March 23, 1938 Maynard Holbrook Jackson, Jr., the first African American mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, was born in Dallas, Texas. Jackson earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and history from Morehouse College in 1956 at the age of 18. After working several jobs, he earned his Juris Doctorate degree cum laude from […]
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March 23rd in African American History – Moses Eugene Malone
March 23, 1955 Moses Eugene Malone, hall of fame basketball player, was born in Petersburg, Virginia. In 1974, Malone was drafted by the Utah Stars of the American Basketball Association right out of high school, becoming the fifth player to jump straight from high school to the professional leagues. When the ABA merged with the […]
March 22nd in African American History – Dox Thrash
March 22, 1892 Dox Thrash, painter and printmaker, was born in Griffen, Georgia. In 1911, Thrash moved to Chicago, Illinois to study at the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1917, he joined the United States Army and 14 months later was gassed and wounded while serving in France. After being discharged, he returned to the […]
March 22nd in African American History – Fred Anderson
March 22, 1929 Fred Anderson, jazz tenor saxophonist, was born in Monroe, Louisiana. Anderson taught himself to play the saxophone as a teenager and moved with his family to Evanston, Illinois in the 1940s. In 1965, he was one of the founders of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians which was a collective […]
March 19th in African American History – Lloyd Lionel Gaines
March 19, 1939 Lloyd Lionel Gaines, the central figure in the 1938 Supreme Court case Gaines v. Canada, disappeared. Gaines was born in 1911 in Oxford, Mississippi and at the age of 15 moved with his family to St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated with honors from Lincoln University in 1935 with a bachelor’s degree in […]
March 19th in African American History – John Henry “Pop” Lloyd
March 19, 1964 John Henry “Pop” Lloyd, hall of fame Negro League baseball player and manager, died. Lloyd was born April 25, 1884 in Palatka, Florida and began his professional baseball career in 1905. Over his career, Lloyd batted .343 and was generally considered the greatest shortstop in Negro League history. Lloyd was often referred […]
March 18th in African American History – Willie King
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 […]