August 4, 1996 Willard Jesse Brown, Negro League baseball player, died. Brown was born June 26, 1915 in Shreveport, Louisiana. He began his professional baseball career in 1934. In 1936, he joined the Kansas City Monarchs with whom he played until 1944 when he joined the army.
Archive | Military RSS feed for this section
August 2nd in African American History – William Henry Thompson
August 2, 1951 William Henry Thompson was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the military’s highest decoration, for his actions during the Korean War. Not much is known of Thompson’s early life other than he was born August 16, 1927 in New York City. On August 6, 1950, he was serving as a private first […]
August 1st in African American History – Ronald Harmon Brown
August 1, 1941 Ronald Harmon Brown, the first and only African American to serve as United States Secretary of Commerce, was born in Washington, D.C. Brown earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Middlebury College in 1962. He served in the United States Army from 1963 to 1967 rising to the rank of captain, and […]
July 30th in African American History – John Garang de Mabior
July 30, 2005 John Garang de Mabior, Sudanese politician and rebel leader, died in a helicopter crash. Garang was born June 23, 1945 in Bor, Sudan. In 1962, he joined the first Sudanese civil war, but, because he was so young, the leaders encouraged him to pursue an education. He went on to earn his […]
July 28th in African American History – Frederick J. Eikerenkoetter II (Rev. Ike)
July 28, 2009 Frederick J. Eikerenkoetter II (Rev. Ike), minister and evangelist, died. Rev. Ike was born June 1, 1935 in Ridgeland, South Carolina. He began his career as a teenage preacher. After serving the United States Air Force, he founded the United Church of Jesus Christ for All People in Beaufort, South Carolina, the […]
July 20th in African American History – Everett Frederick Morrow
July 20, 1994 Everett Frederick Morrow, businessman and the first African American to hold an executive position at the White House, died. Morrow was born April 20, 1906 in Hackensack, New Jersey. Morrow graduated from Bowdoin College in 1930 and was employed by the National Urban League and the NAACP as field secretary before entering […]
July 19th in African American History – Dale Raymond Wright
July 19, 1923 Dale Raymond Wright, award winning and barrier-breaking journalist, was born in Monongahela, Pennsylvania. Wright served in the Marine Corps in the Pacific theater during World War II, where he attained the rank of staff sergeant. After the war, he earned his undergraduate degree from Howard University and then graduated with honors from […]