April 3, 2007 Edward Gay Robinson, hall of fame college football coach, died. Robinson was born February 13, 1919 in Jackson, Louisiana. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree at Leland College in 1941 and in 1954 earned his Master of Arts degree from the University of Iowa. Robinson began coaching at the historically black […]
Archive | April RSS feed for this section
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. – April 2nd in African American History
April 2, 1939 Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. (Marvin Gaye), instrumentalist, singer and songwriter, was born in Washington, D. C. Gaye started as a member of The Moonglows in 1958 and after they disbanded in 1960, he moved to Detroit, Michigan and signed with Motown Records. Gaye experienced his first significant success in 1962 as co-writer […]
Julius Arthur Hemphill – April 2nd in African American History
April 2, 1995 Julius Arthur Hemphill, jazz composer and saxophone player, died. Hemphill was born January 24, 1938 in Fort Worth, Texas. He joined the United States Army in 1964 and served for several years. In 1968, Hemphill moved to St. Louis, Missouri and co-founded the Black Artists’ Group, a multi-disciplinary arts collective. He moved […]
Jesse Stone – April 1st in African American History
April 1, 1999 Jesse Stone, rhythm and blues musician and songwriter, died. Stone was born November 16, 1901 in Atchison, Kansas. By 1926, Stone had formed a group, the Blue Serenaders, and cut his first record, “Starvation Blues.” Beginning in 1936, he worked as the bandleader at the Apollo Theater for a few years and […]
Wilson Camanza Riles – April 1st in African American History
April 1, 1999 Wilson Camanza Riles, the first African American to be elected to statewide office in California, died. Riles was born June 27, 1917 near Alexandria, Louisiana. He graduated from Northern Arizona State University in 1940 and served in the United States Army Air Force during World War II. In 1971, Riles was elected […]