Phillis Wheatley Peters (c. 1753 – December 5, 1784)

Phillis Wheatley, the first published African American poet, used
biblical themes to persuade believers in Christ to abolish slavery.

Born around 1753 in western Africa, Wheatley was sold to a slave
trader at only seven years of age. Quickly distinguishing herself
as a remarkable student, she finally secured her emancipation in
1773.

She once wrote, “In every human Breast, God has implanted a
Principle, which we call Love of Freedom; It is impatient of
Oppression, and pants for Deliverance; and . . . the same
Principle lives in us.”

Statue of Phillis Wheatley in Boston by Meredith Bergmann, dedicated in 2003.

On June 14, 1877 Henry Ossian Flipper (1856 – 1940), born
into slavery in Thomasville, Georgia, in 1856, became the
first African American cadet to graduate from the U.S.
Military Academy at West Point, New York, earning a
commission as a second lieutenant in the United States
Army.

Flipper was also an author who wrote about scientific topics
and his life experiences.

A painting depicting Lt. Flipper near the Rio Grande River,
TX in 1880 while scouting with company A, 10th US Cavalry
Regiment.

Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks
(June 7, 1917 – December 3, 2000)

The first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for poetry,
Brooks used her work to explore the urban African American
experience.

Lonnie George Johnson (75)

On May 27, 1986, the U.S. Patent Office granted a patent
to  African American inventor Lonnie Johnson for his toy       
design simply titled ”Squirt Gun.”

       
After a few name changes and additional patents,
Johnson’s invention—ultimately re-named the
“Super Soaker®”—would become the best-selling
water toy of all time, eventually earning its rightful
place in the American National Toy Hall of Fame.       

Johnson was formerly employed at the U.S. Air
Force/ NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory^.

The National Toy Hall of Fame located in the outdoor Hasbro Game Park at The Strong National Museum of Play in
Rochester, New York.         
       

Recognized for heroically protecting the American flag during
the Civil War, Army Sgt. William Harvey Carney receives the
Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military decoration, on
May 23, 1900.

The first Black American service member to earn the award,
Carney was born into slavery in Virginia in 1840.

He was one of many Civil War-era honorees to be granted the
medal decades later.