September 16, 1925 Riley “B. B.” King, blues guitarist and singer/songwriter, was born in Itta Bena, Mississippi. In 1948, King moved to Memphis and worked as a singer and disc jockey at the local R&B radio station. King began recording in 1949 and by the 1950s had become one of the most important names in […]
Archive | September, 2010
September 16th in African American History – Mamie Smith
September 16, 1946 Mamie Smith, vaudeville singer, dancer, pianist and actress, died. Smith was born May 26, 1883 in Cincinnati, Ohio. As a teenager, she danced in Salem Tutt Whitney’s Smart Set and in 1920 she recorded a set of songs, including “Crazy Blues” and “It’s Right Here For You (If You Don’t Get It, […]
September 15th in African American History – Jessye Mae Norman
September 15, 1945 Jessye Mae Norman, opera singer, was born in Augusta, Georgia. At the age of nine, Norman heard opera for the first time and was immediately an opera fan. She credits Marian Anderson and Leontyne Price as inspiring figures in her career. In 1966, Norman won the National Society of Arts and Letters […]
September 15th in African American History – The National Afro-American Council
September 15, 1898 The National Afro-American Council, the first nationwide civil rights organization in the United States, was founded in Rochester, New York. The council was the brainchild of New York journalist Timothy Thomas Fortune and was led for most of its existence by A. M. E. Zion Bishop Alexander Walters. Other officers of the […]
September 14th in African American History – Beau Richards
September 14, 2000 Beau Richards, stage, film and television actress died. Born Beulah Richardson on July 12, 1920 in Vicksburg, Mississippi, Richards graduated from Dillard University in 1948 and two years later moved to New York. Her career started to take off in 1955 with her appearance in the off-Broadway production of “Take a Giant […]
September 14th in African American History – Constance Baker Motley
September 14, 1921 Constance Baker Motley, civil rights activist, lawyer and judge, was born in New Haven, Connecticut. Motley earned a B. A. degree from New York University in 1943 and her law degree from Columbia Law School in 1946. She began her career as a law clerk at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, eventually […]
September 13th in African American History – Tupac Amaru Shakur
September 13, 1996 Tupac Amaru Shakur, hip hop rapper and actor, died as the result of a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas. Shakur was born June 16, 1971 in New York City and was named after Tupac Amaru II, a Peruvian revolutionary who led an indigenous uprising against Spain and was subsequently executed. In 1986, […]