Gifted spiritual leader
and the reluctant Bishop of Hippo, St. Aurelius Augustine, was born in North Africa in 354 AD to a
pagan father and devout Christian mother, was baptized on this date (Easter) at
the age of 32. St. Augustine died on August 28, 430.
The Sultan of Morocco launched his successful attack to capture Timbuktu. Timbuktu
fell to the sultan’s forces and subsequently became part of the Moroccan
Empire, resulting in the end of the Songhay Empire.
Black abolitionist whose
zeal for Black equality and humanity led him to sue America for his freedom, Dred Scott was born a slave on this date in Virginia as
property of the Peter Blow family. His unsuccessful legal recording was in the
famous lawsuit Dred Scott v. Sandford which bears his name. He died from
tuberculosis on September 17, 1858. He was buried in Calvary Cemetery, St.
The African Company, an All-Black theater group, performs Shakespeare in New York
capital of Liberia as well as its largest city, was founded on this date by
members of the American Colonization Society (ACS), an organization created to return U.S.-born
former slaves to Africa. It is located on Bushrod Island and Cape Mesurado
along the Mesurado River.
ACS representatives first arrived on the Mesurado River in 1821. The original
name of Monrovia was Christopolis. In 1824 it was renamed “Monrovia” after
James Monroe, who was the American President at the time as well as a supporter
of the American Colonization Society. The indigenous populations of the areas
surrounding Monrovia felt that the city was built on stolen land and began
attacking it as early as 1822. Those attacks continued sporadically until the
On this date, the Mexican
American War, also
known as the Mexican War began.
This military conflict was primarily motivated by the business interest of
expanding Slavery in America. Despite the 1836 Texas Revolution, from 1846 to
1848 in the wake of the 1845 U.S. annexation of Texas, which Mexico considered
part of its territory. The first major battle of the Mexican-American War took
place at Palo Alto, not far from the US/Mexico border in Texas on May 8, 1846.
Combat operations lasted over a year to the fall of 1847. American forces
quickly occupied New Mexico and California and then invaded parts of
Northeastern Mexico and Northwest Mexico; meanwhile, the Pacific Squadron conducted
a blockade, and took control of several garrisons on the Pacific coast further
south in Baja California. Another American army captured Mexico City, and the
war ended in a victory for the United States.
In the U.S., increasingly divided by sectional rivalry, the war was a partisan
issue and an essential element in the origins of the American Civil War. Most
Whigs in the North and South opposed it; most Democrats supported it with
Southern Democrats, animated by a popular belief in Manifest Destiny. This
belief supported it in hope of adding slave-owning territory to the South and
avoiding being outnumbered by the faster-growing North. John L. O’Sullivan,
editor of the Democratic Review, coined this phrase in its context, stating
that it must be “our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by
Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.” The
war officially ended on February 2, 1848.
George Washington Fields was born into slavery in Hanover County, Virginia on this date.
He was one of 11 children of Martha Ann Berkley and Washington Fields. Of the
children, one died in infancy, three were sold off, and one was a runaway.
Fields and the others grew up on Clover Plain Plantation in northeastern
In July 1863, during a battle between Union and Confederate soldiers on the
plantation, Fields’ mother escaped along with him and five other siblings.
After a few months travel, they reached the safety of Fortress Monroe near
Hampton, Virginia. Fortress Monroe was one of the first Union-occupied
fortifications which received escaping slaves. Those who arrived in 1861 and
1862 were labeled "contraband" and their status as free people was
disputed. By the time Fields and her children reached the fort, they were
granted freedom by the Emancipation Proclamation since Hanover County was still
in Confederate hands.
The family settled in Union-occupied Hampton. Fields’ father arrived the next
year followed soon afterwards by four siblings whom slavery had earlier dispersed.
This was a rare occurrence; an entire enslaved family reunited as free people.
Fields intermittently pursued a public education in Hampton from his 1863
arrival through 1875, while working as a culler on an oyster boat, a hack
driver, and as a steamboat waiter. Finally, in 1875, with his younger sister
Catherine's encouragement, he enrolled at Hampton Normal and Agricultural
Institute at the age of 21.Three years later, in 1878, he graduated and headed
north for full-time work. A series of menial jobs at famous resorts and as
manservant for prominent families led to a position from 1881 through 1887 as
butler for the Governor of New York, Alonzo B. Cornell. While in Cornell’s
employment, he continued to educate himself through tutors and schools, studying
everything from French to medicine. He settled on law as a career and as was
customary at the time, he read law with a local attorney.
Fields intended to attend Yale University law school to complete his legal
training. However, his employer, Alonzo Cornell, the eldest son of Cornell
University's founder Ezra Cornell, persuaded him to enroll in the soon to be
opened Cornell Law School. In the fall of 1887, Fields arrived in Ithaca, New
York and three years later graduated as a member of the school's inaugural
class and its first African American graduate.
Fields returned to Hampton to practice law, joining his older brother who was
an attorney and local State Senator. Fields took the Virginia bar exam before
three judges and was admitted to the Virginia bar in April 1891 at the age of
37. Fields was also active in politics, representing Elizabeth City and James
City in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1889 to 1890.
On November 28, 1892, Fields married Sarah (Sallie) Haws Baker, also a graduate
of Hampton Institute. Together they had two children, a boy who died in
infancy, and a girl.
In 1896 Fields lost his eyesight. He continued, however, to be active in civic
organizations, serving on the board of the Weaver Orphan Home in Hampton and as
a Trustee of the Third Baptist Church in the city and Superintendent of its
Sunday School. Before his death, Fields wrote "Come On, Children":
The Autobiography of George Washington Fields, Born a Slave in Hanover County,
Virginia. The original unpublished manuscript was recently found in the Hampton
On August 19, 1932, George Washington Fields died at the Dixie Hospital in
Hampton after a brief illness. He was survived by two sisters, Maria and
Catherine, his daughter, Inez, C. Fields Scott, and his wife Sallie, who passed
away on December 19, 1944.
Black Code - Virginia - “For the prevention of that abominable mixture and
spurious issue, which may hereafter increase in this dominion...whatever White
man or woman being free shall intermarry with a Negro, mulatto, or Indian man
or woman, bond or free shall within three months after such marriage shall be
demanded to join President Abraham Lincoln’s funeral procession and were
relegated to the tail end.
worker and community leader Minnie Lee Crosthwaite was born Minnie Lee Harris in Nashville, Tennessee. She was a product of
Nashville and attended Fisk University in her hometown and taught first grade
in a Nashville public school for two years. She resigned her teaching position
in 1889 to marry David N. Crosthwaite, the principal of the first all-Black
high school in Nashville. In 1895 they moved to Kansas City, where
Crosthwaite’s husband had accepted a job teaching at Lincoln High School.
Minnie Lee Crosthwaite filled many roles during her ninety years: teacher,
wife, mother, businesswoman, and community leader. She is remembered best as a
pioneering social worker, a vocation she did not enter into until the second
half of her long and fruitful life. Minnie Crosthwaite died in 1963.
inventor, patented a paper bag fastener device on this date. Patent #256,856.
John Henry "Pop" Lloyd was born on this date in Palatka, Florida. Reportedly
discovered by baseball legend Rube Foster, Lloyd began his professional career
with the Cuban X-Giants, where fans would give him the nickname “El Cuchara”
(“The Shovel”) due to his steady hands and ability to grab any ground ball
coming at him. His tremendous play at shortstop would be matched by only one
other player, Hall-of-Famer Honus Wagner, who declared “it is a privilege to
have been compared to him.”
Beginning play in America in 1910 for Fosters Chicago Leland Giants, Lloyd was
an amazing all-around player. On offense in the “deadball” era of baseball,
Lloyd hit with skilled accuracy, but could deliver power when needed. On
defense, Lloyd was the most dominating shortstop in the Negro Leagues, whose
quickness and intensity could not be matched.
In 1918 Lloyd became player-manager of the Brooklyn Royal Giants, and spent the
next few years jumping around teams until settling with the Hilldale Daisies in
1922. The next year Lloyd batted a sensational .418 and lead Hilldale to the
inaugural pennant of the Eastern Colored League. He would move after that
season, however, to the Bacharach Giants due to reported disputes with
Although many teams, and leagues, were short-lived in this era, Lloyd continued
to display dominance in every arena. In 1928, after taking control of the
Lincoln Giants in New York, Lloyd would lead the league in hitting (.564) and
home runs (11), even though the Eastern Colored League would collapse early
that same season.
As a coach, Lloyd was well known for the guidance he offered to young players,
and affectionately earned the nickname “Pop.” John Henry Lloyd is remembered as
the “grandfather of Black baseball,” and often draws comparisons to Babe Ruth,
who went so far as to declare Lloyd the greatest baseball player of all time.
right to vote in South Africa.
Doxey Alphonso Wilkerson was born in Excelsior Springs, Missouri. He became an educator
at Howard University in Washington, DC and Yeshiva University in New York City.
In 1944, he published an essay in the anthology, “What the Negro Wants,” which
illustrated comparisons between the Allied struggle in Europe during World War
II and the civil rights struggle of African Americans in the United States. As
a member of the American Communist Party, he worked as a civil rights activist.
This affiliation caused him to be repeatedly investigated by the U.S. House
Committee on Un-American Activities. After resigning from the Communist Party
in 1957, he continued to be active in civil right activities and educational
pursuits until his retirement in 1984. He died on June 17, 1993 in Norwalk,
Barrelhouse blues pianist
and singer Joe Dean was born Joseph Hensky Dean on this date o the northeast side of St.
He was something of child prodigy because he displayed his musical talent at an
early age. He made one recording in 1930, a 78rpm on Vocalion 1544, “I'm So
Glad I'm Twenty-One Years Old Today b/w Mexico Bound Blues.” That was the tip
of his career that spanned some twenty-five years.
He remained musically active on a part-time basis into the 1960's, where he
also worked in a steel mill. He eventually became the Reverend Joe Dean of the
St. John’s United Church of Christ on N. Grand.
He died on June 24, 1981 in his hometown of St. Louis.
Jazz, Jump Blues, and
R&B saxophonist most popular in 1940s and 1950s, Earl Bostic was born Eugene Earl Bostic on this date in Tulsa, OK. He died on October
28, 1965 at the age of 52 in Rochester, NY.
Madeline M. Turner of Oakland, CA received a patent for the fruit
press. Fruit, such as oranges
or lemons, were passed through a feed opening, passing through cutters that
severed the fruit in half then moved along between the plates where the juice
was extracted. Turner’s Fruit-Press was a complex piece of engineering that in
many ways foreshadowed the machines used in the food industry today. Like
Turner’s prototype, the efficiency of these machines depended on their ability
to execute several functions at once. Turner’s invention was in a sense an
assembly line in itself: Fruits were moved along by plungers moving at
different speeds. The fruit was pushed through stationary knives that cut them
in half, then again passed through the presser. The pulp was allowed to drop
through an opening and the juice discharged through another.
American Civil Rights
Activist Esther Swirk Brown was born on this date in Kansas City, MO.
A comfortable white Jewish housewife, she was concerned with the choices that
Black students had to attend school.
This was because she had a keen sense of brotherhood and social justice. The
local school board had drawn up new boundaries in the South Park area so that
another all-white school could be built. Black students had been gerrymandered
out of the new school attendance area, and were left with a very deteriorated,
dangerous building with only two teachers and outdoor plumbing! Brown knew this
violated an 1896 court ruling that required “separate but equal” facilities.
She assembled a legal team to file the Webb vs. Kansas case, named for the
father of a Black South Park student. Thurgood Marshall, a leader of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and later a
U. S. Supreme Court Justice, assisted.
In 1949 the U. S. Supreme Court upheld Webb v. Kansas and African-Americans
entered South Park School; federal school integration was not mandated until
1954. Wholeheartedly aware of racial discrimination, Brown was active in many
Jewish organizations, but went beyond her own ethnic circle. She organized the
Panel of American Women; speakers of various races and religions that became a
national movement with 1,400 participants. Among her many awards was the 1969
Brotherhood Award from the Kansas City Chapter of the National Conference of
Christians and Jews.
Esther Brown died in 1976. A plaque in a small park at 51st and
England Street in Merriam, Kansas honors this civil rights crusader.
Jazz singer Ella
for her ability to improvise and “scat” while singing, was born on this date in
Newport News, VA. In 1934, an awkward sixteen-year-old girl made her singing
debut at the Harlem Apollo Theatre amateur night in New York City. She intended
to dance, but she lost her nerve when she got on stage. “The man said, ‘do
something while you’re out there, ‘the singer later recalled. “So I tried to
sing ‘Object of My Affection’ and ‘Judy,’ and I won first prize.” She drew the
attention of the bandleader Chick Webb. After personally coaching the shy
performer, Webb introduced her at the Savoy Theatre one evening as his
orchestra’s singer. That evening marked the beginning of Ella Jane Fitzgerald’s
singing career. One of the great compliments paid to Ella was from Ira Gershwin
who said “I didn’t realize our songs were so good until Ella sang them.”
By 1955 Fitzgerald was working with Cole Porter and Duke Ellington. During the
course of her career, she was awarded 13 Grammy Awards in her career and sold
over 40 million albums. Some of her hits include “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” and
After a struggle with diabetes and heart
surgery, Fitzgerald died in 1996.
Blues drummer who worked
with plethora of artists but is best known for his work in Howlin' Wolf's band,
Earl Phillips was
born on this date in New York City, NY. He died on November 20, 1990 at the age
of 70 in Chicago, IL.
On this date Albert King was born Albert Nelson. He was an American blues musician who
created a unique string-bending guitar style that has influenced three generations
One of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar," a major influence in
the world of Blues guitar playing, Albert King was born on this date in
Indianola, MS. He died from a heart attack at his home in Memphis, TN on December
21, 1992, two days after playing his final concert in Los Angeles December 19.
Lizzie Miles was
born on Bourbon Street and she was singing with the New Orleans Jazz bands of
King Oliver, Kid Ory and A.J. Piron while she was still a teenager.
On this date in New York, NY, she recorded “Haitian Blues” and “Sweet Smellin’ Mama (Poro
Blues)” with piano
accompaniments by Clarence Johnson for Columbia Records.
She was variously accompanied by Harry Brooks, Porter Grainger, Louis Hooper,
Cliff Jackson, Clarence Johnson, Jelly Roll Morton, Bob Ricketts, and/or
Clarence Williams on piano, Teddy Bunn on guitar, Pops Foster on bass, Charlie
Grimes on alto saxophone, Harry Hicks on trombone, Charlie Holmes on clarinet
and alto saxophone, Louis Metcalf and/or King Oliver on cornet, Bass Moore on
tuba, Albert Socarras on alto saxophone and flute, and Elmer Snowden on banjo.
Corporate executive Earle
Lacour Bradford, Jr. was
born on this date in New Orleans, LA.
In 1971, Bradford’s professional career began with his first position as a
senior accountant at Shell Oil Company. Bradford, later became the youngest
Vice President at Consolidated Aluminum. In 1983, he joined ARCO Metals Company
in Rolling Meadows, Illinois as Vice President of Marketing Development and
later became Vice President of Planning and Control. Transferring to ARCO
Chemical, Bradford joined the Product Management and Marketing Division and was
elected an officer of ARCO Chemical and served as Vice President of Public
Affairs. He also served as the Vice President of National Accounts Management
and Material Management in the Americas before serving as a worldwide Director
of Continuous Improvement and Commercial Services. Bradford has held several
positions with major international firms including a subsidiary of Alusuisse,
the Swiss aluminum company. In 2002, Bradford became President of Axum
Partners, Incorporated, which is a consulting company that specializes in
corporate development. In 2005, he joined the Community Council for Mental
Health and Mental Retardation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as its Chief
Executive Officer. He led the organization back from a loss in 2004 to a
surplus in 2005.
Bradford is a member and chair of the Board of Directors of Catholic Health
East and a member of the board of the Development Credit Fund. He has also
served on the boards of the Freedom Theatre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and
Lincoln University. Bradford was also a member of the Petrochemical Committee
of the National Petroleum Refiners Association. He has also received several
awards including the Award for Excellence in Market Development from Sales and
Marketing Management magazine. In 2006, Bradford received the Wilbur Parker
Distinguished Alumni Award from the Johnson School of Management at Cornell
Alfonzo “Lonnie” Johnson was a pioneering Blues and Jazz guitarist and banjoist. He
started playing in cafes in New Orleans and in 1917 he traveled in Europe,
playing in revues and briefly with Will Marion Cook’s Southern Syncopated
Orchestra. When he returned home to New
Orleans in 1918 he discovered that his entire family had been killed by a flu
epidemic except for one brother. He and his surviving brother, James “Steady
Roll” Johnson moved to St. Louis in 1920 where Lonnie played with Charlie
Creath’s Jazz-O-Maniacs and with Fate Marable in their Mississippi riverboat
On this date in St. Louis, MO, he recorded “Baby, Will You Please Come
Home,” “Blues and Trouble Has Got Me Down,” “I Done Tole You,” “South Bound Water,” “Steppin’ On The Blues,” “The Sun Will Shine In My
Doorway Someday,” and
“Treat ‘Em Right” for Okeh Records.
He was accompanied variously by Josh Altheimer, Lil Armstrong, John Arnold,
Jimmy Blythe, Blind John John Erby, Porter Grainger, Lazy Harris, J.C. Johnson,
Fred Longshaw, De Loise Searcy, Roosevelt Sykes, and/or James P. Johnson on piano, Jimmy Foster, Jimmy Jordan and/or
Victoria Spivey on vocals, Andrew Harris on string bass, James Johnson on banjo,
guitar, piano, and/or violin, Lonnie Johnson on vocals, guitar, harmonium,
kazoo, and/or violin, Clarence Williams on piano and/or Washboard, and/or
Spencer Williams on vocals, percussion, and/or scraper.
Little is known about the
life of Alberta Brown, but
she made this excellent Blues record in 1928. She is backed up by members of
the Halfway House Orchestra on this session.
On this date in New Olreans, LA, she recorded “How Long?” and “Lonely Blues” for Okeh Records.
Members of the orchestra were Sidney Arodin on clarinet, Abbie Brunnies on
cornet, Chink Martin on tuba, and Red Long on piano.
While the leader of this
group sometimes made use of this band name in the ‘30s and ‘40s, the main
version of Jimmy Bertrand’s Washboard Wizards was a recording band assembled to cut sides
for the Vocalion label in the second half of the ‘20s.
On this date in Chicago, IL, the band recorded “Isabella” and “I Won’t Give You None” for Vocalion Records.
Members of the band were Louis Armstrong and Natty Dominique on cornet, Jimmy
Bertrand on washboard and wood blocks, Jimmy Blythe on piano, and Junie Cobb
and Johnny Dodds on clarinet.
Blind Willie McTell cut eight songs in Chicago, Illinois with his wife Kate McTell
(Ruth Day) on one of them.
Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra was one of the most popular bands in Jazz history and one of the driving forces of Swing style that came to dominate popular music of the 1930s and 1940s. In 1928 Armstrong began fronting Carroll Dickerson’s Orchestra and traveled east from Chicago to New York. The band became known as the Louis Armstrong Orchestra, with Dickerson acting as musical director. In 1929 Louis Armstrong was hired to play in the pit band of the popular all Black musical revue Hot Chocolates, which featured the music of Andy Razaf and Fats Waller. The show was a great success and Armstrong stole the show with his singing of “Ain’t Misbehavin’” which became his biggest selling record to date. After each night’s show he would then join the Dickerson crew at Connie’s Inn and finish the evening at the Lafayette Theater (7th Avenue at 132nd Street) next door. In 1929 he started to record quite a few of Hoagy Carmichael’s songs. Armstrong had known Carmichael back in the King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band days in Chicago through Bix Beiderbecke and they teamed up on Hoagy’s Rockin’ Chair. In 1931 he recorded three more of Carmichael’s songs, “Stardust,” “Lazy River,” and “Georgia on My Mind.” In 1934 Armstrong took over the Luis Russell Orchestra and from then on they became known as the Louis Armstrong Orchestra with Russell acting as musical director.
On this date in New York, NY, the orchestra recorded “Confessin’
(That I Love You),” “If It’s
Good (Then I Want It),” “Me And
Brother Bill,” and
“Our Monday Date” for Decca Records.
Rubye Smith was
born on this date. She was an African-American civil rights activist.
From Atlanta, Georgia, Rubye Doris Smith had little direct contact with whites while
she was growing up. At the age of 13, she watched television coverage of the
bus system boycott in Montgomery, Alabama. The sight of large numbers of
African Americans refusing to submit to racist policies made a strong
impression. When Smith entered Spelman College in 1959, she soon became
involved in nonviolent demonstrations to integrate Atlanta, being one of the
first participants in Atlanta’s lunch counter sit-ins.
In 1961 she joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). While
protesting student arrests in Rock Hill, South Carolina, Smith was arrested
and, in accordance with SNCC’s “jail no bail” strategy, served a 30-day jail
sentence. Following her release, she risked mob violence by joining the Freedom
Riders in their mission to revoke state laws that mandated segregation on
interstate travel. She was again arrested on a charge of “inflammatory”
traveling. In 1964 Smith married Clifford Robinson.
Even after becoming a mother she continued to work as a professional activist
and in 1966 became SNCC’s first female executive secretary. SNCC had become
increasingly militant, but Robinson continued to give the organization her full
support, although she was in only partial agreement with chairman Stokely
Carmichael’s outspoken endorsement of violence.
In April 1967, diagnosed with leukemia she resigned her post with SNCC. Rubye
Robinson died on October 9, 1967.
Dr. Frederick D. Patterson, president of Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University),
wrote an open letter in the Pittsburgh Courier to the presidents of our
nation’s private black colleges urging them to “pool their small monies and
make a united appeal to the national conscience.” His words soon became the
guiding principle for one of the world’s leading education assistance
organizations. One year later, founded by Dr. Patterson, Mary McLeod
Bethune, and others, the United
Negro College Fund was
incorporated on April 25, 1944 with 27 member colleges and a combined
enrollment of 14,000 students.
George Herriman died on this date in Los Angeles, CA at the age of 63. He had
been a successful cartoonist who was the author of the comic strip “Krazy Kat.”
The comic strip ran successfully from 1913 until Herriman’s death.
The United Nations was founded at the San Francisco Conference attended by African
American consultants, most notably Mrs. Mary McLeod Bethune, Dr. Mordecai W. Johnson of Howard University, W.E.B. Du Bois and Walter White, both of the NAACP, as official observers, and Ralph
Bunche, who was an official
member of the American staff.
American jazz pianist and
an accomplished stride pianist Teddy Weatherford died on this date of cholera in Calcutta,
Weatherford was raised in neighboring Bluefield, West Virginia. From 1915
through 1920, he lived in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he learned to play jazz
piano. He then moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he worked with such bands as
that of Erskine Tate through the 1920s and with such jazz notables as Louis
Armstrong and Johnny Dodds and impressed the young Earl Hines.
Weatherford then traveled, first to Amsterdam, then around Asia playing professionally.
In the early 1930s, he led a band at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Bombay (now
Mumbai), India. He joined Cricket Smith's band in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Weatherford took over leadership of Smith's band in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in
During World War II, he led a band in Calcutta, where he made radio broadcasts
for the U. S. Armed Forces Radio Service. Performers with Weatherford's band
included Bridget Althea Moe, Jimmy Witherspoon, Roy Butler and Gery Scott.
Born on October 11, 1903 in Pocahontas, VA, he was 41.
Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers on this date and became the first
Black in the major leagues in modern times when he broke the color line in
Major League Baseball (MLB).
This is not be confused with him being the first Black to play Major League
Baseball. Arguably, the first was catcher Moses Fleetwood "Fleet"
Walker, though some research suggests William Edward White was the first
African-American baseball player in MLB. Unlike White who passed as a white
man, Walker was open about his black heritage, and often faced racial bigotry
prevalent in the late 19th century.
Walker made his MLB debut on May 1, 1884, for the Toledo Blue Stockings in a
5-1 loss away game against the Louisville Eclipse. White, on the other hand,
made his on June 21, 1879, for the Providence Grays. Walker’s brother, Weldy,
became the second black athlete to do so later in the same year, also for the
Toledo ball club. Walker played just one season, 42 games total, for Toledo
before injuries entailed his release.
The color line was estabhlished as a gentleman’s agreement by MLB owner in the
late 19th century.
Larry Doby joined the Cleveland Indians on July 6 and became the first Black in
the American League to break the color line. Three other Blacks played in the
major leagues in 1947: Dan Bankhead, pitcher, Brooklyn Dodgers; Willard Brown,
outfielder, St. Louis Browns; Henry Thompson, infielder, St. Louis Browns.
Cleveland Indians’ Larry Doby tied a major league record by striking out
five times in one game. The Indians' right-fielder's performance didn't hurt
the Tribe when they beat the Detroit Tigers at Briggs Stadium, 7-4.
At the NBA’s annual
player’s draft, the Boston Celtics selected Charles “Chuck” Cooper. He is the first African American ever
drafted by an NBA team. He, along with Name “Sweetwater” Clifton, played their
first game on October 22, 1950, in day after Earl Lloyd became the first Black
to play in an NBA game.
In almost one year from
his previous session for Specialty, Mercy Dee Walton recorded “Rent Man Blues” and “Fall Guy” in Los Angeles, CA accompanied by Thelma "Lady Fox"
Walton on vocals.
The British raided
Nairobi Kenya on
this date. 25,000 Mau Mau suspects were arrested.
A consent judgment in a
Memphis federal court ended restrictions barring voters in Fayette
County, Tennessee. This
was the first voting rights case under the Civil Rights Act.
On this date, Premier
Moïse-Kapenda Tsjombe (or Tshombe) of the Congolese province of Katanga was arrested in the Congo
by the central government for complicity in the assassination of Patrice
Lumumba in January of 1961.
American jazz violinist Eddie South died on this date.
South was a classical violin prodigy who switched to jazz because of limited
opportunities for African-American musicians, and started his career playing in
vaudeville and jazz orchestras with Freddie Keppard, Jimmy Wade, Charles Elgar,
and Erskine Tate in Chicago. He studied at the Chicago College of Music
alongside violinist Petrowitsch Bissing.
He was influenced by Hungarian folk music and Roma music starting with a visit
to Europe in the 1920s, and adapted the music to jazz. In 1927 he started his
own group, Eddie South and his Alabamians, named after the Alabam club where
they played in Chicago, and, along with pianist and composer Henry Crowder,
toured with them in Europe from 1928 to 1930.
On subsequent visits to Europe in the 1930s, he performed and recorded with
guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinists Stéphane Grappelli and Michel Warlop.
He also played in the big bands of Earl Hines from 1947 to 1949 and Michel
Warlop. He also led bands that included pianist Billy Taylor and bassist Milt
A 1951 recording for Chess Records, Eddy [sic] South and his Orchestra,
credited Johnny Pate on bass and arrangements and was also the first of a
series of Chess recordings on which Pate collaborated with saxophonist Eddie
Born on November 27, 1904 in Louisiana, MO, he was 57.
Black and white Freedom Riders through the South tested compliance with court decisions.
Paul Ramotsoane Mosaka (born c. 1911), politician and founder of the African
Democratic Party (ADP) and also an influential and notorious businessman, died
on this date in Manzini, Swaziland.
On this date, Freda Payne released “Band of Gold.”
Detroit Tigers pitcher Earl Wilson nearly scored after he struck out because Minnesota Twin
catcher Paul Ratliff inadvertently rolled the ball to the mound instead off
tagging the batter or throwing to first after trapping a third strike.
On this date center
fielder Curt Flood made
his last Major League Baseball (MLB) appearance for the Washington Senators.
Major General Frederick E. Davidson became the first African American to lead an
Army division when he was assigned command of the 8th Infantry Division in
Timothy Theodore Duncan was born on this date on the island of St. Croix, US Virgin
Islands (Caribbean.) Duncan has been an integral role in the San Antonio Spurs
many NBA Championships.
The Cincinnati Reds
romped to a 23-9 victory over the Braves in Atlanta. The Reds tied a National
League record by scoring 12 runs in the fifth inning off three Braves pitchers.
George Foster had
two home runs, double, and a single resulting in seven RBIs and five runs
The South African government for the first time allowed 20 local journalists, five
correspondents of international news agencies and two official photographers to
visit the prison on Robben Island where 370 men, convicted under security legislation, were held.
On the island, 12km north east of Cape Town, political prisoners of the
anti-apartheid movement were kept together with hardened criminals. Though
Robben Island has been used as prison and a place where people were isolated,
banished and exiled to for more than 300 years, the new maximum-security prison
was established in the early 1960s. The living conditions were, particularly in
the early years, extremely bad. Prisoners had to labour in the quarry, were not
dressed sufficiently and had to sleep on thin straw mats on the stone floor.
Through strikes and endless protests, more humane conditions were implemented
in 1971, when the prisoners were also allowed to study.
During this visit in 1977, material conditions were considered in general to be
satisfactory, but the lack of contact with the outside world was very severe.
internationally recognized Afro-Brazilian Carnival association, was founded on
this date in Bahia, Brazil. The music of this group celebrated Black history
and protested racial discrimination. The name Olodum is derived from the name
of the supreme Yoruba deity, Olodumaré.
Hoping to give his
pitchers an edge, Maury Wills got the Kingdome’s ground crew in Seattle to enlarge the batter
box, making it a foot closer to the mound. Prior to the game, Oakland A’s
skipper Billy Martin shared his suspicions with the umpire Bill Kunkel, and the
exposed Mariners manager was suspended for two games.
a 2-1 victory over Montreal at Olympic Stadium, New York Mets right-hander Dwight Gooden became the first teenager to strike
out ten batters in a major league game since Bert Blyleven accomplished the
feat with the Minnesota Twins in 1970. The 19 year-old rookie went on to lead
the National League with 276 strikeouts that season.
Britain granted internal
self-government to Swaziland. As a result, King Mswati III (Makhosetive Dlamini), became King of
Swaziland when he succeeded his late father King Sobhuza II, who had died of
pneumonia in 1982. Two relatives, Queen Dzeliwe Shongwe and Queen Ntombi
Thwala, served as regents until Makhosetive, who was fourteen years old when
his father died, was ready to take the reigns. Queen Shongwe ruled from
1982-1983 while Queen Thwala ruled from 1983 until 1986. During that time the
prospective King was pursuing his studies at the English Sherborne School.
broke out across Soweto, South Africa's
largest Black township, following a police blockade of youths protesting. Fifteen
students were arrested.
this date, for the first time in history, there were three African American
women serving as presidents of four-year colleges and universities in America.
They were Dr.
Johnnetta Betsch Cole, the seventh President of Spelman College in
Atlanta, appointed on this date by the board of trustees and the first Black
woman in the 107 year history of that institution to hold that post, Dr. Niara Sudarkasa, President of
Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, Georgia, the eleventh president appointed
in February of 1987 and, also, the first female to that post, and Dr. Gloria Randle Scott, President of
Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina appointed March, 1987.
Mswati III was crowned king of
Swaziland, succeeding his father, Sobhuza II.
not for injustice, James
Richardson would likely not be a figure in history. But after
being wrongfully convicted of killing his seven children and spending 21 years
in prison, the Florida fruit picker was exonerated by special prosecutor Janet
Reno on this date.
On October 25, 1967, Richardson's wife, Annie, had asked neighbor Bessie Reece
to serve the children their lunch while she and her husband were at work. Reece
laced the beans and rice with an insecticide called parathion that left the
children, aged 2 to 11, foaming at the mouth and dead within minutes.
The police suspected Richardson of killing his children after learning that he
had met with a life insurance agent with whom he'd discussed getting policies for
the entire family. During trial, the jury was not told that it was the salesman
who had initiated the meeting or that Richardson could not afford to buy life
insurance at all.
The day after the incident, Reece, who babysat the children periodically, told
the police that she had seen a bag of the poison in the Richardsons' shed. The
jurors also weren't told that she was on parole for the shooting death of her
second husband and had been suspected of killing her first with poisoning.
Making matters worse, in exchange for a reduction in their own sentences, three
convicts claimed that Richardson, in a jail-house confession to them, claimed
that he'd killed the children because his wife had engaged in an affair with
Richardson was convicted after less than two hours of deliberation and
sentenced to the electric chair. Four years later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled
the death penalty to be unconstitutional, so Richardson was given a sentence of
25 years to life.
In 1988, lawyers for Richardson, armed with affidavits stating that Reece had
confessed her crime to a nursing home employee as well as evidence that
prosecutors had suppressed evidence during the trial, Reno was assigned to
investigate the case, which led to Richardson's exoneration. He was released
from prison on May 5, 1989.
"I will carry the fear to my grave, that an innocent man, James
Richardson, might have been executed," Reno said.
Richardson settled a wrongful conviction suit with DeSoto County for $150,000,
but a claim against the state of Florida was denied in 2008. If a bill
currently making its way through the state's legislature passes, however, he
could receive up to $2 million.
Reece, who died of Alzheimer's, was never indicted.
American jazz tenor
saxophonist Dexter Gordon died on this date of kidney failure and cancer of the larynx in
He was among the earliest tenor players to adapt the bebop musical language of
people such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell to the
instrument. Gordon's height was 6 feet 6 inches (198 cm), so he was also known
as "Long Tall Dexter" and "Sophisticated Giant". His studio
and live performance career spanned over 40 years.
Gordon's sound was commonly characterized as being "large" and
spacious and he had a tendency to play behind the beat. He was famous for
humorously inserting musical quotes into his solos. One of his major influences
was Lester Young. Gordon, in turn, was an early influence on John Coltrane and
Sonny Rollins. Rollins and Coltrane, in turn, influenced Gordon's playing as he
explored hard bop and modal playing during the 1960s.
Gordon was known for his genial and humorous stage presence. He was an advocate
of playing to communicate with the audience. One of his idiosyncratic rituals
was to recite lyrics from each ballad before playing it.
A photograph by Herman Leonard of Gordon taking a smoke break at the Royal
Roost in 1948 is one of the iconic images in jazz photography. Cigarettes were
a recurring theme on covers of Gordon's albums.
Gordon was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for
his performance in the Bertrand Tavernier film Round Midnight (Warner Bros,
1986), and he won a Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist, for
the soundtrack album The Other Side of Round Midnight (Blue Note Records,
Born on February 27, 1923 in Los Angeles, CA, he was 67.
Jimi Hendrix's Fender Stratocaster that he used to perform his famous version of the "Star
Spangled Banner" at Woodstock, was auctioned off in London for $295,000.
In 1981, Dirk
Coetzee, Jan Viktor, and Jac Buchner began Vlakplaas, a parliamentary hit squad, with 16 police officers.
The existence of the unit was first revealed publicly in 1988 on the eve of the
execution of Almond Nofomela. Before his execution, Nofomela confessed to being
part of the Security Police 'hit squad', which was headed by Dirk Coetzee.
Coetzee admitted the existence of the unit in a November 1989 in an interview
with Vrye Weekblad, and confirmed the story that Nofomela had told a
Johannesburg weekly the previous year.
On strength of this and public pressure, the new state president, F.W. De
Klerk, appointed a commission of inquiry, led by Judge Louis Harms, to
investigate these allegations, and the operations of the Security Police and
the Civil Co-operation Bureau (CCB).
The De Klerk government therefore set up the Harms Commission in Britain in
1990 to investigate these claims. In his testimony, Coetzee told the Harms
Commission how he had watched his colleague murder the student activist Sizwe
Khondile and the human rights lawyer Griffiths Mxenge. The Security Police
closed ranks to lie and denounce Coetzee's revelations as fantasies, and Harms
accepted their testimony. Coetzee was found to be an unreliable witness.
In Coetzee's later testimony before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
(TRC), Coetzee said that Khondile had been killed on August 11, 1981. After his
release from detention, the police took Khondile to Komatipoort near the
Mozambique border, where he was shot dead. His body was then burned for more
than seven hours to obliterate evidence.
Dirk Coetzee was granted amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on
August 4, 1997. In 1997, Eugene de Kock, a former commander of Vlakplaas, was
convicted for attempting to murder Coetzee.
In a terrorist spree
aimed at disrupting South Africa’s first interracial election (also called the last day of white rule), a
car bomb went off at 8:45 am at a crowded tax stand in Germiston, a suburb of
Johannesburg, used by black commuters, killing 10 and wounding at least 36. As
the death toll went up to 19, it has been described as “last day of white
Two Catholic Hutu nuns in
Rwanda ordered frightened Tutsis out of their Benedictine compound into the
hands of Hutu soldiers. In 1997, Sister Gertrude (Consolata Mukangango) and Sister Maria Kisito (Juliene
having escaped to Belgium, were accused by witnesses of aiding Hutu soldiers
who slaughtered some 600 Tutsis. In 2001, a Belgian court found them guilty of
having participated in the massacre of more than 7,600 people at the Sovu
convent in Butare. Gertrude was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Kisito was
sentenced to 12 years. Two others were also convicted and sentenced: Alphonse
Higaniro was sentenced to 20 years and Vincent Ntezimana was jailed for 12
“Bring in Da
Noise, Bring in Da Funk,”
opened at Ambassador Theater in New York City on this date. “Noise Funk” is a
musical revue telling the story, through tap, of black history from slavery to
the present. The musical numbers were presented along with supertitles,
projected images and videotapes and with continuing commentary. The show was
conceived and directed by George C. Wolfe, and featured music by Daryl Waters,
Zane Mark and Ann Duquesnay; lyrics by Reg E. Gaines, George C. Wolfe and Ann
Duquesnay; and a book by Reg E. Gaines. Wolfe took the rap words of Reg E.
Gaines and turned them into “tap/rap (tap dancing informed by hip-hop and funk
On the opening night at Ambassador Theater, the cast included Jeffrey Wright,
Savion Glover, the production’s choreographer, Duquesnay, and Dulé Hill. Again
directed by Wolfe, with sets and lighting by the off-Broadway team, costume
design was by Paul Tazewell. Glover left the show but returned for 40
performances from December 8, 1998 through January 10, 1999. Glover returned
and toured with the musical in 2002.
Senior members of the Zulu royal family were attacked in a royal residence near
On this date, in a 13-8
Seattle Mariners victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at the SkyDome, center
fielder Ken Griffey, Jr. hit three home runs, two off Roger Clemens and one off Mike
Timlin. The blast barrage gave Junior 13 homers during this month, breaking the
record for the most round-trippers hit in April. It was also his 250th career
Millions of Nigerians boycotted legislative elections billed by the ruling junta as a
first step toward democracy.
Waldoxy Records released
“Hoochie Man,” an
album by Bobby Rush,
nominated for 2001 W.C. Handy Blues Awards in Soul Blues Album of the Year
released “Leavin' This Old Town,” an album by Charles Walker, nominated for 2001 W.C. Handy Blues Awards in Comeback Blues
Rev. Leon Sullivan, a Civil Rights Activist who wrote an international code of
business conduct called the Sullivan Principles, died on this date in
Scottsdale, AZ. His principles pressured American corporations to divest from
Rickey Henderson broke the career walks record established by Babe Ruth in 1935
when he received his 2,063rd base on balls. The 42 year-old San Diego Padres
outfielder took his historic stroll leading off the ninth inning on a free pass
issued by Philadelphia Phillies' Jose Mesa in the team's 5-3 loss at Qualcomm
Telarc released Son Seals' album “Lettin' Go,” winner of 2001 W.C. Handy Blues Awards in
Traditional Blues Album of the Year category. Album was also nominated for 2001
W.C. Handy Blues Awards in Blues Album of the Year category.
President Robert Mugabe, who
arrived in Pretoria for the 10th anniversary of a free South Africa
and the inauguration of President Thabo Mbeki, was housed in a guesthouse after
two 5-star hotels refused to accommodate him because of human rights abuses in
his country. Zimbabwean ambassador in South Africa, Simon Moyo, glossed it over
by saying that Mugabe stayed at a guest house out of choice.
Rounder Select released “After The
Rain,” a 2007 Grammy winning
album in Best Contemporary Blues Album category by Irma Thomas. Album also won 2007 Blues Music Awards in
Soul Blues Album of the Year category and was nominated was Album of the Year
quietness was mistaken for weakness on the Donald Trump’s reality show,
On this day, drama free LaToya Jackson was eliminated from “Celebrity
Apprentice” although she surpassed the expectations of Trump and impressed the
executives of the challenges. Even though she got the work done and satisfied
her employers, she was not rambunctious enough for television ratings and she
had to go!
Oddly after Jackson outperforms the other cast members, Trump confesses that he
did not believe she was ready for the intense challenges ahead and without her
the women could possibly beat the men.
On this date in the Alice
Tully Hall in Lincoln Center in New York City, the Film Society of Lincoln
Center, America’s preeminent film presentation organization, honored Academy
Award Winner Morgan Freeman with the
43rd Chaplin Award.