May 23, 1985 Jerome Heartwell “Brud” Holland, education administrator and diplomat, posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Ronald Reagan. Holland was born January 9, 1916 in Auburn, New York. He graduated from Cornell University, where he was the first African American to play on the football team and an All-American in 1937 […]
Tag Archives | Presidential Medal of Freedom
Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington – April 29th in African American History
April 29, 1899 Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington, composer, pianist and big band leader, was born in Washington, D. C. Ellington began taking piano lessons at the age of 7 and at 14 wrote his first composition, “Soda Fountain Rag.” At the age of 18, he formed his first group, The Duke’s Serenaders, who played throughout […]
Frederick Douglass Patterson – April 26th in African American History
April 26, 1988 Frederick Douglass Patterson, founder of the United Negro College Fund, died. Patterson was born October 10, 1901 in Washington, D. C. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Prairie View State College in 1919, a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Iowa State University in 1923, a Master of Science degree from Iowa State […]
Ella Jane Fitzgerald – April 25th in African American History
April 25, 1917 Ella Jane Fitzgerald, jazz and pop vocalist also known as the “First Lady of Song,” was born in Newport News, Virginia. Fitzgerald made her singing debut at the age of 17 at the Apollo Theater and won the first prize of $25.00. In 1935, she began singing with the Chick Webb Orchestra […]
Leon Howard Sullivan – April 24th in African American History
April 24, 2001 Leon Howard Sullivan, minister, civil rights leader, and activist, died. Sullivan was born October 16, 1922 in Charleston, West Virginia. He was ordained a Baptist minister at the age of 18. Sullivan earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from West Virginia State University in 1943 and a Master of Arts degree in […]
April 20th in African American History – Dorothy Irene Height
April 20, 2010 Dorothy Irene Height, educator and social activist, died. Height was born March 24, 1912 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 […]
April 16th in African American History – Ralph Waldo Ellison
April 16, 1994 Ralph Waldo Ellison, novelist, literary critic and scholar, died. Ellison was born March 1, 1914 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In 1933, Ellison entered Tuskegee Institute on a music scholarship but after his third year he moved to New York City where he met Richard Wright who encouraged him to pursue a career […]