In addition to the founders, Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton, notable Black Panthers included Eldridge Cleaver, who favored a more militant approach, and Elaine Brown, the party’s first and only female chairman. Angela Davis, a philosophy lecturer, was closely associated with the group, and she became a cause célèbre for the radical left after being accused of abetting a failed prisoner escape. Also notable was Fred Hampton, whose death during a police raid brought increased scrutiny to the FBI’s efforts to end the party. Learn more.