Houston

Investment banker Gerald B. Smith was born on September 28, 1950 in Houston, Texas. He graduated from Jack Yates High School in Houston, Texas in 1968, and received his B.B.A. degree from Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas in 1972.

After graduation, Smith became an assistant buyer for men’s sportswear at Foley’s department store. In 1974, Smith was hired at the investment banking firm of Hibbard, O’Conner & Weeks in Houston, Texas, where he completed the check training program and worked as a trader. In 1979, Smith moved to New York and joined Dillon, Read & Co. as the first African American hired by the firm, where he worked in the fixed income sector, trading and advising in portfolio management. In 1980, Smith became a founding member of the New York Futures Exchange (NYFE), which was established for the trading of futures contracts of financial products. Smith later worked for the Westcap Corporation, where he was responsible for national sales and trading with institutional investors. He also served as senior vice president and director of fixed income securities for Underwood Neuhaus & Co. In 1990, Smith co-founded Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors, L.P. in Houston, Texas, along with Ladell Graham.

Smith served as a trustee of various funds of The Charles Schwab Family of Funds and became director of Cooper Industries. He was also a director of Northern Border Partners, L.P. as well as the lead independent director and presiding non-management director of Cooper Industries PLC. From 2009 to 2013, Smith served as director of ONEOK, Inc.; and, from 2011 to 2016, Smith served on the board of The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas – Houston Branch. In 2012, he became director of New York Life Insurance Co. and independent director of Eaton Corporation PLC. He was also chairman of the Texas Southern University Foundation.

In 2007, Black Enterprise magazine named Smith one of the 50 Most Powerful African Americans on Wall Street. In 2012, he received an honorary doctorate degree from Texas Southern University. Smith and his wife, Anita were recognized as Excellence in Education Honorees at the Annual United Negro College Fund’s Gala in 2015, and are both founding donors of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. He was also inducted into the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame and received the United Way Volunteer of the Year Award, the National Black MBA Association’s Leadership Empowerment Award, YMCA Annual Tribute to Leadership Award, and the Community Partner’s “Father of the Year” Award. In 2015, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from The Greater Houston Black Chamber of Commerce and The National Economic Empowerment & Entrepreneurship Award from The 100 Black Men Association of America.

Gerald B. Smith was interviewed The HistoryMakers on April 26, 2019.

Corporate executive Priscilla Hill-Ardoin was born on June 21, 1951 in Houston, Texas to Newman and Inez Hill. She graduated from Evan E. Worthing Senior High School in Houston, Texas in 1969, received her B.A. degree from Drury College in Springfield, Missouri in 1972, and earned her M.A. degree from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana in 1973. She later obtained her M.B.A. degree from the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri in 1988, and her J.D. degree from the St. Louis University School of Law in Missouri.

In 1973, Hill-Ardoin was hired as assistant to president Dr. Alvin I. Thomas at Prairie View A&M University in Houston, Texas, where she established the university’s communications department and degree program. Two years later, she accepted a position at Southwestern Bell in Houston as a part of its management training program. In 1981, Hill-Ardoin was promoted to district level manager at Southwestern Bell Missouri where she worked for the Southwestern Bell Yellow Pages. During this period, she held positions in marketing and strategic planning and later moved to Washington, D.C. on an external assignment where she worked for the Foreign Affairs committee. In 1996, Hill-Ardoin became the first director of diversity at Southwestern Bell headquarters in San Antonio. The following year, she was named president of Southwestern Bell Missouri. In 1999, she became senior vice president of regulatory affairs in Washington, D.C. She was then named the regulatory compliance officer at Southwestern Bell headquarters in San Antonio in 2002, and later became the company’s first chief privacy officer at the senior vice president level. She retired from her position at AT&T Inc. in 2007.

Hill-Ardoin served as president of the Houston Area Urban League in 1981, and was later elected to the board of directors for the Hawthorn Foundation in 1997. In 2003, she was appointed by Federal Communications Commission chairman Michael Powell to the Chairman’s Advisory Commission on Diversity in Communications in the Digital Age. In 2005, after her son, Aaron, passed away from Sickle Cell Anemia, Hill-Ardoin and her husband established The Aaron Ardoin Foundation in Sickle Cell Research and Education. Hill-Ardoin was appointed to the board of trustees at Washington University in 2006, and served on the board of directors for Enterprise Holdings.

Hill-Ardoin is also the recipient of The San Antonio Chamber of Commerce’s Tribute to Women Business Leaders Legacy Award, the United Negro College Fund Excellence in Education Award, the Voices for Children Super Hero Award, the Girls Inc. Strong Smart and Bold Award, the Congressional Black Women Opening the Pipeline Award, the Purdue Distinguished Alumni Award, the Washington University Distinguished Alumni Award, and the Drury College Distinguished Alumni Award.

Hill-Ardoin and her husband, James Ardoin, had two sons, Aaron and Evan, and two grandchildren.

Priscilla Hill-Ardoin was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on February 22, 2019.

Nonprofit executive and government official Rick Jennings was born on April 17, 1953 in Houston, Texas to Clara J. Hopkins and Richard Jennings. Jennings was raised in Washington D.C. by his mother and stepfather, Estis Jack Hopkins. He graduated from Calvin Coolidge High School in 1972, and received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Maryland, College Park. Jennings graduated with his B.A. degree in criminal justice in 1976.

Upon graduating in 1976, Jennings was drafted by the Oakland Raiders, and played with them in Super Bowl XI, but retired from professional football in 1977, after two seasons. In 1980, Jennings was hired as a sales representative at the Xerox Corporation, and was promoted to regional sales manager in 1990. In 1992, he became the chief executive officer of St. Hope Academy. Jennings was elected to serve on the Sacramento Unified City School Board in 1996; and the next year, Jennings served as the chief executive officer and executive director of the Center for Fathers and Families, a nonprofit organization offering parenting classes and mentoring programs in Sacramento. As executive director, Jennings launched the Making After School Time Rich and Rewarding (MASTERS) program and the Check In/Check Out program. Jennings was re-elected to the Sacramento Unified City School board of directors in 2000, and again in 2004. In 2014, he was elected to represent district seven on the Sacramento City Council. Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson appointed Jennings to serve on the Law and Legislation Committee and the Budget and Legislation Committee. He was also appointed to represent the City of Sacramento with The Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency, the Sacramento Public Library Authority, the Sacramento Regional Transit Authority, the Regional Water Authority, and the Sacramento Groundwater Authority. In 2016, Jennings was named Vice Mayor of Sacramento.

Jennings served on the board of directors of the Sacramento Sports Commission and the Wells Fargo Advisory Board. He also served on the board of the Los Rios Advisory Foundation. In 2017, Jennings was named a Dream All-Star by the Sacramento Kings.

Jennings and his wife, Cassandra Jennings, have two children, TJ and Asha.

Rick Jennings was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on April 5, 2018.

Foundation chief executive Gabriella E. Morris was born on March 26, 1956 in Houston, Texas to Elise LeNoir Morris and John E. Morris. After graduating from high school, Morris received her A.B. degree in architecture and urban planning, and a certificate in African American studies, from Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey in 1978. She later earned her J.D. degree from the University of Texas Law School in Austin, Texas. Morris has also received certifications from Harvard Business School’s Executive Education program in corporate social responsibility, and from Stanford University’s Center for Social Innovation.

Morris was hired as real estate council for The Southland Corporation in Dallas, Texas. She then became associate counsel of the Houston-based law firm of Baker and Botts in its securities, real estate and oil and gas practices. In 1985, she was hired by Prudential Financial as a regional counsel and associate general counsel for the company’s real estate operations. Morris then became president of the Prudential Foundation in 1994, and also served as vice president of community resources. In that position, Morris helped develop a number of community programs focused on education, including the Prudential Young Entrepreneurs Program, founded in 1999. She also helped form the New Jersey Statewide Education Summit, which aided the development of new education standards for the City of Newark and was influential in creating one of the first charter school lending programs in the nation. After over twenty years of service, Morris left Prudential in order to form her own consulting firm, Connective Advisors LLC. In 2014, she was named as the senior vice president of the UNICEF Bridge Fund.

In addition to her professional career, Morris has been involved in her community through membership in many organizations. She was a founding member of United States Artists, the Brick City Development Corporation, and the Newark Trust for Education. Morris also served as a board member for the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Harlem School of the Arts, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center Women’s Association, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Gabriella E. Morris was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on March 27, 2017.

Corporate executive Kenneth Bacon was born on October 12, 1954 in Houston, Texas. He earned his B.A. degree in anthropology from Stanford University in Stanford, California in 1976, and earned his M.Sc. degree in international relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science where he studied as a Marshall Scholar in London, England in 1980. Bacon received his M.B.A. degree from Harvard Business School in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1982.

Bacon began his career as a vice president at Kidder, Peabody & Co. in New York in 1982. In 1987, he joined Morgan Stanley as a vice president. Bacon then became director of the office of securitization for Resolution and Trust Company in Washington, D.C. in 1990. He remained in that position until 1993, when he became an executive vice president at Fannie Mae. In 1998, he was hired to lead Fannie Mae’s American Communities Fund. In 2005, he became the executive vice president of housing and community development at Fannie Mae until 2012. Bacon co-founded Railfield Realty Partners in 2012 and served as its managing partner. In 2017, he was named as the director for the Fannie Mae Foundation.

Bacon was awarded the Order of the British Empire for his contributions to the Marshall Scholars program.

Bacon served on the board of directors for Comcast Corporation, Ally Financial, Forest City Realty Trust, the National Multifamily Housing Council, the Real Estate Roundtable, The Urban Land Institute, the Stanford Center on Longevity, Bentall Kennedy Management (U.S.) Limited Partnership, and Welltower, Inc. He also served as the vice chairman of the Real Estate Executive Council. Bacon was a member of the Pension Real Estate Association and a member of the advisory board at Shift Capital, LLC as well. Bacon also was active in several non-profit and trade groups serving on the boards of the Corporation for Supportive Housing and the Real Estate Executive Council. A former Stanford University trustee, Bacon was a member of the Stanford Parent’s Advisory Board.

Bacon and his wife, Judy; have one son, Daniel and one daughter, Kimberly.

Kenneth Bacon was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on February 2, 2017.

Actress and stage director Phylicia Rashad was born on June 19, 1948 in Houston, Texas. Rashad graduated from Howard University in 1970, magna cum laude, with a B.F.A. degree.

Best known for her role of Clair Huxtable on the long-running NBC sitcom The Cosby Show, Rashad has enjoyed a distinguished acting career on television, stage, and film. Her theater credits include Broadway productions of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof , Gem of the Ocean, Into the Woods, Jelly’s Last Jam, Dreamgirls, Ain’t Supposed To Die A Natural Death; also Cymbeline and Bernada at Lincoln Center. Rashad has appeared in films: The Old Settler, For Colored Girls, Creed, and Creed II.

A critically acclaimed stage director, Rashad has led productions at prestigious venues throughout the United States including the Mark Taper Forum, the McCarter, the Goodman, the Long Wharf, the Steppenwolf, Ebony Repertory and the Signature Theatre. Among her growing list of directorial credits are: August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean, Fences, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, for which she received the 2014 NAACP Theatre Award for Best Director, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom; Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun; Paul Oakley Stovall’s Immediate Family and Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Our Lady of 121st Street.

Respected in the academic world, Rashad was the first recipient of the Denzel Washington Chair in Theatre at Fordham University, and has been bestowed with numerous honorary doctorate degrees from institutions like Providence College, Tuskegee University, Carnegie Mellon University, Fordham University, Howard University, Barber-Scotia College, Bennett College, Brown University, Clark Atlanta University, Morris Brown College, and Spelman College, presented to her by former First Lady Michelle Obama at the 2011 commencement. Together, she and her sister, Debbie Allen Nixon, established the Dr. Andrew A. Allen Scholarship Award for theater students at Howard University. Rashad also conducts Master Classes at colleges and universities across the country, and served as a master teacher for the 2015 Lunt Fontanne Fellows at the Ten Chimneys Foundation.

Throughout her lifetime, Rashad has maintained a commitment to community service exemplified through her participation as a Director of Brainerd Institute Heritage in Chester, South Carolina. An active member of several organizations devoted to arts education and philanthropic endeavors, Rashad is honored to serve as Brand Ambassador of the National Trust for Historic Preservation African American Cultural Heritage Fund.

Inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 2016, Rashad counts among her many honors: People’s Choice Awards, NAACP Image Awards, The Will Award from the National Shakespeare Theatre, the Spirit of Shakespeare Award from the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, the Drama Desk and Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Play for her riveting performance as Lena Younger in the Broadway revival of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, and the 2016 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Leading Actress in a Play for her performance as Shelah in Tarrell Alvin McCraney’s Head of Passes at the Public Theater.

Phylicia Rashad was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on December 13, 2016 and February 2, 2017.

Judge John W. Peavy, Jr. was born on April 28, 1942 in Houston, Texas to Malinda Terrell Peavy and John W. Peavy, Sr. Peavy graduated from Phyllis Wheatley High School in 1960, where he began his lifelong engagement in local politics as a member of the Young Democrats of Harris County. He then enrolled at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he earned his B.A. degree in business administration with an emphasis in accountancy in 1964. Peavy worked for Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson’s office as an undergraduate student, and later as a White House staffer during Johnson’s presidency. In 1967, Peavy received his J.D. degree from the Howard University School of Law.

Upon graduating from law school, Peavy returned to Houston, and opened a private law practice focused on criminal and civil cases. In 1967, he joined the Harris County Community Action Association as an associate senior coordinator; and, in 1969, he became an executive assistant to Harris County Judge William Elliot. He then worked as an expert for the American Bar Association’s Project Home, where he handled real estate cases for the NAACP. Funded by the Ford Foundation, the program provided legal and technical assistance to federal housing programs. Peavy also served on the Houston City Council. In 1973, Judge William Elliott appointed Peavy as justice of the peace for a newly formed, majority-black district in Harris County. He was later elected for a full term in 1974, serving until 1977 when he was appointed by Governor Dolph Briscoe as judge of the 246th District Court. There, he presided over family law cases, and helped reform the family court system through his endorsement of mediation programs within the court system in 1985. In 1990, Peavy was placed in charge of family law courts for all of Harris County. Peavy retired from his district court judgeship in 1994.

Peavy was a member of the Houston Area Urban League, the NAACP, and the U.S.-China Friendship Association. He also served as the director of the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston, Texas. In 2018, Peavy was honored with a historic portrait at the Harris County District Civil Courthouse.

Peavy and his wife, Diane Massey, have four children.

Judge John W. Peavy, Jr. was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on December 2, 2016.

Historian and educator Nell Irvin Painter was born on August 2, 1942 in Houston, Texas to Frank Edward Irvin, a chemist, and Dona Lolita McGruder, a writer and personnel officer. As an infant, Painter’s family moved to Oakland, California, where she attended public schools. In 1964, Painter received her B.S. honors degree in anthropology from the University of California at Berkeley. As an undergraduate, she studied French medieval history at the University of Bordeaux, France, in 1962 and 1963. She also studied abroad at the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana from 1965 to 1966. Painter went on to receive her M.A. degree in African history from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1967, and her Ph.D. degree in American history from Harvard University in 1974.

Upon graduation from Harvard University, Painter was hired as an assistant professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania; and in 1977, was promoted to associate professor. From 1980 to 1988, she worked as a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Then, in 1988, Painter was hired as a professor of history at Princeton University, and was named acting director of the university’s program in Afro-American Studies in 1990 and 1991. She served as Princeton University’s Edwards Professor of American History from 1991 to 2005, and as director of the Program in African American Studies from 1997 to 2000. Painter retired in 2005 and was named the Edwards Professor of American History, Emerita. In addition to her work as a scholar, Painter received her B.F.A. degree in painting from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in 2009; her M.F.A. degree in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2011; and has exhibited her artwork in solo and group shows.

Painter has published numerous articles and reviews, and has written seven books, including Exodusters: Black Migration to Kansas After Reconstruction (1976); The Narrative of Hosea Hudson: His Life as a Negro Communist in the South (1979); Standing at Armageddon: The United States, 1877-1919 (1989); Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol (1996); Southern History Across the Color Line (2002); Creating Black Americans: African American History and Its Meanings, 1619 to the Present (2005); and The History of White People (2010). She is the editor of Narrative of Sojourner Truth (1998) and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (2000).

Painter has held numerous fellowships, been awarded five honorary doctorate degrees, and was named a Fulbright Scholar in 2011. She has served on a number of editorial boards, and as an officer of many professional organizations, including the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, the American Antiquarian Society, the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History, the Society of American Historians, and the Association of Black Women Historians. In addition, she served as president of the Southern Historical Association in 2007 and of the Organization of American Historians from 2007 to 2008.

Painter lives in Newark, New Jersey with her husband, Glenn Shafer.

Nell Irvin Painter was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on March 18, 2014.

Civil rights and media activist Pluria W. Marshall, Sr. was born on October 19, 1937 in Houston, Texas. After graduating from high school, Marshall enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. He served from 1956 to 1960 and was honorably discharged as an Airman, First Class. Marshall went on to graduate from Texas Southern University with his B.A. degree in photography.

In 1969, Marshall was instrumental in the creation of Operation Breadbasket of Texas. His civil rights work evolved both in scope and mission when he established the National Black Media Coalition (NBMC) in 1973. The organization’s mission was to increase the presence of African American media professionals. He later served as national organizer, treasurer and chairman of NBMC. In 1975, Marshall also helped in founding the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). Throughout his career, Marshall worked for and also served as the official photographer for NABJ, the National Association of Radio and Television Announcers (NATRA), and mainstream publications including the Jet and Ebony magazines.

Marshall is a member of the Texas State Advertising Commission and was appointed to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. In 1973, Marshall was the recipient of Community Service Awards from the National Association of Marketing Developers (NAMD) as well as the Houston Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. Marshall was also honored in 1974 with the Outstanding Ex-Student Award from Texas Southern University and the Marketeer of the Year Award from the Houston Chapter of NAMD.

Marshall is married to Carmen Corbin. He has five children: Pluria Marshall, Jr., Mishka Marshall, Jason Marshall, Natalie Marshall Hughes and Christopher Marshall.

Pluria W. Marshall, Sr. was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on December 6, 2013.

Publisher and broadcasting executive Pluria Marshall, Jr. was born on January 17, 1962 in Houston, Texas. His father, Pluria Marshall, Sr., is a professional photographer and a civil rights activist in the media business. Marshall graduated from Clark College, now Clark Atlanta University, in 1984 with his B.S. degree in business administration and management.

In 1981, while attending Clark College, Marshall was hired at KLTV in Tyler, Texas, as a management-training intern. He spent the next two summers in Lufkin, Texas, and continued his management-training program. He then worked for WXIA-TV in Atlanta, Georgia and for Turner Broadcasting in 1982 and 1983. From 1984 to 1985, Marshall completed his management training and development position at WLBT-TV in Jackson, Mississippi. In 1986, he served as the station manager and then as vice president of WLBM-TV in Meridian, Mississippi. Marshall entered into an agreement to purchase WLBM in 1990, but the transaction did not consummate due to a suspicious fire at the facility in April of that same year. In 1992, he purchased The Informer & Texas Freeman in Houston, Texas. Then, in 1993, Marshall became general manager and owner of WLTH Radio in Gary, Indiana, and also purchased the KHRN radio station licensed to the Hearne, Texas, Bryan College Station radio market in 1994. He ran both the AM talk radio station in Gary and the radio station in Bryan College Station for several years.

In 1997, Marshall joined the board of the Wave Community Newspapers, and purchased a controlling interest in 1998. He then purchased the Los Angeles Independent in 2000. After the purchase of the Los Angeles Independent, Marshall merged both operations to form the Los Angeles Wave Publications Group. In 2013, he launched Integrated Multicultural Media Solutions; a media planning and buying firm that specializes in placing ads that target multicultural audiences.

Marshall has been a member of the National Black Media Coalition, the National Association of Broadcasters, and the National Association of Television Programming Executives. He has also served on the boards of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, the Texas Association of Broadcasters, the California Newspaper Publishers Association, and the National Newspaper Publishers Association Foundation. Marshall is chairman of the board and president of the Watts Willowbrook Boys & Girls Club.

Pluria Marshall, Jr. was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on November 15, 2013.