Meet Archives
William H. Carney
Meet Army Sgt. William H. Carney, the first black recipient of the award U.S. Medal of Honor who earned it for protecting the American flag during a ferocious battle for Fort Wagner. Wm. Carney was born into slavery in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1840. His family was...
Phillis Wheatley
In 1773, Phillis Wheatley became the first Black person and the second woman to publish a book of poetry in, what was becoming, the United States of America. An enslaved woman from the Gambia, she was one of the best-known poets in pre-19th century America. She read...