People, Locations, Episodes

Colorism In a Global Society, a story

*Colorism is written about on this date in c 1500. Colorism is discrimination based on skin color, also known as shadeism.  It is prejudice and/or discrimination against people of similar ethnicity or race. It is not the same as racism. It results in people being treated differently based on the social implications that come with […]

John Audubon, Artist, and Slave-Owner born

*John Audubon was born on this date in 1785. He was a Black French American ornithologist, naturalist, and painter. He painted, cataloged, and described the birds of North America.

John Bathan Vashon, Seaman, and Abolitionist born

*The birth of John Bathan Vashon in 1792 is celebrated on this date. He was a Black seaman, businessman and abolitionist.

James P. Beckwourth, Explorer born

James Pierson Beckwourth was born on this date in 1798. He was a Black explorer who played a major role in the early discovery and settlement of the American West.

James Beckwourth was born in 1798 in Frederick County, Virginia to an African American slave mother and English father, Sir Jennings Beckwourth. Beckwourth’s family moved to Missouri in the early 1800’s, and he was apprenticed to a Blacksmith in St. Louis when he was a young man. In the summer of 1824 he signed on with General William Ashley for a trapping expedition to the Rocky Mountains.

William L. Dawson, Politician born

*William Levi Dawson was born on this date in 1886 in Albany, Georgia. He was the first African American to chair a regular House of Representatives committee.

Ma Rainey, Blues Singer born

*On this date in 1886, Blues Entertainer Ma Rainey was born. “Mother of the Blues”, she was the first great Black professional blues vocalist.

Gertrude Malissa Nix Rainey Pridgitt was from Columbus, Ga. From 1904, she toured southern American tent shows, levee camps, and cabarets in a song-and-dance team with her husband, William (“Pa”) Rainey, a minstrel comic. She performed in the theatrical circuits of the South and Midwest through the 1920s, leading her own troupes, including at times, Bessie Smith and Thomas A. (“Georgia Tom”) Dorsey.

The Ironing Board is Patented by a Black Woman

*Sarah Boone received a patent on this date 1892 for an appliance that would help to neatly iron clothing.

This device, the forerunner to our modern ironing board was made of a narrow wooden board, with collapsible legs and a padded cover and was specifically designed for the fitted clothing worn during that time period.

Prior to her inventions, people were forced to resort to simply using a table or being creative in laying a plank of wood across two chairs or small tables. The registration filing was U.S. Patent #473,653 on December 30, 1887.

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Wilhemina Crosson, Educator, Writer, and Administrator born

*Wilhelmina Crosson was born on this date in 1900. She was a Black educator and school administrator known for her innovative teaching methods. Wilhelmina Marguerita Crosson was born in Rutherford, New Jersey, to Charles Tasker Crosson and Sallie Alice Davis Crosson. She was the fourth of nine children. In 1906 Crosson moved with her family […]

Gloster B. Current, Administrator born

*Gloster B. Current was born on this date in 1913. He was an administrator and activist. Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, his family came to Detroit in 1923. After graduating from Northwestern High School, he attended the Detroit Institute of Musical Art and the Detroit Institute of Technology. He received his B.A. from West Virginia State College in […]

Johnny Shines, Blues Musician born

*Johnny Shines was born on this date in 1915. He was an African American blues musician.

Cherry Muhanji, Poet, and Educator born

*Cherry Muhanji was born this date in 1939. She is an African American poet and writer.

Saundra Oyewole, Microbiologist born

*Saundra Herndon Oyewole was born on this date in 1943.  She is a Black Microbiologist and educator. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Howard University, where she earned her B.S. in zoology magna cum laude, Dr. Oyewole earned her M.S. in microbiology at the University of Chicago and her Ph.D. in microbiology at the University of Massachusetts, […]

Marilyn Nelson Waniek, Poet, and Educator born

*Marilyn Nelson Waniek was born on this date in 1946. She is an African American writer, and educator.

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Marilyn Nelson Waniek is the daughter of Melvin M. (in the U.S. Air Force) and Johnnie (a teacher) Nelson. She got her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Davis in 1968; M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, 1970; University of Minnesota, Ph.D., 1978. She was married to Erdmann F. Waniek (1970 – 1979); Roger R. Wilkenfeld (1979 – 1998); children: (second marriage) Jacob, Dora.

Jesse Russell, Cell Phone Inventor born

*Jesse Russell was born on this date in 1948.  He is a Black inventor and IT entrepreneur.   Jesse Eugene Russell was born in Nashville, Tennessee, in the United States of America, into a large African American family with eight brothers and two sisters. He is the son of Charles Albert Russell and Mary Louise Russell. His early childhood was […]

Anton Armstrong, Choral Conductor born

*Anton Armstrong was born on this date in 1956.  He is a Black choral music professor and choral conductor.   Anton Eugene Armstrong was born in New York City to William Benfield Armstrong and Esther Louise Holder William was born in Antigua. Esther was born in New York City to Herbert Henry Holder and Leander Hassell, both from St […]