People, Locations, Episodes

José María Morales, Legislator, and Soldier born

*José María Morales was born on this date in 1818. He was an Afro Argentine tinsmith legislator, and soldier. From Buenos Aires, Argentina, he was the son of a military patriot who fought in the British invasions. He also followed a military career and was part of the troops of Manuel Oribe until the age […]

Andrew Hilyer, Businessman born

*The birth of Andrew Hilyer in 1858 is marked on this date. He was a Black businessman, inventor, lawyer and activist. Andrew F. Hilyer was born a slave in Georgia, and grew up in Nebraska and Minnesota.

Edward B. Ceruti, Lawyer, and Activist born

*Edward Ceruti was born on this date in 1875. He was a Black attorney and racial justice activist. Edward Burton Ceruti was born in Nassau, the Bahamas. His parents were Eliza Jane Anderson, a mulatto, and Edward Burton Ceruti, Sr. The family moved to the United States when he was four years old. According to the 1880 census, […]

Ernest Just, Biologist, and Collegiate Mentor born

*This date marks the birth of Ernest Everett Just in 1883. He was an African American biologist and educator who taught at Howard University for more than 30 years.

Ray Sprigle, Journalist born

*Ray Sprigle was born on this date in 1886. He was a white-American journalist and author. Ray Sprigle was born in Akron, Ohio, to parents of colonial Pennsylvanian German ancestry. He attended local schools. After his freshman year, he left Ohio State University and started working as a newspaper reporter and a freelance pulp fiction […]

Ada ‘Bricktop,’ Smith, Singer born

*Ada Smith was born on this date in 1894. The original “Bricktop,” she was an African American vaudevillian, saloon entertainer, international host, and nightclub owner.

The ‘Brownsville Affair’ Occurs

*The “Brownsville Affair” of 1906 is remembered on this date. This was a racial incident from tensions between whites in Brownsville, Texas and Black infantrymen in the U.S. Army stationed at nearby Fort Brown.

The Springfield Race Riot Occurs

*On this date in 1908, the three-day Springfield race riot began.  This was an episode of racial violence against Blacks by a mob of 5,000 white-American immigrants in Springfield, Illinois. Two black men had been arrested as suspects in a rape and murder. The alleged victims were two young white women and the father of one of them. When a mob seeking to lynch […]

Stuff Smith, Violinist born

*On this date in 1909, Stuff Smith was born. He was an African American jazz violinist.

Ethel L. Payne, Journalist, and Publisher born

*Ethel Lois Payne was born on this date in 1911. She was an African American Journalist, publisher, civil rights leader, and educator; often called the “First Lady of the Black Press.”

Herman Branson, Sickle Cell Physicist born

*Herman Branson was born on this date in 1914. He was an African American Physicist. Physics is the science of nature in the broadest sense. Physicists study the behavior and properties of matter in a wide variety of contexts, ranging from the sub-nuclear particles from which all ordinary matter is made (particle physics) to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole (cosmology).

Lea Pride, Business, and Community Advocate born

*On this date in 1926, Leatrice Pride was born. She was an African American administrator, activist, and social director.

From St. Paul, Minnesota, Leatrice Inez Dodd Pride was the only child of Raymond and Timm Dodd. Her father worked as a Pullman porter. Young Leatrice was raised by Benjamin and Lola D. Edwards along with there only daughter Beneta. Leatrice and Beneta were cultured in an area of St. Paul called the Rondo district. Between WW I and WW II, segregation was a fact of everyday life in Black Minnesota.

Dick Tiger, Boxer born

*On this date in 1929, Dick Tiger was born. He was a Nigerian professional boxer.

Born Richard Ihetu in Nigeria little is known of his childhood but records show that he turned pro in 1952. Tiger campaigned in Nigeria and England and won the British Commonwealth middleweight title before debuting in the United States in 1959. Tiger was an aggressive counter-puncher. He would move forward trying to draw his opponent into an exchange. Tiger would then try to counter his opponent’s punches with blows of his own.

The Federal Theatre Project Begins

*On this date, 1935, the Federal Theatre Project (FTP) was formed.  This theatre program was established during the Great Depression as part of America’s New Deal.   Referred to as part of the Second New Deal, it funded live artistic performances and entertainment programs in the United States. It was one of five Federal Project Number One projects the Works Progress Administration sponsored. It was created not […]

Raymond Washington, Street Gang Leader born

*Raymond Washington was born on this date in 1953.  He was a Black gangster known as the founder of the Crips Street Gang. Raymond Lee Washington was born in Los Angeles, California, and was the youngest of four sons of Violet Samuel and Reginald Washington. His parents separated when he was two, and his mother and […]