People, Locations, Episodes

The Home Guards of Minnesota is Formed

*On this date, 1918, the Minnesota Home Guard was formed. This was formed in St. Paul, Minnesota, in two all-Black Sixteenth Battalion Companies, A and B, and C and D. These Black men, led by Cap Wigington, met at the old state capitol building. Wigington became captain of Company A. Orrington C and gave an address after […]

The 805th Pioneer Infantry is formed

*On this date in 1918, the 805th Pioneer Infantry was formed. During World War I, it was an all-Black segregated United States Army infantry regiment. The 805th contained black soldiers from the state of Mississippi. The battalion landed in France in July 1918 to support the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, which began on September 26, 1918. The […]

George S. Roberts, Military Pilot born

*George S. Roberts was born on this date in 1918. He was a Black U.S. Army Air Force officer and fighter pilot. George S “Spanky” Roberts was born in London, West Virginia, and raised in Fairmont, West Virginia. He was the son of Spencer Roberts and Estella Roberts.  In 1934 Roberts graduated from Dunbar School […]

Cecil Peterson, Tuskegee Airman born

*Cecil Peterson was born on this date in 1919. He was a Black Military officer. He was from Buffalo, New York, and his father was Sneedy Rodney Little from California. His mother was Zoe Louise Tolliver. Cecil’s half-siblings were Josephine, Oscar, and Hazel. His mother passed away when he was a year old, leaving him […]

Issac Woodard Jr., Soldier and Hate Crime Victim born.

*Isaac Woodard Jr. was born on this date in 1919. He was a decorated Black World War II veteran and hate crime victim. Woodard was born in Fairfield County, South Carolina, and grew up in Goldsboro, North Carolina. He attended local segregated schools, often underfunded for Blacks during the Jim Crow years. On October 14, 1942, the 23-year-old Woodard enlisted in the U.S. Army […]

Erwin Lawrence, Soldier born

*Erwin Lawrence was born on this date in 1919. He was a Black soldier. Erwin B. Lawrence, Jr., was from Cleveland, Ohio. After enlisting in the army, he graduated from flight training at Tuskegee Army Airfield in Alabama. During this time, he married chemist Blanche Lawrence. After flight training, Lawrence joined the 99th Fighter Squadron and was […]

Alfonza W. Davis, Military Pilot born.

*Alfonza W. Davis was born on this date in 1919. He was a Black U.S. Army Air Force officer and combat fighter pilot. Davis was born in Pensacola, Florida, and after his mother died in 1920, he moved with his father and brother to North Omaha, Nebraska. Davis graduated valedictorian from Omaha’s Technical High School […]

Lee Archer Jr., Military Pilot born

*Lee Archer Jr. was born on this date in 1919. He was a Black fighter Ace in the 332nd Fighter Group. Born in New York City, Lee Andrew Archer, Jr. grew up in Harlem and later attended New York University. After graduation, he joined the United States Army, hoping to become a pilot. At that […]

Herbert E. Carter, Military Pilot born.

*Herbert E. Carter was born on this date in 1919. He was a Black military pilot and a United States Air Force officer. Herbert Eugene Carter was born in Amory, Mississippi, and was one of ten children. His father, George Washington Carter, was African American, and his mother, Willie Ann Sykes Carter, was Native American. […]

Dorie Miller, Navy Sailor born

Doris “Dorie” Miller was born on this date in 1919. He was an African American sailor and World War II hero.

He was born in Waco, Texas, the son of Henrietta and Conery Miller. He had three brothers, one of which served in the Army during World War II. Miller attended Moore High School in Waco, played fullback on the football team, and worked on his father’s farm.

Johnnie Jones Sr., Soldier, and Activist born

*Johnnie Jones, Sr., was born on this date in 1919. He was a Black soldier, lawyer, and Louisiana state legislator. Johnnie A. Jones was born in West Feliciana Parish near Woodville, Mississippi, in Laurel Hill, Louisiana. One of eight children, he was the son of lease sharecropping farmers Henry E. Jones and Sarah Ann Coats and the […]

Theodore Lumpkin, Military Officer born.

*Theodore Lumpkin was born on this date in 1919. He was a Black mathematician, social worker, and military officer.  Theodore “Ted” Lumpkin Jr. was born in Los Angeles and attended Jefferson High School. He attended Los Angeles City College from 1938 to 1940, graduating with an associate degree in mathematics, and continued his studies at […]

Phyllis Mae Dailey, Nurse and Officer born

*This date in 1920 is celebrated as the birth date of Phyllis Mae Dailey, a Black nurse and naval officer. She graduated from the Lincoln School of Nursing in New York City and is a public health student at Teachers College, Columbia University. Dailey initially wanted to enter the U.S. Army, but her race denied […]

Daniel “Chappie” James, Aviator born

*Daniel “Chappie” James was born on this date in 1920. He was an African American pilot and military commander.

From Pensacola, Florida, he learned to fly while attending the Tuskegee Institute and after graduation in 1942 continued civilian flight training until he received appointment as a Cadet in the Army Air Corps in January 1943. He was commissioned in July 1943 and throughout the remainder of World War II he trained pilots for the all-Black 99th Pursuit Squadron while working in other assignments. James was next stationed in Ohio and in the Philippines.

Walter P. Manning, Military Officer born

*Walter P. Manning was born on this date in 1920. He was a Black military officer and pilot. Walter Peyton Manning was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When World War II started, Manning wanted to serve, but in 1942, he was rejected for military service because of a hammertoe. Manning […]