From a slave to a statesman, Frederick Douglass used his rhetorical gifts to become one of the country's most famous abolitionists after escaping the confines of slavery. He shared his views and life story by publishing three versions of his autobiography, the first of which was Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave in 1845, along with several abolitionist newspapers including The North Star and New National Era. Douglass also was an advocate for woman's rights, held many political positions after the conclusion of the Civil War and was the first African American nominated for Vice President of the United States in 1872.

Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most well-known, important figures of the Civil Rights Movement. The Southern minister was an influential leader and eloquent speaker who promoted non-violence in the face of the racial injustice that African-Americans encountered on a daily basis. Dr. King was thrust into the national spotlight during the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955 and went on to help form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. At the historic March on Washington on August 28, 1963, Dr. King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. The following year, Dr. King was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize and saw the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 soon after. In 1968 during a trip to Memphis to lead his voice to the plight of the sanitation workers of that city, Dr. King was assassinated on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel.

With the act of refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks became a symbol for the racial inequality facing African Americans. The fall-out of her resulting arrest lead to a city-wide boycott of public buses in Montgomery, a movement which was organized by E.D. Nixon, the head of the local chapter of the NAACP, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The 381-day Montgomery Bus Boycott was hugely successful in moving the Civil Rights Movement forward and ended segregation on public buses in the city. Following this victory, Parks endured difficult times as she and her husband lost their jobs and eventually moved to Detroit where he found work at the congressional office of U.S. Representative John Conyer. Throughout her life, Rosa Parks continued to be active within the Civil Rights Movement and as a member of the NAACP.