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Sergeant Henry Johnson (July 1892 – July 1929) For day eight of Black History Month, we’d like to highlight Sergeant Henry Johnson, an American soldier, who served and fought during World War 1 as part of the 369th Infantry Regiment, better known as the “Harlem Hellfighters.” Due to segregation in the military at the time, the 369th where detached and fought under the French 4th Army, which was positioned near the Argonne Forrest. During night sentry duty, Henry Johnson and his unit were overrun by a German raiding party, who were trying to capture soldiers to interrogate them for information. Despite being...

Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960) For day seven of Black History Month, we’d like to highlight Zora Neale Hurston, an American anthropologist, author and filmmaker. She studied anthropology at Howard University, Barnard College and Columbia University. She began to write plays and novels in Harlem, New York during the Harlem Renaissance. Her work eventually led her to the Southern United States, where she began to catalog and collect folk and cultural stories from African-American communities in that area. She would eventually publish these stories in a book entitled “Mules and Men.” The work she is best...

One of the earliest songs currently tracked on the timeline is, "Go Tell It On The Mountain," which has been performed by various artists since the late 1800's. Mahalia Jackson, The Blind Boys of Alabama, James Taylor and even Dolly Parton have all done their own variations of it over the years. In the most popular version of the song, the chorus goes: "Go tell it on the mountainOver the hills and everywhereGo tell it on the mountainOur Jesus Christ is born" On the 1971 album, The Best of The Wailers, Bob Marley and The Wailers changed the main chorus to: "Go tell...

Henry Ossawa Tanner (June 21, 1859 – May 25, 1937) For day six of Black History Month, we’d like to highlight Henry Ossawa Tanner, an American artist, painter and the first African-American painter to achieve international recognition and acclaim. Many artists and schools during his time, refused to take on African-American’s as apprentices but in 1879, Tanner enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts becoming the only African-American student. Tanner’s artwork style is often describe as realism because he would focus on creating accurate interpretations of his subjects. Many of works where inspired by Christian themes but some of...

Brigadier General Hazel Johnson-Brown (October 1927 – August 2011) For day five of Black History Month, we’d like to highlight Brigadier General Hazel Johnson-Brown, an American Nurse and Educator who served in the United States Army from 1955 to 1983. She became the first African-American female General in the United States Army in 1979, was the first African-American Chief of the United States Army Nurse Corps and also served as the Director of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Nursing. She is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. “Positive progress towards excellence, that’s what we want. If you stand still...