Ruth Dennis Research Paper

Claudia Gordon, the first deaf woman with African decent to be an attorney in the United States was an important figure head. To talk about her, however, we have to look deeper, towards some of her actions.

Debbie Allen was born to Vivian Ayers and Arthur Allen on January 16, 1950. At age three she started dancing and at age four she knew she wanted to be a professional dancer. Her parents divorced in 1957, and her mother was Debbie and her siblings were encouraged to be creative and independent. In 1960, Vivian Ayers took her children to Mexico. When they came back to Texas, Debbie auditioned for the Houston Ballet School but was denied because the color of her skin. A Russian teacher at the school saw Debbie perform and secretly enrolled her. When she was sixteen, she auditioned for the North Carolina School of the Arts but was rejected because her body was “unsuited” for ballet. While she was in high school she put her studies first and went

Bonnie Parker met her soon to be husband her second year of high though though shortly into she dropped out. She was married six days after her sixteenth birthday to Roy Thornton. His brushes with law and being gone left their marriage short lived. Although shortly after their marriage he was arrested and sentenced to jail time. Though they never divorced they never saw each other again after January 1929. She still wore her wedding ring until the day she died even while being separated from Roy.

Barbara Jordan was born on February 21, 1936 in Houston Texas. She was the youngest child of three. Her father Benjamin Jordan was a Baptist minister and warehouse clerk. Her mother, Arlyne was a maid, housewife and church teacher. Jordan went to college at the University of Texas. She graduated from college being one out of two African American women in her class. Jordan passed away from viral pneumonia on January 17, 1996. Barbara Jordan is a modern here because she is a brave woman, she overcame racism, she is also a civil rights activist.

Margaret Lea Houston (April 11, 1819 – December 3, 1867) was First Lady of the Republic of Texas, First Lady of the state of Texas, and a founding member of Concord Baptist Church in Grand Cane. She was a poet and an accomplished musician. Her influence on husband Sam Houston persuaded him to give up alcohol and profane language. Margaret gave birth inside the governor's mansion to the youngest of their eight children, as angry mobs gathered outside in response to her husband's opposition to Texas signing the Ordinance of Secession of the Civil War. He was removed from office for refusing to swear loyalty to the Confederacy. Their eldest son joined the Confederate army and was left for dead on the battlefield at Shiloh, saved by a Union Army

Araminta Harriet Ross was born somewhere between the years of 1820-1825. Historians do not know the exact date of Ross’s birth since they have little to go off of. However, they were able to find where she was born, which was in Dorchester County, Maryland. Ross was born into slavery by her mother, Harriet Green, and her father, Ben Ross. Araminta Ross had four older siblings also in slavery, however, she would soon have a total of eight siblings. In total, the Ross family had five girls and four boys.

As as result of the relocation of people from England to Australia, it turned Australia into the land of opportunity and made for a better world. It benefited England and the world for many reasons such as securing trade routes with China. The movement of the convicts also spread fear among english society deterring crime. Furthermore, some of the convicts were fortunate enough to the opportunity to live and potentially earn their freedom. Crime rates rose and England's jails become overcrowded with prisoners they resorted to using prison hulks as temporary, makeshift confinements on the river Thames eventually leading to the penal transportation to Australia.

Maria W. Stewart, a “black abolitionist, feminist, author and educator” originating in the nineteenth century, can be considered as one of the most influential women in history (African American Registry). Known for writing articles for William Lloyd Garrison’s newspaper, The Liberator, Stewart became the first American woman, who also happened to be black, to deliver multiple speeches to an audience from a public platform. Between writing about anti-slavery to spreading her opinions through four powerful speeches in Boston, Massachusetts, Maria Stewart is unquestionably worthy and qualified to be the subject of a film or documentary due to the fact that she was “the first woman in America to address mixed gender and race audiences on the topic

Ann Deborah Lynn knew she was born to be leader despite her circumstances as an African American in Lexington, Kentucky. Born October 3, 1810 to William Henry Lynn and Sarah Mae Lynn, her vision to be an inspiring Civil Rights Activist would be the biggest challenge of her life. Her father, William was a slave captured in Angola, Africa in broad daylight and her mother, Sarah was a daughter of slaves from Guinea. Free blacks in the South couldn’t express how they felt and wasn’t able to travel as freely as the free slaves in the Northern cities. The North also had more to offer because they were becoming more urban which meant better jobs, transportation and growing middle-class. Ann always knew she wanted to travel and speak to other slaves

Born Mary Jane Mcleod on July 10, 1875, in Mayesville, South Carolina, Mary Mcleod Bethune was a leading educator and civil rights activist. She grew up in poverty, as one of 17 children born to former slaves. Traveling miles each way, she walked to school each day and did her best to share her newfound knowledge with her family. Bethune later received a scholarship to the Scotia Seminary, a school for girls in Concord, North Carolina. After graduating from the seminary in 1893, she went to the Dwight Moody's Institute for Home and Foreign Missions in Chicago. Bethune complete her studies there two years later. Returning to the South, she began her career as a teacher. She married fellow teacher Albertus Bethune in 1898. The couple had one

Araminta Harriet Ross was born in c.1820 to enslaved parents. As a young child Harriet went through many hardship , She had to endure seeing her three sisters being sold making slavery known. As she grew up physical violence in her life increased whether that be a beating,or to a severe extent a two pound weight to the head which caused her to have seizures throughout her life. Araminta’s father Ben was finally free at the age of 45 but the rest of his family was still enslaved due to the people who owned them. In 1844 Araminta married John Tubman a free man, she changed her name to Harriet around the time she was getting married the reason is unknown but many believe it was to honor her mother. When Harriet escaped from Maryland to philadelphia

My composer's name is Elisabeth de la Guerra. Elisabeth was born in Paris, on March 17 1665 AD. She was educated at the school French court where her education was supervised by the king’s mistress. Some of the instruments that she played were the recorder, small viols, and the harpsichord. Elisabeth got married to Marin de la Guerra, they moved to Paris after marriage and Elisabeth Jacquet took up a new name Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre. After marriage, she started giving concert classes at home and all through Paris, which made her popular. Though Elisabeth was seriously into composing since 1680, most of her works have been lost.

Katherine Dunham was born June 22, 1909 in Chicago, Illinois (“Katherine Dunham Biography” 1). After her mother’s unexpected death four years after her birth, Dunham would be sent to live with her aunt who would give Dunham her first exposure to music and dance (“Katherine Dunham” Contemporary Black 2). Although she had loved

Margaret was a pioneer in special education. Margaret believed that all children have the right to learn and that educators and doctors have the responsibility to find out everything about all different types of children.

Olive Wetzel Dennis was the first woman civil engineer on the B&O Railroad and in American railroading. She has been awarded the unofficial title of “the woman who took the pain out of the train” for her innovative contributions to the design of passenger service. “At a time and in an industry that could barely conceive of a woman doing a man’s work, this extraordinary woman prevailed and left an indelible mark.”