February 5, 1934 Henry Louis “Hank” Aaron, hall of fame baseball player, was born in Mobile, Alabama. Aaron started his professional baseball career in 1951 with the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League. In 1952, he signed a contract with the Boston (later to be the Atlanta) Braves and made his Major League Baseball […]
February 4th in African American History – Raiford Chatman “Ossie” Davis
February 4, 2005 Raiford Chatman “Ossie” Davis, actor, director, playwright and social activist, died. Davis was born December 18, 1917 in Cogdell, Georgia. He began his acting career in 1939 with the Rose McClendon Players in Harlem. Davis made his film debut in “No Way Out” (1950) and over the next 55 years appeared in […]
February 4th in African American History – Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith
February 4, 2007 Two African American head coaches, Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith, met in the Super Bowl. This was the first time that any African American head coach had led his team to the Super Bowl. The Indianapolis Colts defeated the Chicago Bears 29 to 17, making Dungy the first African American head coach […]
February 3rd in African American History – Laura Wheeler Waring
February 3, 1948 Laura Wheeler Waring, educator and painter, died. Waring was born May 16, 1887 in Hartford, Connecticut. She graduated from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. After graduating, she founded and taught in the art and music departments at the State Normal School at Cheyney (Cheyney University) for 30 years.
February 3rd in African American History – Eduardo Chivambo Mondlane
February 3, 1969 Eduardo Chivambo Mondlane, former President of the Mozambican Liberation Front (FRELIMO), was assassinated. Mondlane was born June 20, 1920 in Portuguese East Africa. In 1953, Mondlane earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and sociology from Oberlin College and later a doctorate in sociology from Northwestern University. After graduation, he became a United […]
February 2nd in African American History – Marie Van Brittan Brown
February 2, 1999 Marie Van Brittan Brown, inventor of a closed circuit television security system, died. Brown was born October 30, 1922 in Queens, New York. On December 2, 1969 she received patent number 3,482,037 for a Closed Circuit Television Security System. The system used a motorized camera which slid up and down looking through […]
February 2nd in African American History – Claude Brown
Tags: social commentator, writer
February 2, 2002 Claude Brown, writer and social commentator, died. Brown was born February 23, 1937 in New York City. At a young age, he became involved in truancy, stealing, alcohol consumption, and gang wars. After turning his life around, Brown graduated from Howard University in 1965 with a degree in government and business. That […]