Paige, Ralph McDaniel

Pigford, Timothy

20th century-

Lead plaintiff in Pigford v. Glickman, the 1999 class action settlement against the USDA that became, at the time, the largest civil rights settlement in American history, ultimately paying or crediting nearly $1 billion to Black farmers discriminated against in federal farm lending

Sherrod, Shirley (Miller)

1947-

Co-founded New Communities, Inc. in 1969, the first formal community land trust in the United States and, at 6,000 acres, one of the largest Black-owned tracts of land in the country; became a central figure in the Pigford v. Glickman settlement, already profiled in this collection, and was forced to resign a federal post in 2010 after a selectively edited video clip falsely portrayed her as admitting racial bias, before officials reviewed the full speech and publicly apologized

Boyd, John Jr.

1965-

Founded the National Black Farmers Association; agricultural policy advocacy

Hamer, Fannie Lou

1917-1977

Founded the Freedom Farm Cooperative, a landmark agricultural self-sufficiency project providing food, housing, and economic independence for Black sharecroppers facing eviction for voting