December 18, 1912 Benjamin Oliver Davis, Jr., commander of the World War II Tuskegee Airman, was born in Washington, D.C. After attending the University of Chicago, Davis entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1932. Despite shunning by his classmates, never having a roommate, and being forced to eat alone, he earned […]
Archive | December, 2012
December 17th in African American History – Cora Mae Brown
December 17, 1972 Cora Mae Brown, the first African American woman elected to the Michigan State Senate, died. Brown was born April 16, 1914 in Bessemer, Alabama, but raised in Detroit, Michigan. She graduated from Cass Technical High School in 1931 and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from Fisk University in 1935. […]
December 16th in African American History – Charles LeRoy Blockson
December 16, 1933 Charles LeRoy Blockson, black studies scholar and author, was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania. As a young boy, Blockson was told by a white teacher that black people had made no contribution to history. Blockson earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Pennsylvania State University in 1956. After serving in the United States […]
December 15th in African American History – Rufus Thomas Jr.
December 15, 2001 Rufus Thomas Jr., R&B, funk, and soul singer, died. Thomas was born March 27, 1917 in Cayce, Mississippi, but grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. By the age of ten he was performing in amateur productions. For 22 years until 1963, Thomas worked in a textile plant while pursuing a career as a […]
December 14th in African American History – Ernest Davis
December 14, 1939 Ernest Davis, the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy, was born in New Salem, Pennsylvania, but raised in Elmira, New York. Davis attended Syracuse University where he was a running back from 1959 to 1961, winning first team All-American honors in 1960 and 1961 and earning the nickname “the Elmira […]
December 13th in African American History – Ferguson Arthur Jenkins
December 13, 1942 Ferguson Arthur Jenkins, hall of fame baseball player, was born in Chatham, Ontario, Canada. Jenkins was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1962 and made his major league debut in 1965. Over his 18 season professional career, he was a three-time All-Star selection and in 1971 won the Cy Young Award as […]
December 12th in African American History – Henry Jackson, Jr. (Henry Armstrong)
December 12, 1912 Henry Jackson, Jr. (Henry Armstrong), the first boxer to hold world titles in three separate weight classes at the same time, was born in Columbus, Mississippi. Jackson assumed the surname of his mentor and trainer, Harry Armstrong, in 1931. Because the fight purses were small, Armstrong usually fought 12 times a year. On […]