January 13, 2002 Charity Edna Adams Earley, the first African American officer in the Woman’s Army Air Corps, died. Earley was born December 5, 1918 in Kittrell, North Carolina. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics and physics from Wilberforce University in 1938 and enlisted in the WAAC in 1942.
Tag Archives | World War II
December 13th in African American History – Dale Raymond Wright
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 […]
December 6th in African American History – Frantz Fanon
December 6, 1961 Frantz Fanon, psychiatrist, revolutionary, and author, died. Fanon was born July 20, 1925 on the Caribbean island of Martinique. He served in the French army during World War II. Fanon’s service in the French army and his experiences in Martinique fueled his first book, “Black Skin, White Masks,” (1952) which analyzed the […]
December 4th in African American History – Joe Brown
December 4, 1997 Joe Brown, hall of fame boxer, died. Brown was born May 18, 1925 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He began his professional boxing career at the age of 17 but it was interrupted by World War II. During his almost two years in the United States Navy, Brown took part in seven Pacific […]
November 29th in African American History – Coleman Alexander Young
November 29, 1997 Coleman Alexander Young, Detroit’s first African American Mayor, died. Young was born May 24, 1918 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He moved to Detroit in 1923 and graduated from Eastern High School. During World War II, he served in the 477th Medium-Bomber Group, Tuskegee Airmen, as a bombardier and navigator and played a role […]
November 4th in African American History – Rayford Whittingham Logan
November 4, 1982 Rayford Whittingham Logan, historian and Pan-African activist, died. Logan was born January 7, 1897 in Washington, D. C. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Williams College in 1917 and enlisted in the United States Army. In 1919 he requested, and was granted, a discharge because of his dissatisfaction with the […]
October 25th in African American History – Earl Cryil Palmer
October 25, 1924 Earl Cryil Palmer, hall of fame drummer, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Palmer started his entertainment career at the age of five as a tap dancer on the black vaudeville circuit. He toured the country extensively with the Darktown Scandals Review. Palmer served in Europe for the United States Army during […]