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 […]
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Marian Anderson – April 8th in African American History
April 8, 1993 Marian Anderson, contralto, died. Anderson was born February 27, 1897 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the age of six, she began singing at local functions for small change. She got her first big break in 1925 when she won a singing competition sponsored by the New York Philharmonic. In 1939, the Daughters of the […]
Charles “Bird” Parker, Jr – August 29th in African American History
August 29, 1920 Charles “Bird” Parker, Jr., jazz saxophonist and composer, was born in Kansas City, Kansas. Parker began playing the saxophone at age 11 and by 1938 was touring nightclubs and other venues in the southwest. In 1939, Parker moved to New York City where on November 26, 1945 he led a recording session […]
Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable – August 28th in African American History
August 28, 1818 Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable, The Father of Chicago, died. Du Sable’s birth date is unknown but it is generally believed that he was born between 1730 and 1745 in what is now Haiti. Du Sable first arrived on the western shores of Lake Michigan around 1779, where he built the first […]