People, Locations, Episodes

Dean Dixon, Orchestral Conductor born

This is the day of Dean Dixon’s birth on this date in 1915. He was an African American orchestral conductor.

Elizabeth Catlett, Sculptor born

On this date in 1915, Elizabeth Catlett was born. She was an African American sculptor, currently a leader of the genre in Mexico.

Henry LeTang, Choreographer born

*Henry LeTang was born on this date in 1915. He was an African American choreographer.

Eldzier Cortor, Artist born

*Eldzier Cortor was born on this date in 1916. He was an African American artist.

He was born in Richmond, VA, to John and Ophelia Cortor, who were economically secure. His family moved to Chicago when he was about a year old. After a few years they moved to the West Side where Archibald Motley’s family lived. Cortor’s earliest influence in art was in comic strips. His favorite was “Bungleton Green,” created by Leslie Rogers. He would copy them and dream of creating his own.

Edward Loper Sr., Artist born

*Edward L. Loper, Sr. was born on this date in 1916.  He was a Black artist and teacher.  Edward Lionel Loper Sr. was born to a poor family on the east side of Wilmington, Delaware, in a racially mixed section called Frogtown. His mother was 16 at the time of his birth. Loper was raised primarily […]

Bel Abbey, Koasati Storyteller born

*Bel Abbey was born on this date on this date in 1916. He was a Black Native American Coushatta Indian Blowgun Maker, Wood Carver, herbalist, and Koasati Storyteller. Abbey was from a Koasati settlement five miles north of Elton, Louisiana. Abbey was the last generation raised in the traditional Koasati social and economic system. He […]

Ernest ‘Brownie’ Brown, Dancer born

*’Brownie’ Brown was born on this date in 1916. He was a Black tap dancer and the last surviving Original Copasetics member. Ernest “Brownie” Brown grew up in Chicago, and he and his longtime partner, Charles “Cookie” Cook, started dancing as pickaninnies in a vaudeville act called “Mammy and Her Picks.” During the 1930s and […]

The Regent Theater Opens

*The Regent Theater opened on this date in 1916, in Baltimore, MD. As a Family operation, the Regent Theater was owned by Louis Hornstein and his two sons, Simon and Isaac, who opened the theater on the former site of a coal yard at 1629 Pennsylvania Avenue. Advertised as the “largest, coolest, best-ventilated house in […]

The Samba (Afro Brazilian Dance), a story

*Samba, also known as samba urbano carioca, is an Afro Brazilian music and dance genre that became popular in the early 20th century. It is celebrated on this date in 1916.   It originated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; it has roots in the cultural expression of West Africa and Brazilian folk traditions, especially those linked […]

Ulysses Kay, Musician born

*Ulysses Kay was born on this date in 1917. He was an African American musician and composer.

Sandman Sims, Dancer born

*Sandman Sims was born on this date in 1917. He was a Black tap dancer. Howard “Sandman” Sims was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas, one of 12 children. The family soon relocated to Los Angeles, California, where he was raised. Sims described his childhood as “just a big dancing family.” He learned to dance from […]

Janet Collins, Prima Ballerina born

*Janet Collins, an African American ballet dancer and painter, was born on this date in 1917.

From New Orleans, Louisiana, she moved with her family to Los Angeles as a young girl, attending Los Angeles City College and the Los Angeles Art Center School. As an accomplished painter, she was able to finance her relocation to New York to pursue a career in dance. In 1941, she performed with the new, but world-renowned Black dance troupe formed and directed by Katherine Dunham.

Dave Lambert, Lyricist born

*David Lambert was born on this date in 1917. He was a white-American jazz lyricist and singer.   David Alden Lambert was born in Boston, MA. His sole musical education began at the age of 10, when he played drums for a year. He picked up the drums again in the late 1930s when he worked summers playing with the Hugh […]

Raymond Steth, Graphic Artist born

*Raymond Steth was born on this date in 1917. He was a Black graphic artist. Raymond Ryles was born in Norfolk, Virginia, to Lulu Mann and Charles Ryles, a working-class farming family. He spent much of his childhood on a large farm in North Carolina, which would later influence his artwork. Rolando Corpus notes: “Steth […]

Lena Horne, Singer, and Actress born

This date marks the birthday of Lena Horne in 1917. She was an African American singer and actress whose refusal to be cast in stereotypical roles helped transform the popular image of Black women.