African-American Decision Makers in the Roanoke Valley (Black History / African-American History)
Here are a few notable African-Americans with Roanoke Valley roots. Please click their names for more info. We always welcome feedback. We are also always adding to this list, so give us more names and nominations with their professions or claim to fame:
Lucy Addison (Roanoke City educator and the great Lucy Addison High School named after her), Frankie Allen (Roanoke College basketball - National Coach and Player of the Year), Booker T. Washington (Franklin County - legendary world leader), Tony Atlas (retired professional wrestler), Ronde Barber and Tiki Barber (Cave Spring, Roanoke County, All-Pro NFL football players), Curtis Blair (Patrick Henry H.S. Roanoke - current NBA referee), Dr. Beth Brown (d. 2008 at the age of 39; William Fleming H.S. grad - world renowned astrophysicist with NASA), Dr. David Isaac Burrell (b. 1865 - d. 1914; Burrell Memorial Hospital for African-Americans in Roanoke was named after him in 1915), James Childress (Carver H.S. & William Byrd H.S. basketball legend), Ife Chukwu (Keith Orlando Hilton, PhD - Slate Hill, Roanoke County - media, education and leadership professional), Frank William Claytor, M.D. (late Medical Director, former Burrell Memorial Hospital for African-Americans, Roanoke City), Durell Coleman (Roanoke singer/entertainer), Eko and Iko (George and Willie Muse, the albino circus brothers), Greta Evans (the late Roanoke television personality), Florence Saunders Farley, Ph.D. (Lucy Addison High School, '46, History Maker and former mayor of Petersburg, VA), Mike Franklin (1971 Jefferson High School basketball legend, Roanoke City), Rev. Enos Glaspie (Pastor, Shiloh Baptist Church in Salem, 1952 - 1992), Lloyd V. Hackley, Ph.D. (former interim Chancellor, North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro), Rev. Cynthia Hale (Roanoke - one of top women ministers in America; based in Atlanta), Chauncey and Lucy Harmon (Salem - legendary George Washington Carver School educators), Bernard "Supernard" Harris (1970 Northside H.S. basketball superstar, former NBA and European basketball player), Dr. E. Wayne Harris (Carver H.S. graduate, doctorate from Harvard and past Roanoke City schools superintendent), Oliver Hill, Esq, (Roanoke - late civil rights attorney), Al Holland (Roanoke - major league baseball star), Joe Jeter (Salem - football star for GW Carver H.S. and St. Paul's College, later standout women's softball championship coach; USSSA women's slow pitch champions), Lisa A. Jeter (Salem - All ACC indoors and outdoors for four years in track and field at UVa. Women's team was ACC champion all 4 years. Still in the top 10 for shot for UVa.), Henrietta Lacks (d. 1951 - her cancerous cells created an immortal cell line for world medical research), Michael Hylton (one of last three great athletes from G.W. Carver High School in Salem, became 3-letter star at Cave Spring H.S. in late 1960s), Larry LaGrande (Roanoke County, Negro Baseball League catcher -- the last catcher of Satchel Paige), George Lynch (Roanoke - former NBA player and UNC-Chapel star), Roland Malone (legendary basketball coach at Carver and William Byrd high schools), Rene Marie (William Fleming HS, world renowned jazz artist), Oscar Micheaux (Harlem Renaissance filmmaker), George "Killa" Miller (Roanoke - WFHS - legendary athlete & educator), Richard Morgan (Bluefield College head coach and Salem High and UVa basketball star), Dr. John Henry Pinkard (Roanoke County herb doctor and a Roanoke County neighborhood named in his honor), Jane L. Powell (Roanoke, the legendary musical voice of the Valley), Don Pullen (Roanoke - jazz musician/pianist), J.R. Reynolds (Roanoke Catholic and UVa basketball), Billy Sample (Salem - retired major league baseball), Curtis Staples (Roanoke - Patrick Henry HS basketball - former NCAA basketball record holder when at UVa), Roy Stanley (late Roanoke news anchor - WDBJ), Melody Stovall (Founding Director of the Harrison Museum of African-American Life in Roanoke), Lee Suggs (Roanoke - former NFL star), Rev. Noel C. Taylor (first African-American mayor of Roanoke), Charles "Big Dog" Thornhill (Roanoke - 1960s Addison High and Michigan State football), Claudia Whitworth (humanitarian, philanthropist, and editor and publisher of the Roanoke Tribune).
* The TALO Leadership Theory and the Journal of Unabridged Genius (JUG), now recognized worldwide (from Roanoke to Russia) and cited by theorists, scholars, teachers, students, trainers and practitioners, also have their roots in the Roanoke Valley. They were created by Dr. Keith Orlando Hilton (see listed above).
The proposed Carver-Addison University in Roanoke
http://thehhewcolleges.weebly.com/carver-addison-university.html
Please feel free to send us more names at: [email protected]
* The TALO Leadership Theory and the Journal of Unabridged Genius (JUG), now recognized worldwide (from Roanoke to Russia) and cited by theorists, scholars, teachers, students, trainers and practitioners, also have their roots in the Roanoke Valley. They were created by Dr. Keith Orlando Hilton (see listed above).
The proposed Carver-Addison University in Roanoke
http://thehhewcolleges.weebly.com/carver-addison-university.html
Please feel free to send us more names at: [email protected]