March 2, 2003 Hank Ballard, Rhythm and Blues singer and songwriter, died. Ballard was born John Henry Kendricks on November 18, 1927 in Detroit, Michigan but raised in Bessemer, Alabama. At 15, Ballard moved back to Detroit where he began his singing career. In 1951, he formed a group which eventually became known as the […]
March 1st in African American History – Ralph Waldo Ellison
March 1, 1914 Ralph Waldo Ellison, novelist, literary critic and scholar, was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In 1933, Ellison entered Tuskegee Institute on a music scholarship but after his third year he moved to New York City where he met Richard Wright who encouraged him to pursue a career in writing.
March 1st in African American History – Harold George “Harry” Belafonte, Jr.
March 1, 1927 Harold George “Harry” Belafonte, Jr., musician, actor and social activist, was born in New York City. Belafonte served in the United States Navy during World War II and after his discharge began his music career singing in clubs to pay for acting classes.
February 28th in African American History – Edmund Lincoln “Rochester” Anderson
February 28, 1977 Edmund Lincoln “Rochester” Anderson, radio, television and film actor, died. Anderson was born September 18, 1905 in Oakland, California. He began his show business career at the age of 14 in a song and dance act called Three Black Aces. Anderson was best known for playing Rochester van Jones, the valet for […]
February 28th in African American History – Robert Todd Duncan
February 28, 1998 Robert Todd Duncan, baritone opera singer and actor, died. Duncan was born February 12, 1903 in Danville, Kentucky. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from Butler University and a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University Teachers College. In 1933, he debuted in New York City with the Aeolian […]
February 27th in African American History – Anna Julia Haywood Cooper
February 27, 1964 Anna Julia Haywood Cooper, author, educator, and scholar, died. Cooper was born August 10, 1858 in Raleigh, North Carolina and at the age of nine received a scholarship to attend Saint Augustine’s Normal School and Collegiate Institute, a school for training teachers to educate formerly enslaved blacks and their families.
February 27th in African American History – Franklin Joseph “Frankie” Lymon
February 27, 1968 Franklin Joseph “Frankie” Lymon, R&B singer and songwriter, died from a heroin overdose. Lymon was born September 30, 1942 in Harlem, New York. At the age of 12, he began singing in a group that called itself both The Ermines and The Premiers. In 1955, they wrote the song “Why Do Fools […]