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 […]
Tag Archives | World War II
July 13th in African American History – Vernon Joseph Baker
July 13, 2010 Vernon Joseph Baker, Medal of Honor recipient, died. Baker was born December 17, 1919 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He graduated from high school and worked several menial jobs before enlisting in the United States Army in 1941. After completing Officer Candidate School, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1943. In 1944, […]
July 12th in African American History – Arthur A. Fletcher
July 12, 2005 Arthur A. Fletcher, the “father of affirmative action,” died. Fletcher was born December 22, 1924 in Phoenix, Arizona. After serving in World War II where he was wounded, Fletcher graduated from Washburn University with a degree in political science and sociology. For a short time he played professional football and he was […]
July 4th in African American History – Benjamin Oliver Davis, Jr.
July 4, 2002 Benjamin Oliver Davis, Jr., commander of the World War II Tuskegee Airmen, died. Davis was born December 18, 1912 in Washington, D. C. After attending the University of Chicago, Davis entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1932. Despite shunning by his classmates, never having a roommate, and being […]
Lloyd George Richards – June 29th in African American History
June 29, 1919 Lloyd George Richards, theater actor, director and educator, was born in Toronto, Canada, but raised in Detroit, Michigan. Richards earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Wayne State University in 1944 and then became one of the first black military pilots while serving in the United States Air Force during World War […]
June 12th in African American History – Medgar Wiley Evers
June 12, 1963 Medgar Wiley Evers, civil rights activist, was assassinated. Evers was born July 2, 1925 in Decatur, Mississippi. In 1943, he was inducted into the army where he fought in France during World War II and was honorably discharged in 1945 as a sergeant. Evers earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in business […]
June 9th in African American History – Ousmane Sembene
June 9, 2007 Ousmane Sembene, writer and “Father of African film,” died. Sembene was born January 1, 1923 in Casamance, Senegal. In 1944, he was drafted into the French army to fight in World War II. In 1947, he moved to France where he discovered writers such as Claude McKay and Jacques Roumain. His first […]