March 24, 1969 William Maud Bryant, Medal of Honor recipient, was killed in action. Bryant was born February 16, 1933 in Cochran, Georgia. By March 24, 1969, he was serving as a sergeant first class in Company A of the 5th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces. On that day, during a battle in Long […]
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March 24th in African American History – Zephaniah Alexander Looby
March 24, 1972 Zephaniah Alexander Looby, civil rights lawyer, died. Looby was born April 8, 1899 in Antigua and moved to the United States in 1914. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Howard University in 1922, a law degree from Columbia University School of Law in 1925, and a doctorate in jurisprudence from New York […]
March 23rd in African American History – James “Jimmy” Winkfield
March 23, 1974 James “Jimmy” Winkfield, jockey, horse trainer and the last African American to ride a winner in the Kentucky Derby, died. Winkfield was born April 12, 1882 in Chilesburg, Kentucky and began his career as a jockey in 1898. He rode in the Kentucky Derby for the first time in 1900, finishing third. […]
March 23rd in African American History – Patricia Roberts Harris
March 23, 1985 Patricia Roberts Harris, the first African American woman to serve as a United States Ambassador, died. Harris was born May 31, 1924 in Mattoon, Illinois. She graduated summa cum laude from Howard University in 1945 and in 1960 graduated from the George Washington University National Law Center. In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson […]
March 22nd in African American History – George Benson
March 22, 1943 George Benson, Grammy Award winning jazz guitarist and singer, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At the age of eight, Benson was playing guitar in nightclubs and at the age of 10 he recorded his first single, “She Makes Me Mad.” From 1961 to 1965, he played with jazz organist Jack McDuff. In […]
March 22nd in African American History – Stephanie Dorthea Mills
March 22, 1957 Stephanie Dorthea Mills, Grammy Award winning singer and Broadway star, was born in Brooklyn, New York. Mills appeared in her first play at the age of nine and two years later won Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater a record six times. Mills made her Broadway debut in 1968 in the musical […]
March 21st in African American History – The Sharpville Massacre
March 21, 1960 The Sharpville Massacre occurred when South African police opened fire on 5,000 to 7,000 black protesters, killing 69 and injuring more than 180. The black South Africans were organized by the Pan Africanist Congress to protest the pass laws which restricted the movement of blacks. When they converged on a local police […]