March 26, 1960 Marcus LeMarr Allen, hall of fame football player, was born in San Diego, California. Allen played college football at the University of Southern California from 1978 to 1981. In 1981, he became the first player in NCAA history to rush for over 2,000 yards in one season. That same year, he won […]
March 26th in African American History – Augusta Fells Savage
March 26, 1962 Augusta Fells Savage, Harlem Renaissance sculptor, died. Savage was born February 29, 1892 in Green Cove Springs, Florida. In 1921, she was admitted to Cooper Union Art School in New York City. In 1923, she applied for an art program sponsored by the French government but was turned down by the international […]
March 25th in African American History – Debra Janine Debi Thomas
March 25, 1967 Debra Janine “Debi” Thomas, figure skater and physician, was born in Poughkeepsie, New York. In 1986, Thomas won the U. S. National Ladies’ Figure Skating title, the Ladies’ World Figure Skating Championship, and earned ABC’s Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year Award. At the 1988 Calgary Olympics, she won the […]
March 25th in African American History – John Hope Franklin
March 25, 2009 John Hope Franklin, historian and author, died. Franklin was born January 2, 1915 in Rentiesville, Oklahoma. He graduated from Fisk University in 1935 and earned a doctorate in history in 1941 from Harvard University. In the early 1950s, he served on the NAACP Legal Defense Fund team that developed the sociological case […]
March 24th in African American History – William Maud Bryant
March 24, 1969 William Maud Bryant, Medal of Honor recipient, was killed in action. Bryant was born February 16, 1933 in Cochran, Georgia. By March 24, 1969, he was serving as a sergeant first class in Company A of the 5th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces. On that day, during a battle in Long […]
March 24th in African American History – Zephaniah Alexander Looby
March 24, 1972 Zephaniah Alexander Looby, civil rights lawyer, died. Looby was born April 8, 1899 in Antigua and moved to the United States in 1914. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Howard University in 1922, a law degree from Columbia University School of Law in 1925, and a doctorate in jurisprudence from New York […]
March 23rd in African American History – James “Jimmy” Winkfield
March 23, 1974 James “Jimmy” Winkfield, jockey, horse trainer and the last African American to ride a winner in the Kentucky Derby, died. Winkfield was born April 12, 1882 in Chilesburg, Kentucky and began his career as a jockey in 1898. He rode in the Kentucky Derby for the first time in 1900, finishing third. […]