July 18, 1941 Martha Rose Reeves, R&B singer and former politician, was born in Eufaula, Alabama but raised in Detroit, Michigan. In 1957, Reeves formed a vocal group called the Del-Phis with three other female teenagers and they recorded one single, “I’ll Let You Know”, in 1961. In 1962, the group, minus one member, signed […]
Archive | July 18, 2011
July 18th in African American History – Willa Beatrice Brown Chappell
July 18, 1992 Willa Beatrice Brown Chappell, pioneering aviator, died. Chappell was born January 22, 1906 in Glasgow, Kentucky. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana Teachers College in 1927. Chappell started to take flying lessons in 1934 and earned her pilot’s license in 1937, making her the first African American woman licensed […]