People, Locations, Episodes

Francis Barber, Businessman, and Educator born

The birth of Francis Barber in 1735 is celebrated on this date. He was a Black slave who became a businessmen and educator.

The Zong Massacre Begins

*On this date, in 1781, the Zong massacre began.  This was a mass killing (at sea) of more than 130 enslaved Black Africans by the crew of the British slave ship Zong during the Middle Passage.  Owned by England, when the Zong sailed from Accra with 442 slaves on August 18, 1781, it had taken on […]

The ‘Do-Rag’, its story

*The western history and heritage of the Do-Rag are featured on this date in 1800.  A Do-Rag is a cloth covering the head, also spelled doo-rag, du-rag, and durag. According to the Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster, the term derives from do, as in hairdo: a do-rag is often worn to protect a processed hairstyle. […]

Wendell Phillips, Abolitionist born

*Wendell Phillips was born on this date in 1811. He was a White American businessman and abolitionist.

Simmons College of Kentucky Begins Classes

*Simmons College of Kentucky began classes on this date in 1879. It is a private, historically black college (HBCU) located in Louisville, Kentucky. Simmons is the nation’s 107th HBCU. Simmons College of Kentucky is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of the Association for Biblical Higher Education to grant certificates and degrees at the Associate […]

The Richmond Planet Newspaper is Published

*The first issue of the Richmond Planet is celebrated on this date in 1882.  This was a Black newspaper in Richmond, Virginia.   13 former Richmond slaves founded the paper.  It was edited first by Edwin Archer Randolph and then by John Mitchell, Jr. from 1884 until he died in 1929.  He was the paper’s junior editor in 1912. The same year, the paper covered the opening of […]

Nathan McGill, Chicago Lawyer born

Nathan McGill born on this date in 1888. He was an African American lawyer and businessman.

Born in Quincy, FL., Nathan Kellogg McGill was the son of Nathan and Agnes (Zeigler) McGill. He graduated from Cookman Institute in 1909, Boston University in 1912, and received his L.L.B. from Boston University in 1912. McGill began practicing law in 1912 and started his own law practice Jacksonville in 1913. McGill was publisher of the Florida Sentinel in Jacksonville from 1916 to 1920.

Lucille Hegamin, Blues Singer born

Lucille Hegamin was born on this date in 1897. She was an African American blues singer.

Hegamin’s birth name was Lucille Nelson; she also went by Fanny Baker and was born in Macon, Georgia, hence her first stage nickname, the Georgia Peach. Although she had little or no vocal training, she began working the tent-show circuit in the South in her mid-teens. In 1914, she married piano player Bill Hegamin. The duo eventually wound up in Chicago, where Hegamin sang with jazz pianists Jelly Roll Morton and Tony Jackson.

Earnest Mae McCarroll, Physician born

*Earnest McCarroll was born on this date in 1898.  She was a Black physician.  Earnest Mae McCarroll was born to Mary and Ernest McCarroll in Birmingham, Alabama. Her father was a mail carrier. She was the fourth of their six children.  She attended public school in the city until receiving her high school education and […]

Thomas Flemings, Journalist born

*Thomas Flemings was born on this date in 1907. He was an African American newspaper journalist.

From Jacksonville, Florida his grandmother initially raised Fleming. At the age of 8 his family moved to Harlem, New York and in 1919 they moved to Chico, California. In 1926 he graduated from Chico High School and began working as a bellhop for the Admiral Line, (then) spending five years as a cook for the Southern Pacific Railroad. He entered journalism in the early 1930s as an unpaid writer for the Spokesman, a progressive Black newspaper in San Francisco.

Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Politician born

This date marks the 1908 birth of Adam Clayton Powell Jr. He was an African American minister, publisher, businessman, and politician.

Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Powell moved to New York City where his father administered the Abyssinian Baptist Church. After attending public schools, he graduated from Colgate University and received his M. A. in religious education from Columbia University.

James Jackson Jr., Teacher, and Unionist born

*James Jackson Jr. was born on this date in 1914.  He was a Black union leader, activist, tactician, teacher, writer, and humanist.    James Jackson Jr. was born in Richmond, Va. The son of James Jackson Sr. and Clara Kersey.  He was the middle child of two sisters, and two other siblings died in infancy.  […]

Billy Strayhorn, Composer born

On this date in 1915, Billy Strayhorn was born. He was an African American composer and jazz pianist.

Pearl Primus, Choreographer born

*Pearl Primus was born on this date in 1919. She was a Trinidadian American dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist. Her work helped establish the importance of African American dance in United States culture.

Minnie Miñoso, Baseball Player born

*Minnie Miñoso was born on this date in 1925.  He was an Afro Cuban baseball player and coach.   Saturnino Orestes Armas Miñoso Arrieta was born in Perico, Cuba, near Havana, the son of Carlos Arrieta and Cecilia Armas.  His father worked in the fields of the sugarcane plantation on which the family lived. His […]