*Florence Curtis was born on September 30, 1873. She was a white-American library educator and teacher. Florence Rising Curtis was born in Ogdensburg, New York. Her father was General Newton Martin Curtis, and her mother was Emeline Clark Curtis. She attended Wells College from 1891 to 1894 and, in 1898, received a diploma from the […]
learn more*Eunice Walker Johnson was born on April 4, 1916. She was a Black businesswoman. Eunice Walker was born in Selma, Alabama, to Nathaniel Walker, a physician, and Ethel Walker (née McAlpine), a high school principal. She was one of four children. She graduated with a degree in sociology from Talladega College in 1938. During college, […]
learn more*On December 26, 1929, the opening of Wonder Gardens is celebrated. Also known as Wonder Bar, it was a jazz and R&B nightclub at 1601 Arctic Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Originally called Wonder Bar, the jazz nightspot opened around 1929 at 1601 Arctic Avenue, on the northwest corner of Kentucky Avenue and Arctic […]
learn more*Club Harlem was a nightclub that opened on this date in 1935, at 32 North Kentucky Avenue in the Northside neighborhood of Atlantic City, New Jersey. Leroy “Pop” Williams founded it, and it became the city’s premier club for Black jazz performers. Like its Harlem counterpart, the Cotton Club, many of Club Harlem’s guests were […]
learn more*On December 20, 1934, we celebrate Grace’s Little Belmont. This was a jazz music bar and lounge in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Located at 37 North Kentucky Avenue, it was one of the four popular Black nightclubs between the mid-1930s and mid-1970s. The Little Belmont was located across the street from Club Harlem, where it […]
learn more*The Ebony Fashion Fair is celebrated on this date in 1958. (also known as the Ebony Traveling Fashion Fair) was an annual fashion event created by Eunice Johnson, co-founder of Johnson Publishing Company. In 1956, John H. Johnson, founder of the Johnson Publishing Company, was approached by Jessie Dent (the wife of the president of […]
learn more*James Washington was born on November 10, 1908. He was a Black painter and sculptor. James W. Washington Jr. was born and raised in Gloster, Mississippi, a rural mill town. He was one of six children of Baptist minister James Washington and his wife, Lizzie. While he was still a child, his father fled the […]
learn more*William E. Scott was born on this date in 1884. He was a Black artist. William Edouard Scott was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, to Edward and Caroline Scott (née Russell). After graduating from Manual Training High School in 1903, Scott spent a year studying drawing under Otto Stark. In 1904, he moved to Chicago and […]
learn more*Carlton Moss was born on this date in 1909. He was a Black screenwriter, actor, and film director. From Newark, New Jersey, he was the son of Frederick Douglas and Sarah Vincent Moss. Moss grew up in both North Carolina and Newark. He attended Morgan State University, where he formed an acting troupe called “Toward […]
learn more*The release of the film The Negro Soldier is celebrated on this date in 1944. The United States Army created this documentary film and used the film as propaganda to convince Black Americans to enlist in the Army and fight in the war. During World War II, while the U.S. Army was officially racially segregated, […]
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