October 12, 1961 Eugene Jacques Bullard, the only Black pilot in World War I, died. Bullard was born October 9, 1894 in Columbus, Georgia. While on a trip to Paris in 1914, World War I started and Bullard decided to join the French Foreign Legion. In 1916 he was wounded and awarded the Croix de […]
Tag Archives | World War II
September 19th in African American History – Earl Cyril Palmer
September 19, 2008 Earl Cyril Palmer, hall of fame drummer, died. Palmer was born October 25, 1924 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He 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 […]
September 11th in African American History – James Charles Evers
September 11, 1922 James Charles Evers, the first African American elected mayor of a Mississippi city since the Reconstruction era, was born in Decatur, Mississippi. Evers served in the United States Army in Europe during World War II and graduated from Alcorn A&M University in 1950. In the early 1950s, Evers became active in the […]
August 17th in African American History – Pearl Mae Bailey
August 17, 1990 Pearl Mae Bailey, jazz vocalist and actress, died. Pearl Mae Bailey was born March 29, 1918 in Southampton County, Virginia. She made her stage debut at 15 when she won an amateur contest in Philadelphia. In 1941, during World War II, Bailey toured the country with the USO, singing and dancing for American […]
August 5th in African American History – Dudley Randall
August 5, 2000 Dudley Randall, founder of Broadside Press, died. Randall was born January 14, 1914 in Washington, D. C. but raised in Detroit, Michigan. At the age of 13, his first published poem was printed in the Detroit Free Press newspaper. After serving in the military during World War II, Randall earned a Bachelor […]
August 5th in African American History – Oliver White Hill, Sr.
August 5, 2007 Oliver White Hill, Sr., civil rights attorney, died. Hill was born May 1, 1907 in Richmond, Virginia. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Howard University in 1931 and his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Howard’s School of Law in 1933. Hill won his first civil rights case in 1940 in […]
July 20th in African American History – Everett Frederick Morrow
July 20, 1994 Everett Frederick Morrow, businessman and the first African American to hold an executive position at the White House, died. Morrow was born April 20, 1906 in Hackensack, New Jersey. Morrow graduated from Bowdoin College in 1930 and was employed by the National Urban League and the NAACP as field secretary before entering […]