The oral history consists of eight digital files: 2011.174.96.1a, 2011.174.96.1b, 2011.174.96.1c, 2011.174.96.1d, 2011.174.96.1e, 2011.174.96.1f, 2011.174.96.1g, and 2011.174.96.1h. The interviewees in this group interview were students who staged a…
Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and CultureCatalog 2011.174.96.1a-h
John E. Barnes Jr. (born June 12, 1958) is an American politician who served as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives, representing the 12th district from 2011 to 2018. He formerly served in the same seat from January 1999 to February 2002.
John Edward Bush (1856–1916) was an American businessman, teacher, and politician. He co-founded the Mosaic Templars of America. He was a leader in the Republican Party.
John E. Hussey (died November 22, 1922) was a grocer, boardinghouse owner, and state legislator in North Carolina. He was African-American and represented Craven County in the North Carolina House of Representatives from 1885 to 1889.
John E. Nail (August 22, 1883 – March 6, 1947) was an African-American real estate agent in New York City, significant for developing Harlem. His sister was Grace Nail Johnson, wife of James Weldon Johnson, both civil rights activists. Nail got his start…
John Elijah Proctor (January 14, 1844 – December 14, 1944) was an American politician in the state of Florida. A former slave, he served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1873 to 1875, and 1879 to 1881, and in the Florida Senate from 1883 to…
John Emory Toussaint Camper (1897 – November 21, 1977) was a prominent physician and Civil Rights activist. Born in Baltimore, Maryland and raised in Sparrows Point, Camper was a graduate of Frederick Douglass High School. Prior to attending Howard…
John Earle Sullivan (born July 18, 1994), also known as Activist John, is an American political activist, convicted felon, and self-identified photojournalist who participated in the January 6, 2021 United States Capitol attack. In November 2023, he was…
John Edgar Wideman (born June 14, 1941) is an American novelist, short story writer, memoirist, and essayist. He was the first person to win the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction twice. His writing is known for experimental techniques and a focus on the…
John Edward Bruce, also known as Bruce Grit or J. E. Bruce-Grit (February 22, 1856 – August 7, 1924), was an American journalist, historian, writer, orator, civil rights activist and Pan-African nationalist. He was born a slave in Maryland; as an adult, he…
The oral history consists of seven digital files: 2011.174.33.1a, 2011.174.33.1b, 2011.174.33.1c, 2011.174.33.1d, 2011.174.33.1e, 2011.174.33.1f, and 2011.174.33.1g. John Churchville, J.D. recalls growing up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, his mother's…
Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and CultureCatalog 2011.174.33.1a-g
John Ellison (born 11 August 1941) is an American/Canadian musician, best known for writing the song "Some Kind of Wonderful." He was born in Montgomery, West Virginia, and was raised in Landgraff, West Virginia, a small, poverty-stricken coal mining…
John Wesley Ewell (born 1956/1957) is an American serial killer who murdered four people at their residences in Hawthorne, California, over the span of two months in 2010. Prior to the murders, he was an activist who opposed California's "3-strikes" law,…
John Ewing Jr. (born April 18, 1961) is an American politician, minister, and former police officer serving as the 52nd mayor of Omaha, Nebraska, since 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected in 2025, defeating incumbent Republican…
John Francis Cook Jr. (September 1833 – January 20, 1910) was a prominent businessman, politician and civil rights activist who was a member of the Washingtonian African-American elite of the late 19th century. Born into an established, middle-class family…
John F. Harris (c. 1830 – August 20, 1913) was an African-American lawyer and politician from Greenville, Mississippi. In the mid- and late-1880s he was a member of the Greenville city council and in 1890 he was elected to the Mississippi House of…
John Francis Nicholas Wilkinson (c. 1832 – October 5, 1912) was a librarian at the Library of Congress. Wilkinson was an African-American who worked his way up from a custodial position to working as an assistant law librarian at the Law Library of Congress.
John Francis Wheaton (May 8, 1866 – January 15, 1922), name alternately written as John Frank Wheaton and J. Frank Wheaton, was an American politician. He was the first African American elected to the Minnesota Legislature, serving in its House of…
John Daniel George (September 16, 1928 – December 10, 1988) was a Californian politician and the first African American elected to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. George served as supervisor for the Alameda County's District 5 for over ten years…
John George Jones (September 18, 1849 – June 7, 1914) was an African-American lawyer, and state legislator in Chicago, Illinois who advocated for civil rights.
John H. Brigerman (December 11, 1902 – August 2, 1968) was a lawyer, realtor, and state legislator in Pennsylvania. Birgerman was born in Wyandotte County, Kansas. He graduated from John Marshall Law School in Chicago and University of Indianapolis as well…
John H. Calhoun Jr. (July 8, 1899 – May 6, 1988) was an American civil rights leader and politician who served on the Atlanta City Council representing District 1 from 1974 to 1978.
John H. Davis (1820s/c. 1831–1896) was an early African-American newspaper publisher, politician, capitalist and land speculator in Roanoke, Virginia. "He was shrewd and was quite successful in business, and accumulated a considerable sum of money, which…
