People, Locations, Episodes

Carol Millard, Singer and Actress born

*Carol Maillard was born on this date in 1951. She is a Black vocalist and actress. Maillard is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and originally attended the Catholic University of America on scholarship as a Violin Performance major. She began writing music and performing with the Drama Department and eventually changed her major to Theater. This passion […]

Carmen de Lavallade, Actress and Dance Teacher born.

*Carmen de Lavallade was born on this date in 1931. She is a Black actress, choreographer, dancer, and teacher. De Lavallade was born in Los Angeles, California, to Creole parents from New Orleans, Louisiana. She was raised by her aunt, Adele, who owned one of Central Avenue’s first African American history bookshops. De Lavallade’s cousin, […]

Thomas Carey, Vocalist born

*Thomas Carey was born on this date in 1931. He was a Black operatic baritone vocalist born in Bennettsville, South Carolina, and served in the United States military during the Korean War.   After leaving the service, he studied singing at the Henry Street Settlement and City College of New York. In 1970, he performed […]

Nichelle Nichols, TV, Actress born

*Nichelle Nichols was born on this date in 1932. She was a Black actress, singer, and dancer. Grace Dell Nichols was the third of six children born in Robbins, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Her father was Samuel Earl Nichols, a factory worker who was elected both town mayor and chief magistrate of Robbins in […]

Eugene E. White, Artist born

*Eugene E. White was born on this date in 1933. He is an African American artist.

Sam Gilliam, Artist born

*Sam Gilliam was born on this date in 1933. He was a Black color field painter and lyrical abstractionist artist. Sam Gilliam was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, and the seventh of eight children was born to Sam and Estery Gilliam. The Gilliams moved to Louisville, Kentucky, shortly after he was born. His father worked on […]

Kenneth Young, Artist born

*Kenneth Young was born on this date in 1933. He was a Black artist, educator, and designer. Kenneth Victor Young was born in Louisville, Kentucky. In the 1950s, Young served in the United States Navy. He attended the University of Louisville to study design and physics, followed by additional studies at Indiana University and the […]

Leo Twiggs, Artist, and Educator born

*Leo Twiggs’s birth, on this date in 1934, is celebrated. He is a Black artist and educator. Leo F. Twiggs was born in St. Stephens, South Carolina. As a child, he wanted to get a job where he could wear a collar and tie. This was a modest goal and an extremely unlikely one for […]

A Black Woman Performs at the White House

*On this date in 1934, Etta Moten sang for President and Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt at a White House Dinner.

It was the first time in the 20th century an African American actress performed at the White House.

Arthur Mitchell, Choreographer born

*Arthur Mitchell was born on this date in1934. He is an African American dancer, choreographer, and director of the Dance Theater of Harlem.

George Shirley, Classic Vocalist, and Teacher born

George Shirley was born on this date in 1934. He is an African American concert vocalist, teacher, and lecturer.

Arthur L. Hall, Choreographer and Teacher born.

*Arthur L. Hall was born on this date in 1934. He was a Black dancer, choreographer, and teacher.  He was the son of Ms. Sally Yancey and Joshua Milton, and he was from Memphis, Tennessee. His mother and grandmother, Ms. Emma Yancey, raised him on Beale Street and later in Washington, DC, where Ms. Sally remarried to […]

Martina Arroyo, Classical Vocalist born

*Martina Arroyo was born on this date in 1936. She is an Afro Puerto Rican operatic soprano and educator.  She was born in New York City, the younger of two children of Demetrio Arroyo, originally from Puerto Rico, and Lucille Washington, a native of Charleston, South Carolina. Her older brother is a Baptist minister. The family lived in Harlem near St. Nicholas Avenue and 111th Street. Her […]

Sylvia Williams, Curator born

*Sylvia H. Williams was born on this date in 1936. She was a Black museum director, curator, art historian, and scholar of African art.    Sylvia Louise Hill was born and grew up in Lincoln, Pennsylvania. Her father was a professor of English and dean at Lincoln University. She married Charlton Williams, but the couple never had children. Williams held art history […]

Don Cherry, Jazz Artist born

This date marks the birth of Don Cherry in 1936. He was an African American musician.

Donald Eugene Cherry was born in Oklahoma City, and raised in Los Angeles. He started on trumpet in junior high school and began working with Ornette Coleman in 1956. The Coleman quartet moved to New York City in 1959, creating controversy and making revolutionary albums for Atlantic until it disbanded in late 1961. Shortly thereafter, Cherry worked with a wide array of musicians in this country and Europe: John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Steve Lacy, George Russell, and Albert Ayler.