January 18, 1967 Reece “Goose” Tatum, Hall of Fame basketball player, died. Tatum was born May 31, 1921 in El Dorado, Arkansas. In high school, he played baseball, football, and basketball. He played Negro league baseball from 1937 to 1949 and was a co-owner of the Detroit Clowns baseball team in the late 1950s.
Archive | African American History RSS feed for this section
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama – January 17th in African American History
January 17, 1964 Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama, the first African American First Lady of the United States, was born in Chicago, Illinois. Obama earned her Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude from Princeton University in 1985 and her Juris Doctorate degree from Harvard University Law School in 1988. While at Harvard, she participated in demonstrations […]
Marcelite Jordan Harris – January 16th in African American History
January 16, 1943 Marcelite Jordan Harris, the first African American female General in the United States Air Force, was born in Houston, Texas. Harris earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in speech and drama from Spelman College in 1964 and was commissioned through Officer Training School in 1965. She has held a variety of assignments, […]
Garfield McConnell Langhorn – January 15th in African American History
January 15, 1969 Garfield McConnell Langhorn, Medal of Honor recipient, was killed in action. Langhorn was born September 10, 1948 in Cumberland, Virginia. He joined the United States Army in 1968 and by January 15, 1969 was serving as a private first class in Troop C, 7th Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Aviation Brigade during […]
Franklin Delano Raines – January 14th in African American History
January 14, 1949 Franklin Delano Raines, former chairman and chief executive officer of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), was born in Seattle, Washington. Raines earned his Bachelor of Arts degree with honors from Harvard University in 1971, spent a year at Oxford University in England as a Rhodes Scholar, and earned his Doctor […]
Jerome Heartwell “Brud” Holland – January 13th in African American History
January 13, 1985 Jerome Heartwell “Brud” Holland, education administrator and diplomat, died. Holland was born January 9, 1916 in Auburn, New York. He graduated from Cornell University, where he was the first African American to play on the football team and an All-American in 1937, 1938, and 1939. Despite his athletic abilities, the National Football […]
Sam Langford – January 12th in African American History
January 12, 1956 Sam Langford, hall of fame boxer and, according to ESPN, “the greatest fighter nobody knows,” died. Langford was born March 4, 1883 in Weymouth Falls, Nova Scotia, Canada. Although he was only 5 feet 6 ½ inches tall and weighed 185 pounds, Langford fought greats from the lightweight division to the heavyweight […]