Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806) Benjamin Banneker was an essayist, inventor mathematician and lay astronomer Born to a free mother, he attended private school, but much of his learning was self-taught. He built the first wholly American-made clock out of wooden parts when he was lust a youth. The clock kept accurate time for 20 years. Banneker was the first African given a presidential appointment when George Washington, upon Thomas Jefferson's recommendation, chose Banneker as a surveyor in laying out the new capital in Washington, D.C.

Blanche K. Bruce (1841-1897) Blanche K. Bruce was born into slavery and was the son of his master and a slave woman. He was made the body servant of his white half-brother In this position he was able to receive schooling. When his half-brother her joined the Confederate Army Bruce escaped to freedom and completed his education at Oberlin College. He worked in a variety of public service positions, which included sergeant-at-arms of the state senate, tax assessor, sheriff and public school superintendent. He was the second African American elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served from 1875 to 1881.

James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938) James Weldon Johnson was born in Jacksonville to a headwaiter and the first female Black schoolteacher in Florida. Johnson graduated from the school where his mother taught and later earned a degree from Atlanta University. He began taking graduate classes at Columbia University to broaden his literary horizons. In 1913 he started writing for the "New York Age", and in 1917 he published his first collection of poetry "Fifty Years and Other Poems". In 1916, Johnson was offered the post of field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; he became general secretary of the NAACP in 1920.

JOSH GIBSON, greatest hitter in Negro Leagues history, voted to Cooperstown in 1972.

BENJAMIN LAWSON HOOKS became the first African American commissioner appointed to the Federal Communications Commission in 1972, and was the former executive secretary of the NAACP.

Western Classics

Bass Reeves was often called "one of the bravest men this country has ever known." "Invincible," others noted, "a Deputy U.S. Marshal whose devotion to duty was beyond reproach." He was honored posthumously with the National Cowboy Hall of Fame's "Great Westerner" at a Western Heritage Award program. Read More. Bill Pickett (1870-1932) Bill Pickett was a legendary cowboy from Taylor Texas. Nicknamed "The Dusky Demon" and "The Bulldogger," Pickett toured as a steer wrestler for over a quarter century with the Miller Brothers' 101 Ranch Wild West Show, started by the infamous "Buffalo Bill" Cody in 1883. He popularized the rodeo sport with his bulldogging techniques. Riding his horse Spradley Pickett came alongside a Longhorn and dropped its head, then twisted its face toward the sky and bit the animal's upper lip to get full control. Bill Pickett died at the age of 70 from injuries he received while working horses at the 101 Ranch. See Black Cowboys.