ALT Annie Smith Peck wearing the medal awarded to her by the Peruvian government, ca. mid-1920s. Peck refused to accept limits based on her gender, age or societal expectations. She dismantled Victorian myths of female frailty, proving that a woman could thrive at the physical and academic extremes of the world. She was one of the premier high-altitude climbers of the Golden Age of Alpinism, setting multiple elevation records. She did not just climb for personal glory. She used her achievements as political arguments, proving that women possessed the grit and stamina necessary for full political citizenship. Long before women were formally invited into international statecraft, Peck established herself as an expert in Pan-American commerce and economic policy. Through her authoritative books and international lectures, she advocated for global cooperation, modern technology and the advancement of women professionals in international relations. Photo credit: Success Magazine.

ALT Rev. Dr. Leon Sullivan in 1988. Sullivan focused his civil rights activism on economic independence, global corporate accountability and Pan-African unity. By transforming his church’s pulpit into an engine for social engineering, he proved that true freedom was impossible without financial self-reliance, summarized by his iconic philosophy: “We help people help themselves.” By embedding anti-apartheid principles within the world’s largest corporation (GM), he weaponized international business against oppression. His code evolved into the Global Sullivan Principles, establishing the modern blueprint for corporate social responsibility worldwide. He also created an international pipeline for workforce training and direct trade that has successfully uplifted, educated and employed millions of people across the U.S. and the African continent.

ALT Enolia McMillan, ca. late 1990s or early 2000s. McMillan was one of the architects of 20th-century civil rights activism. She provided the empirical research and network that forced equal pay for Black teachers and equal terms for Black children. She absorbed years of isolation and being labeled a “troublemaker” so that generations of Black educators and students could follow behind her. When the most important civil rights organization in America was on the verge of financial collapse, McMillan helped save it. In return, she was able to shatter the NAACP’s glass ceiling and prove that civil rights work must bridge the gap between institutional power and community-level activism. Her legacy is written in the equal paychecks of Maryland educators, the integrated classrooms of its schools and the continued operation of the NAACP. Photo credit: celebrity-photos.com.

ALT Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneels on the sideline during the national anthem before a preseason game against the San Diego Chargers, Sept. 1, 2016. Kaepernick sat on the bench out of uniform during the national anthem at the 49ers’ first two preseason games on Aug. 14 and Aug. 20, 2016. Because he wasn’t playing, his actions flew under the radar. He sat again during the third preseason game on Aug. 26, 2016, against the Green Bay Packers. A beat reporter took a photo of him on the bench, which quickly went viral and prompted his first public statement explaining the demonstration. Following the public firestorm, Kaepernick spoke with former NFL player and U.S. Army Green Beret Nate Boyer. Boyer suggested that kneeling would be a more respectful gesture toward military personnel while still allowing Kaepernick to protest structural racism. Photo credit: Chris Carlson / Associated Press.

ALT A bronze sculpture commemorating the Black 14 by Guadalupe Barajas of Cheyenne, Wyo. It was funded by the Associated Students of UW and placed in the UW Student Union in 2002. It shows a black armband on a player’s upper arm to symbolize the student-athletes’ planned silent protest. The Black 14 Social Justice Summer Institute brought high schoolers from across multiple states to the UW campus for a week and a half. Students conducted intensive research and created a public exhibit about the 1969 protest. Members of the Black 14 worked side-by-side with students. When the Wyoming State Legislature stripped state funding for UW’s DEI office, university officials hoped to preserve the program by shifting its funding to private donations via the UW Foundation. However, the surviving athletes refused to allow the program to be used as a workaround while the state dismantled the broader campus diversity infrastructure. Photo credit: Tom Rea.

ALT Three members of the Black 14 at the Atlanta Community Food Bank. Black 14 Philanthropy’s mission is to “educate, feed and serve.” The organization leverages the global supply networks of the LDS Church, which provides thousands of tons of high-quality food. Black 14 Philanthropy pinpoints critical needs and routes semi-trucks loaded with roughly 40,000 pounds of food to communities tied to the living spaces or childhoods of the players. Initial major rollouts directed food to endangered youth at the Cathedral Home for Children in Laramie, Wyo., the Wind River Indian Reservation in Ethete, Wyo., and the University of Wyoming’s campus Food Share Pantry. The foundation also funds independent scholarships. Black 14 Philanthropy has expanded into a multistate humanitarian operation, proving that the surviving members have built a legacy defined by service and resilience. To find ways to support their work, visit Black14.org.

ALT Surviving members of the Black 14 gather at UW to accept the university’s official apology 50 years after they were summarily dismissed from the football program. From left: John Griffin, Tony Gibson, Lionel Grimes, Tony McGee, Ted Williams, Guillermo Hysaw, Roy Hill and Brian Lee, representing his father, Earl Lee. In front is Mel Hamilton. UW and the players remained estranged for 50 years. In September 2019, the university invited the surviving members to a week-long series of commemoration events. Athletic Director Tom Burman presented a formal letter signed by the university leadership. The university also presented the men with the varsity letterman jackets and custom football jerseys they had been denied 50 years prior. The surviving members spoke to the current Wyoming Cowboys football players and were honored on the field with a standing ovation at halftime. Photo credit: Cayla Nimmo / Casper Star-Tribune.

ALT Eleven members of the Black 14 participate in a nonviolent protest on the UW campus. The man on the left holds a white sign that reads, “Why Pay as Taxpayers for Being Dismissed?” The players were state taxpayers whose athletic scholarships were being stripped away for asking to exercise their First Amendment rights. The black sign held by the man second from left reads, “Don’t Institutionalize Racism.” It targeted the Western Athletic Conference and the university for validating institutions with discriminatory policies. It took three years for the players’ lawsuit to reach the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. The court decided that the university’s Establishment Clause obligations took priority over the players’ Free Speech rights. Exhausted by three years of litigation and lacking the financial resources to continue, the players decided not to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, leaving the ruling as a controversial benchmark for student-athlete speech.

ALT Newspaper clipping from the May 13, 1982, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette with the headline, “No regrets, says Eaton 13 years after ‘crash’.” Following the dismissal of the “Black 14,” the Wyoming football program collapsed rapidly. After starting the 1969 season 4–0, the depleted team struggled, culminating in a disastrous 1–9 record in 1970. The university that had backed Eaton in his dismissal of the Black student-athletes demoted him to assistant athletic director and stripped him of his coaching duties. Wyoming would not record another winning season until 1976. Eaton later transitioned into professional football operations. In 1972, he became the Director of Player Personnel for the Green Bay Packers, but was demoted to a scout in 1978. Of the Black 14, Tony McGee and Joe Williams went on to play in the NFL. Mel Hamilton, Ron Hill, Earl Lee and Jim Isaac became educators. Guillermo Hysaw, John Griffin and Lionel Grimes became corporate executives.

ALT UW Head Coach Lloyd Eaton, ca. 1969. Eaton took over as UW head coach in 1962 after serving as defensive coordinator under Bob Devaney. Known as a brilliant defensive strategist, Eaton ushered in one of the most successful eras in Wyoming football history. He led the Cowboys to three consecutive Western Athletic Conference titles (1966–1968), a victory in the 1966 Sun Bowl, and an appearance in the 1968 Sugar Bowl. However, Eaton was a strict disciplinarian, and his enforcement of discipline was driven by racial bias. The Black 14 recalled that they were summarily dismissed without a discussion or an opportunity to state their case. Furthermore, multiple players testified that Eaton’s reaction was intensely personal and racially derogatory. According to the players, Eaton berated them by stereotyping them as “underprivileged,” claiming they came from fatherless homes, and telling them they could go live on “colored relief” or transfer to historically Black colleges.

ALT Members of the Black 14 sit in the stands in War Memorial Stadium at the University of Wyoming. The 14 players had a coordinated, respectful strategy. They chose black armbands over their street clothes because it was the most non-disruptive, silent form of protest available. They planned to ask Eaton for permission to wear the armbands during the game against BYU. To ensure the meeting remained orderly and professional, the group selected Joe Williams — a senior co-captain, the team’s star running back and a respected veteran who had served in the U.S. Army — to be their spokesman. They planned to enter Eaton’s office, stand quietly, and allow Williams to lay out their request. Williams never got to speak a word. When the players walked into Eaton’s office, Eaton immediately stood up and marched them out of the complex. He lined them up in the bleachers and began his tirade. The carefully planned, respectful appeal was crushed before it could even be spoken aloud.

ALT Willy Black, Chancellor of the UW Black Student Alliance, protests “Racist LDS Practices” on the UW campus in 1969. From 1852 to 1978, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints enforced a policy that barred Black men and women from participating in temple ordinances and excluded Black men from holding the priesthood. Under the church’s first prophet, Joseph Smith, the movement was inclusive. A few Black men were ordained to the priesthood. However, the policy underwent a severe shift in 1852 under the second president, Brigham Young. Influenced by 19th-century racial theories and American cultural norms, Young officially instituted the restriction. Over the subsequent decades, LDS leaders solidified the ban and advanced various theological justifications to explain it. During this era, the church also opposed interracial marriage and supported segregation in its communities and church-run schools. Photo credit: American Heritage Center.