February 28, 1977 Edmund Lincoln “Rochester” Anderson, radio, television and film actor, died. Anderson was born September 18, 1905 in Oakland, California. He began his show business career at the age of 14 in a song and dance act called Three Black Aces. Anderson was best known for playing Rochester van Jones, the valet for […]
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February 28th in African American History – Robert Todd Duncan
February 28, 1998 Robert Todd Duncan, baritone opera singer and actor, died. Duncan was born February 12, 1903 in Danville, Kentucky. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from Butler University and a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University Teachers College. In 1933, he debuted in New York City with the Aeolian […]
February 27th in African American History – Anna Julia Haywood Cooper
February 27, 1964 Anna Julia Haywood Cooper, author, educator, and scholar, died. Cooper was born August 10, 1858 in Raleigh, North Carolina and at the age of nine received a scholarship to attend Saint Augustine’s Normal School and Collegiate Institute, a school for training teachers to educate formerly enslaved blacks and their families.
February 27th in African American History – Franklin Joseph “Frankie” Lymon
February 27, 1968 Franklin Joseph “Frankie” Lymon, R&B singer and songwriter, died from a heroin overdose. Lymon was born September 30, 1942 in Harlem, New York. At the age of 12, he began singing in a group that called itself both The Ermines and The Premiers. In 1955, they wrote the song “Why Do Fools […]
February 26th in African American History – Marshall William Faulk
February 26, 1973 Marshall William Faulk, hall of fame football player, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Faulk played collegiate football at San Diego State University and was a three-time First-team All-American. He skipped his senior year and was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the 1994 NFL Draft. That year he was the NFL […]
February 26th in African American History – Roy David Eldridge
February 26, 1989 Roy David Eldridge, jazz trumpeter, died. Eldridge was born January 30, 1911 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He originally played drums, tuba, and trumpet. Eldridge led bands from his early years, moving to St. Louis and New York, where he played in various bands in the early 1930s. From 1941 to 1943, he played […]
February 25th in African American History – Robert Hayden
February 25, 1980 Robert Hayden, the first African American Poet Laureate to the Library of Congress, died. Born Asa Bundy Sheffey on August 4, 1913 in Detroit, Michigan, Hayden earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish from Detroit City College (later renamed Wayne State University) in 1942.