December 13, 2009 Dale Raymond Wright, award-winning and barrier-breaking journalist, died. Wright was born July 19, 1923 in Monongahela, Pennsylvania. He was among the first group of African Americans to serve in the United States Marine Corps during World War II and attained the rank of staff sergeant. After the war, he earned his undergraduate […]
Tag Archives | Pulitzer Prize
October 27th in African American History – Ernest Everett Just
October 27, 1941 Ernest Everett Just, pioneering biologist and one of the founders of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, died. Just was born August 14, 1883 in Charleston, South Carolina. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude from Dartmouth College in zoology in 1907. After graduating and encountering the reality that it was […]
August 17th in African American History – Robert Clyve Maynard
August 17, 1993 Robert Clyve Maynard, journalist and former owner of The Oakland Tribune, died. Robert Clyve Maynard was born June 17, 1937 in Brooklyn, New York. He began his journalism career in 1961 in Pennsylvania. In 1965, he received a Nieman Fellowship to Harvard University and the following year he joined the editorial staff of […]
July 19th in African American History – Dale Raymond Wright
July 19, 1923 Dale Raymond Wright, award winning and barrier-breaking journalist, was born in Monongahela, Pennsylvania. Wright served in the Marine Corps in the Pacific theater during World War II, where he attained the rank of staff sergeant. After the war, he earned his undergraduate degree from Howard University and then graduated with honors from […]
Thelma Lucille Sayles (Lucille Clifton) – June 27th in African American History
June 27, 1936 Thelma Lucille Sayles (Lucille Clifton), poet and educator, was born in Depew, New York. Clifton graduated from the State University of New York in 1955 and over the next 15 years worked for the New York State Division of Employment and the federal Office of Education. In 1996, her poetry was included […]
June 11th in African American History – Johnny D. Bright
June 11, 1930 Johnny D. Bright, hall of fame Canadian Football League player, was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Bright 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 was violently assaulted by white […]
February 17th in African American History – Thelonious Monk
February 17, 1982 Thelonious Monk, jazz pianist and composer, died. Monk was born October 10, 1917 in Rocky Mountain, North Carolina and began playing the piano at the age of six. In the early to mid-1940s, he served as the house pianist at Minton’s Playhouse in Harlem, New York which featured most of the leading […]