These Powerful Photos From Black History Define America

A double ambrotype portrait of Albro Lyons Sr. and Mary Joseph Lyons from the 19th century. The Lyonses owned and operated a home for black seamen, which also served as a station on the Underground Railroad. Albro Lyons and his family were attacked and forced to flee New York City due to racially motivated violence during the Draft Riots prior to the start of the American Civil War.

Harriet Tubman, on the far left holding a pan, poses with a group of people whom she helped escape from slavery in the late 19th century.

The 107th US Colored Infantry stand guard during the Civil War, circa 1865.

Educator and reformer Booker T. Washington talks to a crowd at the dedication of a Mississippi cotton seed mill in 1899.

Sarah Breedlove, better known as Madam C.J. Walker, drives her new car as the first woman to become a self-made millionaire in the United States, 1911.

Botanist George Washington Carver works in his greenhouse in this undated photograph.

The Chicago Union Giants, the top black baseball team in the early 20th century, pose for a group portrait at a Chicago ballpark, 1905.

The medalists in the long jump competition salute from the victory stand at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin on Aug. 8, 1936. From left, Japan's Naoto Tajima (bronze); American Jesse Owens (gold), who set an Olympic record in the event and offers an American-style salute with his hand to his forehead; and Germany's Luz Long (silver) giving a Nazi salute.

Pioneering sculptor Augusta Savage works on a piece in her Harlem studio in 1938.

Members of the Women's Army Corps pose for a group photo during World War II in 1940.

Tennis ace Althea Gibson blows kisses to a cheering New York City crowd during a 1957 parade in her honor. Born in South Carolina in 1927, Gibson became the first black American to win a Grand Slam tournament, the French Open in 1956. She went on to win Wimbledon and the US Championship at Forest Hills.

Bathed in red light, jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald performs at Mr. Kelly's nightclub in Chicago, 1958.

Novelist James Baldwin jots down some notes in his New York apartment, 1963.

Elizabeth Eckford of what became known as "The Little Rock Nine" is followed and threatened by an angry white mob on her way to class, as one of the first black students to attend classes at Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, 1957.

American civil rights leader and journalist Daisy Bates looks out through her living room window after it was broken by white agitators in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1958.

Rosa Parks sits in the front of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, after the Supreme Court ruled segregation illegal on the city bus system in 1956. Parks was arrested on Dec. 1, 1955, for refusing to give up her seat in the front of a bus in Montgomery, which set off a successful boycott of the city buses.

Nation of Islam leader Malcolm X draws various reactions from the audience as he restates his theme of complete separation between white and black Americans in 1963.

Heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali challenges Sonny Liston to get up during their title fight on May 25, 1965. Ali knocked Liston out in one minute in the first round during their bout at the Central Maine Youth Center in Lewiston, Maine.

A group of black protesters are sprayed with water cannons in Birmingham, Alabama, on May 4, 1963.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gives his famous "I Have a Dream" speech to a huge crowd gathered on the Mall in Washington, DC, on Aug. 28, 1963.

National Guard troops block off Beale Street in Memphis as civil rights marchers pass by on March 29, 1968. It was the third consecutive march held by the group in three days. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who had left town after the first march, would soon return and be assassinated.

Civil rights leader Andrew Young, left, and others at the Lorraine motel point in the direction of the shooter after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968.

Coretta Scott King stands behind a podium at a rally calling for peace in Vietnam in New York's Central Park, April 27, 1968.

A group of Black Panther Party members demonstrate outside a New York City courthouse on April 11, 1969.

American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos raise their fists in a Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. The move was a symbolic protest against racism in the United States. Smith, the gold medalist, and Carlos, who took bronze, were subsequently suspended from their team for their actions.

Nina Simone performs on stage at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 4, 1968, in Newport, Rhode Island.

Smokey Robinson and a friend pose for a photo outside of a snowy Hitsville U.S.A., the original Motown headquarters in Detroit, 1967.

Jimi Hendrix performs at the Royal Albert Hall in London on Feb. 24, 1969.

Models wear a selection of designs by the black-owned and operated New Breed fashion boutique in New York City, 1968. The boutique, which opened in 1967, introduced the dashiki, as well as other African-influenced garments, to the fashion world.

A group of women march under a "women's liberation" banner and in support of the Black Panther Party in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1969.

Director and photographer Gordon Parks on the set of the film The Learning Tree in 1969.

Singer Marvin Gaye records a piano track in the studio, circa 1974.

Mathematician Mary Jackson, the first black woman engineer at NASA, poses for a photo at the NASA Langley Research Center on Jan. 7, 1980, in Hampton, Virginia.

Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat works on a painting while on a trip to St. Moritz, Switzerland, in 1983.

From left: Jam Master Jay, Darryl McDaniels, and Joseph Simmons of the hip-hop group Run-DMC pose for a photograph at the Montreux Pop Festival in Switzerland, 1988.

Florence Griffith Joyner celebrates after winning gold in the women's 100-meter final event during the XXIV Summer Olympic Games on Sept. 25, 1988, in Seoul, South Korea.

Michael Jordan signs autographs with fans after a game against the Detroit Pistons in Detroit, 1987.

Whitney Houston sings the national anthem during the pregame show at Super Bowl XXV on Jan. 27, 1991.

Michael Jackson performs at the Super Bowl XXVII halftime show on Jan. 31, 1993, in Pasadena, California.

Serena Williams kisses her trophy after defeating Martina Hingis of Switzerland in the US Open in Flushing Meadows, New York, on Sep. 11, 1999.

Lauryn Hill poses with her five Grammys for her album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards in 1999.

Halle Berry accepts the award for Best Actress for her performance in the film Monster's Ball, during the 74th Annual Academy Awards on March 24, 2002.

Models (from left) Naomi Campbell, Karolina Kurkova, Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum, Gisele Bündchen, Adriana Lima, Selita Ebanks, and Alessandra Ambrosio pose on the runway at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show on Nov. 9, 2005, in New York City.

Oprah Winfrey poses with graduates of the inaugural class of 2011 at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls on Jan. 14, 2012, in Henley on Klip, South Africa.

Beyoncé performs at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Feb. 12, 2017.

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama dance together during the Commander-in-Chief's Inaugural Ball on Jan. 21, 2013, in Washington, DC. Obama was sworn in for his second term of office earlier in the day.

Tear gas engulfs a protester in Ferguson, Missouri, after a demonstration over the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer on Aug. 17, 2014.

Demonstrators from the Black Lives Matter movement march through central London on July 10, 2016, during a demonstration against the killing of black men by police in the US. Police arrested scores of people in demonstrations that evening in several US cities, as racial tensions simmer over the killing of black men by police.

President Barack Obama kisses celebrated author and and civil rights activist Maya Angelou after presenting her with the 2010 Medal of Freedom on Feb. 15, 2011, at the White House.

A man visits the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial on Jan. 16, 2017, in Washington, DC.