*On May 1, 1863, the Corps d’Afrique was mustered into service. This Black Corps served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The Corps d’Afrique was formed from the four infantry regiments of the Louisiana Native Guard raised by Major General Benjamin F. Butler and the five colored infantry regiments raised by Brigadier […]
learn more*Harold Moody was born on October 8, 1882. He was an Afro Caribbean physician and activist. Harold Arundel Moody was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and Moody was the son of pharmacist Charles Ernest Moody and his wife Christina Emmeline Ellis. He completed his secondary education at Wolmer’s Schools. In 1904, he sailed to the United […]
learn more*The League of Coloured Peoples (LCP) was founded on March 13, 1931. LCP was a British civil rights organization in London that aimed to achieve racial equality worldwide, primarily focusing on Black rights in Britain. Harold Moody, a Black British physician, was frustrated with the prejudice he experienced in the UK, from employment to obtaining […]
learn more*Una Marson was born on this date in 1905. She was an Afro Caribbean feminist, activist, and writer who produced poems, plays, and radio programs. Una Maud Victoria Marson was born in Sharon village, near Santa Cruz, Jamaica. She was the youngest of six children of Solomon Isaac Marson and Ada Wilhelmina Mullins. She had […]
learn more*Gene Baker was born on this date in 1925. He was a Black MLB baseball player, manager, and coach. A native of Davenport, Iowa, Eugene Walter Baker played basketball and ran track at Davenport High School and sandlot baseball. He joined the United States Navy, stationed at the Iowa Pre-Flight School. After his discharge, he […]
learn more*John Work Jr. was born on this date in 1871. He was a Black musicologist, choral director, educationalist, singer, and songwriter. John Wesley Work Jr. was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and was the son of Samuella and John Wesley Work. His father was a choir director, and some members were in the original Fisk Jubilee […]
learn more*Leota O. Palmer’s birth is celebrated on this date in 1904. She was a Black musician and music teacher. She and her twin brother were born in Oberlin to Columbus and Lelia Palmer, owners of a popular restaurant and bakery. She enrolled in the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in high school, studied piano, and graduated […]
learn more*Dennis Oglesby was born on this date in 1960. He was a Black minister and community activist. Born in Chicago to insurance executive Dennis Michael Oglesby Sr. and community organizer Sylvia Oglesby, Dennis Jr. grew up in California with his father after his parents divorced. In 1983, he graduated from Rust College, an HBCU in […]
learn more*R. Roosevelt Thomas, Jr. was born on this date in 1944. He was a Black administration activist and author. From Chattanooga, TN, Rufus Roosevelt Thomas, Jr. attended Chattanooga Public Schools and was a 1962 honor graduate of Howard High School. He graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.A. in Math from Morehouse College. Thomas Jr. received an […]
learn more*The birth of Saint Gelasius I is celebrated on this date in c 450. He was the Black Roman African bishop of Rome. Gelasius was born in Africa and was one of the most prolific authors of the early bishops of Rome. Over 100 Gelasian letters survive; although 49 are fragmentary, some are relatively short. Additionally, six treatises are […]
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