture, 6.14.2026)

John Mercer Langston (December 14, 1829 – November 15, 1897) was an African American abolitionist, attorney, educator, activist, diplomat, and politician. He was the founding dean of the law school at Howard University and helped create the department, During his tenure he was coauthor of the Civil Rights Act of 1875, the blueprint used for the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He was the first president of what is now Virginia State University, a historically black college. He was e

Stanley Andrisse (born September 8, 1983)[1] is an American endocrinologist scientist and writer. He is a tenured associate professor at the Howard University College of Medicine and Georgetown Medical Center. His research considers Type 2 diabetes, the pathways of insulin resistant states, and metabolic disease. He is the author of From Prison Cells to PhD: It is Never Too Late to Do Good, and director of an outreach program that supports formerly incarcerated people into co

Shirley Anita Chisholm (November 30, 1924 – January 1, 2005) was an American politician who, in 1968, became the first black woman to be elected to the United States Congress. Chisholm represented New York's 12th congressional district, a district centered in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn for seven terms from 1969 to 1983.

Thomas L. Jennings (c. 1791 – February 12, 1859) was an African-American inventor, tradesman, entrepreneur, and abolitionist in New York City, New York. He has the distinction of being the first African-American patent-holder in history; he was granted the patent in 1821 for his novel method of dry cleaning. Jennings' invention, along with his business expertise, yielded a significant personal fortune, much of which he put into the abolitionist movement in the United States.