March 18, 1943 Willie King, blues guitarist, composer, and singer, was born in Prairie Point, Mississippi. Prior to recording, he worked at many occupations. King later became active with the Civil Rights Movement which inspired him to write socially conscious blues songs. He described his music as struggling blues because of its focus on the […]
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March 17th in African American History – Bayard Rustin
March 17, 1912 Bayard Rustin, civil rights leader and the chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania. In 1942, Rustin assisted in the founding of the Congress of Racial Equality. A declared pacifist, he was imprisoned from 1944 to 1946 for violating the Selective […]
March 15th in African American History – David Ruggles
March 15, 1810 David Ruggles, entrepreneur and anti-slavery activist, was born in Norwich, Connecticut. He moved to New York City and ran a grocery store, opened the first African American bookstore in the United States, and edited a newspaper called The Mirror. Ruggles also published a pamphlet called The Extinguisher and contributed to abolitionist newspapers. […]
March 12th in African American History – Andrew Jackson Young
March 12, 1932 Andrew Jackson Young, pastor, politician, diplomat and civil rights leader, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Young earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Pre-Dentistry at Howard University in 1951 and a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Hartford Seminary in 1955. In 1960, he joined the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and in […]
March 11th in African American History – Robert Lee Carter
March 11, 1917 Robert Lee Carter, civil rights activist and judge, was born in Careyville, Florida, but raised in Newark, New Jersey. Carter earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Lincoln University in 1937, his Bachelor of Laws degree from Howard University School of Law in 1940, and his Master of Laws […]
March 10th in African American History – Harriet Tubman
March 10, 1913 Harriet Tubman, abolitionist, Union Army spy, and suffragist, died. Born Araminta Ross enslaved in Dorchester County, Maryland around 1820, Tubman escaped to Philadelphia in 1849.
March 9th in African American History – Floyd Bixler McKissick
March 9, 1922 Floyd Bixler McKissick, lawyer and civil rights leader, was born in Asheville, North Carolina. McKissick earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from North Carolina College and in 1951 became the first African American to earn his Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Law School.