February 14, 1926 Monetta J. Sleet, Jr., photographer and the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for journalism, was born in Owensboro, Kentucky. Sleet served in the United States Army from 1944 to 1946. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude from Kentucky State University in 1947 and his Master of […]
Tag Archives | photographer
May 15th in African American History – James Van Der Zee
May 15, 1983 James Van Der Zee, Harlem Renaissance photographer, died. Van Der Zee was born June 29, 1886 in Lenox, Massachusetts. As a child, he learned piano, violin, and art. He received his first camera at the age of 14 from a magazine promotion. After moving to New York City, Van Der Zee worked […]
March 7th in African American History – Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks
March 7, 2006 Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks, photographer, musician, poet, film director, and activist, died. Parks was born November 30, 1912 in Fort Scott, Kansas. He bought his first camera at the age of 25 and began to work as a freelance portrait and fashion photographer. In 1941, an exhibition of his photographs of […]
October 27th in African American History – Roy Rudolph DeCarava
October 27, 2009 Roy Rudolph DeCarava, photographer, died. DeCarava was born December 9, 1919 in Harlem, New York. He determined early that he wanted to be an artist and initially worked as a painter and commercial illustrator. Eventually he was drawn to photography and in 1955 opened A Photographer’s Gallery, pioneering an effort to win […]
September 30th in African American History – Moneta J. Sleet, Jr.
September 30, 1996 Moneta J. Sleet, Jr., photographer and the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for journalism, died. Sleet was born February 14, 1926 in Owensboro, Kentucky. He graduated cum laude from Kentucky State University in 1947 and earned his Master’s degree in journalism from New York University in 1950. Sleet went […]