Learn about these lesser-known heroes during Black History Month in February During Black History Month, we celebrate the African-American story. As with all history, it's a rich pageant of players both famous and obscure. While we've all heard of such icons as Frederick Douglass , Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks , many others, less famous, have nevertheless carried the torch of freedom and advancement for all. Here are a few of these heroes: Claudette Colvin (b. 1939): On March 2, 1955--nine months before Rosa Parks--15-year-old high school student Colvin was arrested for refusing to relinquish her seat on a Montgomery, Ala., bus to a white woman. Her act of civil disobedience eventually helped overturn Alabama's segregation laws. Rebecca Lee Crumpler (1831-1895): In 1864, the Delaware native became the first U.S. black woman to earn a medical degree. She founded a Boston practice for poor women and children, and wrote a related medical manual.
