January 2, 1915 John Hope Franklin, historian and author, was born in Rentiesville, Oklahoma. Franklin earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Fisk University in 1935 and his Master of Arts degree and Ph. D. in history from Harvard University in 1936 and 1941, respectively. In the early 1950s, he served on the NAACP Legal […]
Tag Archives | Presidential Medal of Freedom
July 23rd in African American History – Jack Roosevelt “Jackie” Robinson
July 23, 1962 Jack Roosevelt “Jackie” Robinson became the first African American to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Robinson was born January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia. He attended the University of California at Los Angeles, where he was a star athlete, from 1939 to 1941 and served in the United States […]
March 24th in African American History – Dorothy Irene Height
March 24, 1912 Dorothy Irene Height, educator and social activist, was born in Richmond, Virginia. While in high school, Height was awarded a scholarship to Barnard College, but when she enrolled she was denied admittance because at that time Barnard only admitted two African Americans per academic year and they had already admitted two. Height […]
March 12th in African American History – Andrew Jackson Young
March 12, 1932 Andrew Jackson Young, pastor, politician, diplomat and civil rights leader, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Young earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Pre-Dentistry at Howard University in 1951 and a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Hartford Seminary in 1955. In 1960, he joined the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and in […]
February 20th in African American History – Sidney Poitier
February 20, 1927 Sidney Poitier, actor, director, author, and diplomat, was born in Miami, Florida. At 17, Poitier moved to New York City and joined the American Negro Theater. He made his film debut in “No Way Out” (1950) and his breakout role was in “Blackboard Jungle” (1955). In 1959, Poitier acted in the first […]
February 7th in African American History – James Herbert “Eubie” Blake
February 7, 1887 James Herbert “Eubie” Blake, composer, lyricist, and pianist, was born in Baltimore, Maryland. Blake began taking music lessons at the age of 7 and at 15 was playing piano in a bordello. In 1912, he began playing in vaudeville and shortly after World War I joined forces with Noble Sissle as the […]
February 4th in African American History – Rosa Louise McCauley Parks
February 4, 1913 Rosa Louise McCauley Parks, the “mother of the modern Civil Rights Movement,” was born in Tuskegee, Alabama. On December 1, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, she refused to obey a bus driver’s order to give up her seat to a White passenger and was arrested. Her arrest sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and […]