The oral history consists of 2016.129.19.1a and 2016.129.19.2a: two versions (unedited, and edited) of a single digital video recording. John Jacob Oliver was interviewed as part of the NMAAHC Donor Oral History Collection. Mr. Oliver worked for the…
Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and CultureCatalog 2016.129.19.1a-.2a
John Jamison Moore (1818 – December 9, 1893), also known as J. J. Moore, was an American bishop of the AME Zion Church, journalist, church historian, and educator. Moore's achievements include writing a history of the AME Zion Church, establishing the…
John Jarvis Seabrook (April 12, 1899 – May 1, 1975) was an American theologian, Methodist pastor, and academic administrator. He was the president-emeritus of Huston–Tillotson University, a HBUC in Austin, Texas; and the president-emeritus of Claflin…
John R. Keene Jr. (born 1965) is an American writer, translator, professor, and artist who was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2018. His 2022 poetry collection, Punks: New & Selected Poems, received the National Book Award for Poetry.
John B. King Jr. (born January 5, 1975) is an American academic administrator, currently serving as the 15th chancellor of the State University of New York since January 2023. He previously served as President & CEO of The Education Trust, a national civil…
John L. McKinley was an American college football coach. He served as the head football coach at the State College for Colored Students—now known as Delaware State University—in Dover, Delaware for one season, in 1931. McKinley graduated from Armstrong…
John Lay Thompson (April 3, 1869, Grand River Township, Decatur County, Iowa – 1930) was an Iowa journalist and businessman who played a key role in the early history of the African American newspaper the Iowa Bystander. Thompson was born to Andy and…
John Larkins (born November 25, 1877 – March 18, 1936) was an American stage and screen performer, as well as songwriter, whose acting career extended nearly four decades – from the late 1890s through his last acting roles in the five films released the…
John Harding Lucas (November 7, 1920 – March 31, 2025) was an American educator and university administrator. He served as president of Shaw University and was instrumental in founding the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE).
John Harding Lucas II (born October 31, 1953) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who most recently served as an assistant coach for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played basketball and…
John Lyons (born October 1933) is a Trinidad-born poet, painter, illustrator, educator and curator. He has worked as a theatre designer, exhibition adviser and as a teacher both of visual art and creative writing. As an art critic, he has written essays…
John Mifflin Brown (September 8, 1817 – March 16, 1893) was a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. He was a leader in the Underground Railroad. He helped open a number of churches and schools, including the Payne Institute which became…
John Mack (born 6 December 1977) is the current director of athletics for Princeton University. He previously served as associate athletic director at Northwestern University from 2006 to 2011, before spending 10 years in the legal field as a practicing…
John Michael Mallette (August 6, 1932 - August 21, 1995) was an American biologist, academic administrator and civic leader. He was a professor of biology at Tennessee State University and an administrator at the University of Tennessee at Nashville. He…
John Mark Cox Jr. was the first African American to attend Rollins College, Florida's oldest college. In 1964, Cox was admitted to Rollins College, a liberal arts college in central Florida.
John McKenzie (born c. 1963) is an American former football player and coach. He is the head football coach at Paul W. Bryant High School in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, a position he has held since 2023. He served as the head football coach at Delaware State…
John McLaughlin Williams (born 1957) is a Grammy award-winning American orchestral conductor and violinist. Williams, who is of African American heritage, was born in Greensboro, North Carolina. He attended the Boston University School of Music, the New…
John B. McLendon Jr. (April 5, 1915 – October 8, 1999) was an American basketball coach who is recognized as the first African American basketball coach at a predominantly white university and the first African American head coach in any professional…
John McNeile Hunter (January 23, 1901 – July 1979) was an American physicist and chemist, and the third African American person to receive a PhD in physics in the United States. He spent the entirety of his career as a professor of physics at the Virginia…
John Hamilton McWhorter V (; born October 6, 1965) is an American linguist. He is an associate professor of linguistics at Columbia University, where he also teaches American studies and music history. He has authored a number of books on race relations…
Langston was among the first Black Americans elected to public office, founded Howard University’s law department and later served in the U.S. House of Representatives.
John Ayers Merritt (January 26, 1926 – December 15, 1983) was an American college football coach. He served as the head football coach at Jackson State University from 1952 to 1962 and Tennessee State University from 1963 to 1983, compiling a career…
John Mitchell Jr. (born October 14, 1951) is an American former football coach and collegiate player. Over the course of his career, Mitchell has broken several racial barriers, one of which was being the first black player for the Alabama Crimson Tide. He…
John William Moore (1933 – February 11, 1987) was an American college basketball player for the UCLA Bruins. Twice he earned honorable mention as an All-American. He was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame. Playing with UCLA in the Pacific Coast…
