Timeline
Lives across two centuries
Lifespans drawn only from recorded dates. Approximate or disputed dates are labeled; unknown dates are left out rather than guessed.
35 lives shown
Recorded lifespanApproximate / source-dependent birthNo death year recordedDated milestone (hover/focus for text)
- Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley 1818–1907
- Bridget “Biddy” Mason c. 1818–1891
- Mary Ann Shadd Cary 1823–1893
- Robert Smalls 1839–1915
- Edmonia Lewis about 1844–1907
- Lewis Latimer 1848–1928
- Granville T. Woods 1856–1910
- Charles Young 1864–1922
- Charles Henry Turner 1867–1923
- Charlotta Bass 1874–1969
- Arturo Alfonso Schomburg 1874–1938
- Carter G. Woodson 1875–1950
- Ernest Everett Just 1883–1941
- Oscar Micheaux 1884–1951
- James Van Der Zee 1886–1983
- Sargent Claude Johnson 1888–1967
- Alice Augusta Ball 1892–1916
- Augusta Savage 1892–1962
- Frederick McKinley Jones 1893–1961
- Paul Revere Williams 1894–1980
- William Grant Still 1895–1978
- Percy Julian 1899–1975
- Miriam Matthews 1905–2003
- Dorothy Porter Wesley 1905–1995
- Augustus F. Hawkins 1907–2007
- Jane Bolin 1908–2007
- Bayard Rustin 1912–1987
- Betty Reid Soskin 1921–2025
- Marie Van Brittan Brown 1922–1999
- Evelyn Boyd Granville 1924–2023
- Gladys West 1930–2026
- Annie Easley 1933–2011
- Patricia Bath 1942–2019
- Emory Douglas Born 1943
- Valerie Thomas Born 1943
Excluded: birth year unknown
- Mary Ellen Pleasant — recorded as “Birth uncertain–1904”
Uncertainty labels
- Charlotta Bass: NPS dates (“1874–1969 (NPS dates)”)
- Sargent Claude Johnson: birth year varies by source (“1888–1967 (birth year varies by source)”)
- Edmonia Lewis: Approximate birth year (“about 1844–1907”)
- Bridget “Biddy” Mason: Approximate birth year (“c. 1818–1891”)
- Mary Ellen Pleasant: Birth year not established in this edition (“Birth uncertain–1904”)
Dates come from each record's life field; milestone years come from dated sentences in the article text, linked to references on each article page.