February 25, 1951 Joseph “Cyclone Joe” Williams, hall of fame Negro League baseball pitcher, died. Williams was born April 6, 1886 in Seguin, Texas. He began playing baseball professionally in 1905. Then known as Smokey Joe Williams, he spent 5 years with southern black baseball before moving in 1910 to the Chicago Giants. When playing […]
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Frederick Rudolph “Fred” Dean – February 24th in African American History
February 24, 1952 Frederick Rudolph “Fred” Dean, hall of fame football player, was born in Arcadia, Louisiana. Dean played college football at Louisiana Tech University and was an All-Southland Conference defensive tackle. He was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the 1975 NFL Draft and over his eleven season professional career was a four-time […]
Elston Gene Howard – February 23rd in African American History
February 23, 1929 Elston Gene Howard, former Negro and Major League baseball player, was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Growing up in St. Louis, Howard showed that baseball was not his his only strength. He played football, ran track and made all-state in basketball. In 1947, after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier and debuted […]
Francis Ellen Watkins Harper – February 22nd in African American History
February 22, 1911 Francis Ellen Watkins Harper, abolitionist and poet, died. Harper was born September 24, 1825 in Baltimore, Maryland. She was an only child to free African American parents and when her mother died when she was only three, she wen to live with her aunt and uncle. She attended school for black youths until […]
Barbara Charline Jordan – February 21st in African American History
February 21, 1936 Barbara Charline Jordan, the first African American woman to serve in the United States House of Representatives from a southern state, was born in Houston, Texas. Jordan earned her Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude from Texas Southern University in 1956 and her Juris Doctorate degree from Boston University in 1959. […]
Frederick Douglass – February 20th in African American History
February 20, 1895 Frederick Douglass, abolitionist, women’s suffragist, editor, author, and statesman, died. Douglass was born enslaved on February 14, 1818 in Tuckahoe, Maryland and named Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey. Douglass taught himself to read and write and in 1838 escaped from slavery. Douglass delivered his first abolitionist speech at the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society’s annual […]
Jonathon Jasper Wright – February 19th in African American History
February 19, 1885 Jonathan Jasper Wright, lawyer and South Carolina Supreme Court judge, died. Wright was born February 11, 1840 in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. After studying the law for three years and feeling himself qualified for the legal profession, Wright applied for admission to the Bar, but was refused an examination because of his race. […]