Few people know the story of Claudette Colvin: When she was 15, she refused to move to the back of the bus and give up her seat to a white person — nine months before Rosa Parks did the very same thing. Most people know about Parks and the Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott that began…
Van Gilmer, renowned vocal soloist, composer, and choral director, serves as Music Director at the Bahá’í House of Worship. Gilmer came to Wilmette in 2005 at the invitation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, and has since then lovingly drilled the resident choir members, expanded their repertoire, and in…
Robert William Reneau, a musician, singer, dancer, composer, playwright, producer, artist, broadcaster, teacher and choreographer for many years in his native country of Belize, is considered a national treasure and a pillar of the country’s arts and culture. Honored as a Member of the Order of the British Empire, he performed before royalty and presidents,…
In 1905, Robert S. Abbott founded The Chicago Defender, which became the most widely circulated black newspaper in the country, came to be known as “America’s Black Newspaper” and made Abbott one of the first self-made millionaires of African-American descent. Abbott met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the son of the Prophet Founder of the Baha’i Faith, Baha’u’llah, in…
Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing their central role in U.S. history. Also known as African American History Month, the event grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans. Since 1976, every U.S….
As we celebrate Black History Month, we think of Lucy Higgs Nichols (April 10, 1838 – January 25, 1915) was an African American escaped slave, and a nurse for the Union Army during the American Civil War. Known affectionately as “Aunt Lucy”, her sole photo shows her surrounded by veterans of the 23rd Indiana Volunteer…
Ronald Erwin McNair (October 21, 1950 – January 28, 1986) was an American NASA astronaut and physicist, and a member of the Bahá’í Faith. He died during the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger on mission STS-51-L, in which he was serving as one of three mission specialists in a crew of seven. In 1976,…
Gladys West is an American mathematician who is known for her contributions to the mathematical modeling of the shape of the Earth, and her work on the development of satellite geodesy models, that were later incorporated into the Global Positioning System (GPS). She was inducted into the United States Air Force Hall of Fame in…
