Explore people and objects across Black history. Start anywhere, or follow the collection by date.
115,761 matching cards · 24 cards per page
Biography
Charles Babalola (born 1990 or 1991) is a British actor. He was educated at St Bonaventure's school in London and went on to study drama at Havering College and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). Upon leaving LAMDA, he received the Alan…
1780–
Charles Ball (real name Charles Gross; c. 1780 – unknown) was an enslaved African American from Maryland, best known for his account as a fugitive slave, Slavery in the United States (1836).
Loading image…1873–1923
Charles Banks (March 25, 1873 – October 18, 1923) was an American bank founder and businessman. He founded the Bank of Mound Bayou, and the Mound Bayou Oil Mill and Manufacturing Company in Mound Bayou, Mississippi. Banks was a member of the executive…
Loading image…1963–
Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst on TNT Sports and CBS Sports. Nicknamed "Sir Charles", "the Chuckster", and "the Round Mound of Rebound", Barkley played 16…
1988
FROM THE SOURCE CATALOGAn image of Charles Barkley taken in New York City in 1988. The image is a close-up of Barkley who has sweat on his brow.
Loading image…1903–1926
Charles Barr (1903 – August 20, 1926), known as The Petting Party Bandit, was an American serial killer who attacked couples at lovers' lanes in Memphis, Tennessee, from January to May 1923, killing three and wounding one. For his crimes, he was convicted,…
Dates not recorded
Charles Adams Bates (born c. 1934) is an American former football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Kentucky State University from 1967 to 1969 and Southern University from 1972 to 1977.
Loading image…2002–
Charles A. Bediako Jr. (born March 10, 2002) is an American and Canadian professional basketball player for the New Zealand Breakers of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). After playing for Alabama between 2021 and 2023, Bediako played three…
Loading image…1979–
Charles Daniel Bennett (born November 23, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the featherweight division of Gamebred Fighting Championship. He is also a bare-knuckle boxer who competes in Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship…
Loading image…1807–1886
Charles Bennett Ray (December 25, 1807 – August 15, 1886) was a prominent African-American minister and abolitionist who owned and edited the weekly newspaper The Colored American. Born in Massachusetts, he spent most of his career and life in New York City.
Loading image…1957–
Charles Bernard Day (born April 12, 1957) is a former United States magistrate judge and former nominee to be a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. His nomination to a life-tenure, federal district…
Biography
Charles Bilal was mayor of Kountze, Texas, USA. He is notable for being the first Muslim in America to be elected as an American Muslim to a US municipality. Bilal lives in Kountze where, in 1991, he was elected as the first Muslim mayor of a US…
March 20, 2024
FROM THE SOURCE CATALOGAn oral history interview and conversation with activist and community organizer Charles Black. It consists of three versions of digital video recording, two camera card files (2025.12.14.1.1 and 2025.12.14.1.2, .mxf files) and one edited file…
1983–
Charles Jamaal Blake is an American Democratic politician who represented the 36th district in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019. The district contains a portion of Little Rock and is entirely contained in Pulaski County. Blake…
Loading image…1946–
Charles Frank Bolden Jr. (born August 19, 1946) is a former administrator of NASA, a retired United States Marine Corps Major General, and a former astronaut who flew on four Space Shuttle missions. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy with…
Loading image…1984–
Charles Booker (born October 20, 1984) is an American politician who served from 2019 to 2021 as the Kentucky state representative for the 43rd House district, making him the state's youngest Black lawmaker. He is the Democratic nominee for the 2026 U.S.…
1761–1843
Charles Bowles (October 20, 1761 – March 16, 1843) was an American itinerant preacher and Free Will Baptist who preached across Vermont and established the first church in Huntington, Vermont. He served in the Continental Army during the American…
Loading image…1951–
Charles Box (born February 24, 1951) is an American politician who served as the first African-American mayor of Rockford, Illinois, then the second largest city in Illinois. Box was elected mayor of Rockford in 1989, defeating Leonard LaPasso with 63% of…
1949
Charles Boyce (born 1949 in Olive Branch, Mississippi), is an American cartoonist known for his syndicated comic panel Compu-toon. Boyce is also known for creating the KeyPad Kid, a cartoon character used in public affairs awareness programs for training…
1940–2021
Charles Brackeen (March 13, 1940, in Eufaula, Oklahoma, United States – November 5, 2021, Carson, California) was an American jazz saxophonist who primarily played tenor saxophone, but also played soprano saxophone. He was previously married to pianist…
Loading image…1939–
Charles Brown (born February 28, 1939) is a former amateur boxer from the United States who won the bronze medal in the Featherweight (−57 kg) division at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. At the Pan American Games he won a silver medal in 1959 and a bronze medal…
ca. 1995
FROM THE SOURCE CATALOGA black-and-white photograph of blues musician Charles Brown playing piano during a performance in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Brown is photographed in profile from his right. He is crouched over the piano and wears a cap and dark jacket that appear to be covered…
Loading image…1842–1929
Dr. Charles Burleigh Purvis (April 14, 1842 – December 14, 1929) was an African-American physician who resided in Washington, D.C. Among the founders of the medical school at Howard University, he was the first African-American physician to attend a…
Loading image…1944–
Charles Burnett (; born April 13, 1944) is an American film director, film producer, writer, editor, actor, photographer, and cinematographer. His most popular films include Killer of Sheep (1978), My Brother's Wedding (1983), To Sleep with Anger (1990),…
Biographies, museum objects and archive records are distinct card types. Every card links to its historical source.
