People, Locations, Episodes

Adele Addison, Opera Vocalist born

*Adelle Addison was born on this date in 1925. She is an African American concert soprano.

Robert Colescott, Artist born

*Robert Colescott was born on this date in 1925.  He was a Black painter. He is known for satirical genre and crowd subjects, often conveying his exuberant, comical, or bitter reflections on being African American. Robert H. Colescott was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and developed a deep love of music early on. His mother […]

Charles Gordone, Actor, and Playwright born

Charles Gordone was born on this date in 1925. He was an African American playwright, director, actor, and educator.

Born Charles Edward Fleming in Cleveland, OH, he was the son of William Fleming and Camille Morgan Fleming. With a racial heritage of black, Native American, and white, Gordone said of himself that he descended from “three races and five nationalities.” He grew up in Elkhart, IND, with two brothers, Stanley and Jack. In 1930, his mother married William L. Gordone and they had a daughter, Leah Geraldine.

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.

Betye Saar, Artist, and Educator born

Betye Irene Saar was born on this date in 1926. She is an African American artist and educator, famous for collages that lampoon racist attitudes about blacks and for installations featuring mystical themes.

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 […]

T. J. Anderson, Musician, and Composer born

*T.J. Anderson was born on this date in 1928.  He is a Black musician and composer.  From Coatesville, Pennsylvania, Thomas Jefferson Anderson has received degrees from West Virginia State College, Penn State University, and a Ph.D. in Composition from the University of Iowa. He also holds several honorary degrees. During this time, Anderson married his […]

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.