December 31, 1930 Odetta Holmes, singer, actress, songwriter, and human rights activist, was born in Birmingham, Alabama. Odetta’s first professional experience was in musical theater in 1944 and in 1949 she joined the “Finian’s Rainbow” touring company. She began her solo career in 1956 with “Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues” and followed with “At the […]
Tag Archives | Living Legend Award
December 15th in African American History – Septima Poinsette Clark
December 15, 1987 Septima Poinsette Clark, “grandmother of the Civil Rights Movement,” died. Clark was born May 3, 1898 in Charleston, South Carolina. She graduated from high school in 1916, but could not afford to attend college. As an African American, she was barred from teaching in the Charleston public schools therefore she began teaching […]
December 2nd in African American History – Odetta Holmes
December 2, 2008 Odetta Holmes, singer, actress, songwriter, and human rights activist, died. Odetta was born December 31, 1930 in Birmingham, Alabama. Her first professional experience was in musical theater in 1944 and in 1949 she joined the “Finian’s Rainbow” touring company. She began her solo career in 1956 with “Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues” […]