March 9, 1930 Ornette Coleman, jazz saxophonist, trumpeter and composer, was born in Fort Worth, Texas. Coleman began touring with rhythm and blues shows in 1949 and in 1958 led his first recording session, “Something Else!!!!: The Music of Ornette Coleman.”
Tag Archives | Pulitzer Prize
March 5th in African American History – Charles Henry Fuller, Jr.
March 5, 1939 Charles Henry Fuller, Jr., playwright and novelist, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Fuller attended Villanova University before serving in the United States Army from 1959 to 1962. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from La Salle College in 1967 and was a co-founder of the Afro-American Arts Theater in Philadelphia that […]
February 22nd in African American History – Ishmael Scott Reed
February 22, 1938 Ishmael Scott Reed, poet, essayist, and novelist, was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, but raised in Buffalo, New York. Reed attended the University of Buffalo before moving to New York City in 1962 and co-founding the “East Village Other,” a well know underground publication.
February 18th in African American History – Chloe Ardelia Wofford (Toni Morrison)
February 18, 1931 Chloe Ardelia Wofford (Toni Morrison), author, editor, and professor, was born in Lorain, Ohio. Morrison earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Howard University in 1953 and her Master of Arts degree in English from Cornell University in 1955.
February 14th in African American History – Monetta J. Sleet, Jr.
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 […]
February 9th in African American History – Alice Malsenior Walker
February 9, 1944 Alice Malsenior Walker, author, was born in Eatonton, Georgia. Walker earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Sarah Lawrence College in 1965 and returned to the South where she became involved with voter registration drives, campaigns for welfare rights, and children’s programs in Mississippi.
December 14th in African American History – Johnny D. Bright
December 14, 1983 Johnny D. Bright, hall of fame Canadian Football League player, died. Bright was born June 11, 1930 in Fort Wayne Indiana. He played college football at Drake University where he led the nation in total offense in 1949 and 1950. On October 20, 1951 in a game against Oklahoma State University, Bright […]