May 4, 1937 Ron Carter, jazz double-bassist, cellist, and composer, was born in Ferndale, Michigan. Carter started to play the cello at the age of 10 and later moved to the bass. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music in 1959 and a master’s degree in double bass performance from the […]
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May 3rd in African American History – Billy Higgins
May 3, 2001 Billy Higgins, jazz drummer, died. Higgins was born October 11, 1936 in Los Angeles, California. He began playing drums at the age of five. Higgins was one of the co-founders of the free jazz movement and beginning in 1958 played on Ornette Coleman’s first recordings.
May 3rd in African American History – Ed Davis
May 3, 1999 Ed Davis, the first African American to win a franchise to sell new cars, died. Davis was born February 27, 1911 in Shreveport, Louisiana and as a teenager moved to Detroit to attend integrated public schools. Davis’ first job was at a car repair garage where the owner instructed him to look […]
May 2nd in African American History – Isaiah Mays
May 2, 1925 Isaiah Mays, Medal of Honor recipient, died. Mays was born enslaved on February 16, 1858 in Carters Bridge, Virginia. By May 11, 1889, he was serving as a corporal in Company B of the 24th Infantry Regiment. On that day, he was involved in an engagement with robbers and his actions earned […]
May 2nd in African American History – William Levi Dawson
May 2, 1990 William Levi Dawson, professor, choir director, and composer, died. Dawson was born September 26, 1899 in Anniston, Alabama. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree with honors from the Horner Institute of Fine Arts in 1925 and his master’s degree from the American Conservatory of Music in 1927. Dawson served as professor […]
May 1st in African American History – Theodore Roosevelt Mason Howard
May 1, 1976 Theodore Roosevelt Mason Howard, surgeon, entrepreneur and civil rights leader, died. Howard was born March 4, 1908 in Murray, Kentucky. During his years in medical school, Howard took part in civil rights and political causes, including writing a regular column for the black newspaper in Los Angeles. He was also the president […]
May 1st in African American History – Kenneth Bancroft Clark
May 1, 2005 Kenneth Bancroft Clark, social psychologist, died. Clark was born July 24, 1914 in the Panama Canal Zone but raised in Harlem, New York. Clark earned his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Science degrees from Howard University in 1935 and 1936, respectively. In 1940, he became the first African American to earn […]