December 2, 1969 The family of Eugene Ashley, Jr. was presented with the Medal of Honor, America’s highest military decoration, for his actions during the Vietnam War. Ashley was born October 12, 1931 in Wilmington, North Carolina, but raised in New York City. He joined the United States Army in 1950 and served in Korea […]
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December 2nd in African American History – Odetta Holmes
December 2, 2008 Odetta Holmes, singer, actress, songwriter, and human rights activist, died. Odetta was born December 31, 1930 in Birmingham, Alabama. Her first professional experience was in musical theater in 1944 and in 1949 she joined the “Finian’s Rainbow” touring company. She began her solo career in 1956 with “Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues” […]
December 1st in African American History – Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor, III
December 1, 1940 Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor, III, comedian, writer and actor, was born in Peoria, Illinois. After his discharge from the Army in 1960, Pryor began working as a professional comic in clubs throughout the Midwest. In 1963, he moved to New York City and began to gain national recognition and appear on […]
December 1st in African American History – Rosa Louise McCauley Parks
December 1, 1955 Rosa Louise McCauley Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama city bus and quietly set off a social revolution. On the Montgomery city buses, the first ten seats were permanently reserved for white passengers. Mrs. Parks was seated in the first row behind those seats.