People, Locations, Episodes

Josephine Premice, Actress born.

*Josephine Premice was born on this date in 1926. She was an African American actress and singer known for her work on the Broadway stage.

Born in Port a Prince, Haiti, Premice grew up in Brooklyn, New York and Haiti and studied dance with Martha Graham and Katherine Dunham. After graduating from Columbia University with a degree in Anthropology, she began her theatrical career in the 1945 production of ”Blue Holiday” at the Belasco Theater alongside Ethel Waters and Josh White, the folk singer.

Earle Hyman, Actor born

*Earle Hyman was born on this date in 1926. He was a Black and Native American stage and television actor. George Earle Hyman was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. He was the son of son of Zachariah and Maria Lilly (maiden name, Plummer). His Native heritage included (Tuscarora, Haleiwa-Saponi/Nottoway).  His life was a theatrical […]

Sidney Poitier, Actor, and Bahamian Ambassador born

*Sidney Poitier was born on this date in 1927. He is an African American actor.

Betty Allen, Mezzo-Soprano and Teacher born

*Betty Allen was born on this date in 1927.  She was a Black operatic mezzo-soprano and teacher. She was born Elizabeth Louise Allen (or Betty Lou) in Campbell, Ohio, near Youngstown. Her father was a college-educated math teacher who worked in a steel mill as racial segregation during the 1930s. Her mother earned extra money […]

Brock Peters, Actor born

Brock Peters, an African American actor, was born on this date in 1927.

Jimmy Slyde, Dancer, and Choreographer born

*Jimmy Slyde was born on this date in 1927. He was an African American tap dancer and choreographer.

Eartha Kitt, Stage, and Screen Singer born

On this date in 1928, Eartha Kitt was born. She was an African American cabaret singer, stage and screen performer, known for her seductive stage presence and her “sex kitten” style.

Alvin Hollingsworth, Comic Artist born

*Alvin Hollingsworth was born on this date in 1928. He was a Black painting artist and one of the first Black artists published in comic books. Alvin Carl Hollingsworth was born in Harlem, New York, to West Indian parents and began drawing at age 4. By 12, he was an art assistant on Holyoke Publishing’s Cat-Man Comics. He […]

Lena McLin, Composer and Educator born

*Lena McLin was born on this date in 1928. She was a Black educator, composer, author, and pastor. Lena Mae Johnson was born in Atlanta, Georgia. At age five, she lived with her uncle, Thomas A. Dorsey. As a child, she attended the Pilgrim Baptist Church, where she was exposed to gospel music and served […]

Thorton Dial, Folk Artist born

On this date in 1928, Thorton Dial, Sr., was born. He is an African American painter and sculptor.

He was born in Livingston, AL, where he is a self-taught artist known best for his images of tigers challenging the world around them. As a folk artist, Dial has never desired a lot of attention. He worked for 30 years as a steelworker, and for much of that time he released his creative energies by producing painted objects, which were displayed or buried in his backyard.

Norma Morgan, Artist born

 *This date in 1928 is celebrated as the birth date of Norma Morgan, a Black printmaker, artist, and painter. Norma Gloria Morgan was born in New Haven, Connecticut. Her mother raised her after her father’s early death, and she worked as a domestic worker, seamstress, and designer. Morgan showed interest in art from childhood, painting a […]

Jim Hatch, Educator, and Author born

*Jim Hatch was born on this date in 1928.  He was a white-American playwright, educator, collector, and author.   James Vernon Hatch was born in Oelwein, a small city northeast of Des Moines. His father, MacKenzie, was a mason, welder, and boilermaker, and his mother, Eunice, was a homemaker. He earned a bachelor’s degree in […]

Kermit Moore, Cellist and Composer born.

*Kermit Moore was born on this date in 1929.  He was a Black conductor, cellist, and composer. Moore was born in Akron, Ohio. While still in high school, he studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music. In Manhattan, he studied the cello with Felix Salmond at the Juilliard School while simultaneously pursuing a master’s degree […]

Moses Gunn, Stage, and Screen Actor born

On this date in 1929, Moses Gunn, an African American actor, was born.

He was the eldest of seven children from a St. Louis family that splintered when his mother died. He left home and rode the railroad at just 12 years old. He returned to St. Louis, and attended school while living at the home of Jewel Richie, his English and diction teacher.

The Green Pastures Debuts on Broadway

*On this date in 1930, The Green Pastures debuted on Broadway. This play was written in 1930 by Marc Connelly and adapted from Ol’ Man Adam and His Chillun (1928), a collection of stories by Roark Bradford. The play was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1930. It had the first all-Black Broadway cast. […]