American Religion Timelines
Race/Ethnicity and Religion - Biographies By Last Name
| Name | Introduction |
|---|---|
| Abernathy, Ralph | Ralph Abernathy (1926-1990) was an important figure in the civil rights movement. He facilitated the Montgomery bus boycott and worked with Martin Luther King, Jr. |
| Allen, Richard | Richard Allen (1760-1831) was an influential black minister who established the first black denomination in the United States. |
| Burroughs, Nannie Helen | Nannie Helen Burroughs was an educator, missionary leader, writer and pioneer for the rights of African Americans, especially Black women. |
| Chavez, Cesar | Cesar Chavez (1927-1993) was a prominent labor leader who fought on behalf of American farm workers. |
| Deloria, Vine | Best-selling author Vine Deloria, Jr., (1933-2005) was a 20th century champion of Native American autonomy and proponent of indigenous religious traditions. |
| Farrakhan, Louis | Louis Farrakhan (1933-present) helped revitalize the controversial Nation of Islam in the late 1970s. |
| Fearing, Maria | Maria Fearing emerged from slavery to become a self-financed missionary teacher, founding the Pantops Home for Girls in Luebo, Congo. |
| Gloucester, John | John Gloucester (1776-1822) founded the first African-American Presbyterian Church and was one of the earliest black Presbyterian ministers. |
| Healy, James Augustine | James Augustine Healy (1830-1900) was the first Catholic American priest and bishop of African descent. |
| Hosier, Harry | Harry Hosier (1750-1806) was a renowned public speaker and one of the first licensed black preachers in Methodism. |
| Jackson, Jesse | Jesse Jackson (1941-present) is a Baptist minister, civil rights advocate, and politician, whose career continues to earn both praise and criticism. |
| Jakes, Thomas Dexter "T.D." | Thomas Dexter "T.D." Jakes (1957-present) is a popular televised pastor known for his large church services, bestselling books, and cable ministry programs. |
| King, Martin Luther | Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) was an African-American Baptist minister and civil rights leader who combined Gandhi’s nonviolent philosophy and Christian love to fight racism. |
| Lee, Jarena | Jarena Lee (1783-1855) was one of the first black female preachers in America. |
| Liele, George | George Liele (1750-1828) was the first black Baptist convert in Georgia and founded the first black Baptist church in America at Silver Bluff, South Carolina. |
| Michaux, Lightfoot Solomon | Known as the "Happy Am I Evangelist," Lightfoot Solomon Michaux (1884-1968) was a popular radio evangelist with a radio program reaching 25 million people nationwide. |
| Muhammad, Elijah | Elijah Muhammad (1897-1975) was the second leader of the Nation of Islam, overseeing the widespread growth of the Nation of Islam for over four decades. |
| Occom, Samson | Samson Occom (1723-1792), an evangelical Presbyterian minister from the Mohegan tribe, founded the Indian-Christian community of Brothertown, New York. |
| Payne, Daniel Alexander | Daniel Alexander Payne (1811-1893) was an African Methodist Episcopal Church bishop and the first black college president in the United States. |
| Perkins, John | Christian and social justice advocate John Perkins (1930-present) helped provide education, job skills, and health care access to the poor through his ministries. |
| Sharpton, Alfred "Al" | Alfred “Al” Sharpton (1954-present) is a Baptist minister, civil rights leader, media figure, and politician, who draws public attention to racial issues in America. |
| Shuttlesworth, Fred | Fred Shuttlesworth (1922-2011) was known as the "most abused and arrested minister in the nation" during the civil rights era. |
| Smith, Amanda Berry | Amanda Berry Smith was a Methodist evangelist and missionary, author, founding member of the NAACP and founder of an orphanage for Black children in Chicago. |
| Stewart, Maria | Maria Stewart was an abolitionist and women’s rights advocate, known for one of the first recorded public speeches of any woman in American history. |
| Suzuki, D.T. | Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki (1870-1966), a Zen Buddhist monk from Japan, helped to personify and explain Zen to a generation of Americans. |
| Tekakwitha, Kateri | Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680) was a Native American Catholic, known for her asceticism and chastity. She was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012. |
| the Prophet, Tenskwatawa | Tenskwatawa (1775-1836), also called "The Shawnee Prophet," became the spiritual leader of one of the largest Native American confederations until an 1811 U.S. military defeat. |
| Thind, Bhagat Singh | Bhagat Singh Thind (1892-1967), a Sant Mat devotee and Indian immigrant, was the subject of an important legal test denying U.S. citizenship to Asian Indians. |
| Trungpa, Chogyam | Chogyam Trungpa (1939-87) is the founder of the largest Tibetan Buddhist group in America. |
| Tubman, Harriet | Harriet Tubman (1820-1913), known as the "Moses of her people," helped more than 300 slaves find freedom through the Underground Railroad. |
| Vivekananda, Swami | Calcutta priest Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) was the founder of the Vedanta Society, which helped bring Hindu education and yoga to America. |
| Wheatley, Phillis | Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784) became the first published African-American female poet. Most of her poetry contained religious themes. |
| Wilson, Jack "Wovoka" | Wovoka (1856-1932), a Paiute mystic also known as Jack Wilson, became the spiritual leader of a Ghost Dance movement that waned after the Wounded Knee Massacre. |
| Winfrey, Oprah | Billionaire media icon Oprah Winfrey (1954-present) has become the unofficial guru for millions of Americans seeking spiritual and moral guidance beyond traditional religious affiliation. |
| X, Malcolm | Malcolm X (1925-1965) was an active minister and spokesman for the Nation of Islam from the mid-1950s until 1964. |
