March 15, 1959 Lester Willis Young, jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist, died. Young was born August 27, 1909 in Woodville, Mississippi and played in his family’s band on the vaudeville and carnival circuit. He left the family band in 1927 because he refused to play in the South where Jim Crow Laws were in effect. […]
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March 15th in African American History – Ruppert Leon Sargent
March 15, 1967 Ruppert Leon Sargent, Medal of Honor recipient, died. Sargent was born January 6, 1938 in Hampton, Virginia. He joined the United States Army and was serving as a First Lieutenant in Company B, 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. On March 15, 1967, while in Hau Nghia Province of the […]
March 13th in African American History – Leon Day
March 13, 1995 Leon Day, pitcher in the Negro Baseball League, died. Day was born October 30, 1916 in Alexandria, Virginia and made his professional debut in 1934. Day was one of the top pitchers in the Negro Leagues from the mid-1930s through the 1940s. From 1935 to 1946, he appeared in a record seven […]
March 12th in African American History – Romare Bearden
March 12, 1988 Romare Bearden, artist and writer, died. Bearden was born September 2, 1911 in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1935, he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in science and education from New York University. He went on to study at the Arts Student League from 1936 to 1937. From 1942 to 1945, Bearden […]
March 11th in African American History – Ralph David Abernathy
March 11, 1926 Ralph David Abernathy, minister and civil rights leader, was born in Linden, Alabama. After serving in the United States Army during World War II, Abernathy graduated with honors and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics from Alabama State University in 1950 and in 1951 earned a Master of Science degree in […]
March 11th in African American History – Whitney Moore Young, Jr.
March 11, 1971 Whitney Moore Young, Jr., civil rights leader, drowned while swimming in Lagos, Nigeria. Young was born July 31, 1921 in Lincoln Ridge, Kentucky. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Kentucky State University in 1941 and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Minnesota in 1947. Young served […]
March 9th in African American History – Lawrence Joel
March 9, 1967 President Lyndon Johnson presented the Medal of Honor, America’s highest military decoration, to Lawrence Joel. Joel was the first living African American to receive the medal since the Spanish-American War. Joel was born February 22, 1928 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He joined the United States Army in 1946 and served in the […]