People, Locations, Episodes

Shirley Verrett, Opera Singer born

Shirley Verrett was born on this date in 1931. She is an African American opera singer and one of the leading sopranos in the world.

She was born New Orleans to Leon Solomon, a building contractor, and Elvira Harris Verrett; she had four brothers and a sister. She had and her parents were passionate members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, an affiliation that would play a role in the development of Verrett’s career. When Verrett was five, the family moved to Oxnard, CA, where her father established the Verrett Construction Company.

David Driskell, Artist, and Art Educator born

*David C. Driskell was born on this date in 1931. He was a Black artist, scholar, professor, and curator recognized for establishing African American Art as a distinct field of study. David Clyde Driskell was born in Eatonton, Georgia, the son of George Washington Driskell, a Baptist minister, and Mary Cloud Driskell, a homemaker. William […]

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.

Benjamin Matthews, Classic Vocalist, and Opera Administrator.

*Benjamin Matthews was born on this date in 1933. He was a Black classical (bass-baritone) singer and opera administrator. Benjamin Matthews was born in Prichard, Alabama. After moving to Chicago for high school, he enlisted in the Army, where he won second place in an all-Army singing contest. After the military, he joined the Chicago […]

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 […]

Ted Ross, Actor born

Ted Ross, an African American entertainer, was born on this date in 1934.

Theodore “Ted” Ross was from Zanesville, Ohio, but his mother, Elizabeth Russell, a nightclub singer in the 1920s and 1930s, moved the family to Dayton when young Ross was seven. He loved the clubs on West Fifth Street–Dayton’s answer to Harlem in the first half of the 20th century. While in junior high, Ross, who was big for his age, would dress up and strut into the Owl Club and The Palace Theater’s Midnight Rambles to see great acts such as Duke Ellington.

The ‘Jitterbug’ (Dance) Goes Public

*On this date in 1935, the Jitterbug (dance) was introduced to the world. Cab Calloway introduced it in his film Jitterbug Party.   In the film, he performed two songs at the Cotton Club, then took some friends to Harlem for a “Jitterbug Party.”  The Jitterbug is a dance popularized in the United States in the early 20th century, associated with […]