January 23, 1976 Paul LeRoy Bustill Robeson, concert singer, scholar, stage and film actor, athlete, and multi-lingual orator, died. Robeson was born April 9, 1898 in Princeton, New Jersey. He won a full academic scholarship to Rutgers University, the third African American student accepted at Rutgers. Although he was the only black student on campus […]
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Clarence LaVaughn “C.L.” Franklin – January 22nd in African American History
January 22, 1915 Clarence LaVaughn “C.L.” Franklin, minister and civil rights activist, was born in Sunflower County, Mississippi. At the age of 16, Franklin became a preacher working the black preaching circuit before settling at churches in Memphis, Tennessee and Buffalo, New York. In 1946, he became pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, […]
Barak Obama’s 2nd Term Inauguration on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – January 21st in African American History
January 21, 2013 Today is only the second time in history when the Presidential Inauguration and the federal holiday for Martin Luther King Jr. converge. Making this day even more historic is that Barack Obama, the first African-American President is being sworn into office on a day dedicated to a man who dreamed of the […]
Jack Leroy “Jackie” Wilson – January 21st in African American History
January 21, 1984 Jack Leroy “Jackie” Wilson, singer and performer known as “Mr. Excitement,” died. Wilson was born June 9, 1934 in Detroit, Michigan. He gained early fame as a member of The Dominoes. In 1957, Wilson began his solo career with the release of “Reet Petite” and over the next 15 years recorded more […]
Jimmy Wilbur Cobb – January 20th in African American History
January 20, 1929 Jimmy Wilbur Cobb, jazz drummer, was born in Washington, D.C. Cobb taught himself to play the drums. From 1958 to 1963, he played with Miles Davis, performing on albums such as “Kind of Blue” (1959) and “Sketches of Spain” (1960). He also worked with many other jazz greats, including Dinah Washington, Cannonball […]
John Harold Johnson – January 19th in African American History
January 19, 1918 John Harold Johnson, publisher and businessman, was born in Arkansas City, Arkansas. In 1933, Johnson and his family moved to Chicago, Illinois. After graduating from high school, he took a job as an office boy at Supreme Life Insurance Company and within two years had moved up to assistant to the president. […]
Jester Joseph Hairston – January 18th in African American History
January 18, 2000 Jester Joseph Hairston, songwriter, choral conductor, and film and television actor, died. Hairston was born July 9, 1901 in Belews Creek, North Carolina. He graduated cum laude from Tufts University in 1928 and studied music at the Juilliard School. In the early stages of his career, he worked as a choir conductor. […]