Cher Best - local radio icon

Deanna Brown - charity worker, radio DJ, business owner, and James Brown's daughter

James Brown - the Godfather of Soul and the Hardest-Working Man in Show Business; an incredible singer and dancer

Tyrone J. Butler - founder of Augusta Mini Theatre, which provides instruction in the arts to all

Minnesota Fattz - local radio icon

Lucius Holsey - strong promoter of biracial cooperation, founder of Paine College

Austin Jefferson - instrumental in securing a land donation for the Aiken County school that bears his name, Jefferson Elementary

Augustus Roberson Johnson - Augusta educator for whom A.R. Johnson Health Science and Engineering Magnet High School is named

Lucy Craft Laney - one of Georgia's most influential educational leaders

Ed McIntyre - first African-American mayor of Augusta, spearheaded Riverwalk

Butterfly McQueen - Gone with the Wind actress; spent winters in Augusta

Judge John "Jack" Ruffin, Jr. - civil rights activist; Augusta's first African-American superior court judge

Edward Tarver - first African-American US Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia

Know of an influential local figure in black history not listed here? Let us know!