*The African Jazz-Art Society & Studio (AJASS) was formed on this date in 1956. It was initially called the Jazz-Art Society and later remained the African Jazz-Art Society & Studios. The organizers were young African American artists, designers, musicians, hairdressers, writers, and jazz enthusiasts. Elombe Brath, Kwame Brathwaite, Robert Gumbs, Afrank Adu, Chris Acemandese Hall, […]
learn more*Black history and the term ‘Mammy’ is affirmed on March 24, 1830. This is a historical American labeled stereotype describing Black women, usually enslaved, doing domestic work, including nursing white children of slave owners. The fictionalized mammy character is often a dark-skinned woman with a motherly personality. The origin of the mammy figure stereotype is […]
learn more*John Barbour-James’s birth is celebrated on this date in 1867. He was a Black British activist. John Barbour James was born in British Guiana, where he became postmaster in Belfield in the 1890s. While living in British Guiana, he established the self-help Victoria Belfield Agricultural Society, which recognized the value of improving the diet and […]
learn more*The Fairvue Plantation is affirmed on this date in 1832. The Fairvue was a plantation house in Gallatin, Tennessee. It was built for Isaac Franklin. Franklin retired to be a planter there after a career as a partner in the South’s largest slave-trading firm before the American Civil War. After his death, his widow inherited […]
learn more*WDIA radio went on the air on this date in 1947. WDIA (1070 AM) is a Black radio station in Memphis, Tennessee. Active since WW 2, it soon became the first radio station in the United States programmed entirely for African Americans. It featured Black radio personalities; its success in building an audience attracted radio […]
learn more*The Sixth Regiment, United States Volunteer Infantry, was formed on this date in 1898. Also known as the ‘Sixth Immunes,’ they were mustered into service that summer and served their term of service in the continental U.S. and Puerto Rico. The Sixth was one of ten volunteer infantry regiments authorized by President McKinley during the […]
learn more*Union Baptist Church (Baltimore) was founded on this date in 1852. This historic Baptist church is at 1219 Druid Hill Avenue in central Baltimore, Maryland. In 1866, the Lewis Street congregation merged with Saratoga Street African Baptist Church members, forming Union Baptist Church. The granite church was designed by architect William J. Beardsley and built-in […]
learn more*Robert Ogle was born on this date in 1886. He was a Black public policy administrator. Born to Jeremiah and Mary Ellen Ogle in Washington, D.C., Robert Harold Ogle attended M Street School, one of the top preparatory schools for African Americans. Ogle secured one of the spots available, and upon completion in 1905, he […]
learn more*Vivian Dandridge was born on this date in 1921. She was a Black singer, actress, and dancer. Vivian Alferetta Dandridge was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Cyril Dandridge. She was the older sister of actress and singer Dorothy Dandridge and the daughter of actress Ruby Dandridge. Her parents separated shortly before the birth of her […]
learn more*Henry Callis was born on this date in 1887. He was a Black physician. Henry Arthur Callis was born in Rochester, New York, and attended Cornell University and Rush Medical College. He became a physician and worked as a medical consultant at the Veterans’ Hospital in Tuskegee, Alabama. He was a professor of medicine at […]
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