People, Locations, Episodes

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 […]

Leimert Park (Los Angeles), is Established

Leimert Park, an area is considered the center of the African American arts scene in Los Angeles, CA, is celebrated on this date’s Registry.

William Pleasant, Artist born

William Merriette Pleasant, Jr., an African American artist, was born on this date in 1928.

He was born in Savannah, GA, and a graduate of that cit’s Beach High School. Pleasant attended Savannah State College, Delaware State College, and Tyler School of Fine Arts of Philadelphia, PA. He is a graduate of York College of York, Pennsylvania. He was one of the first members of the Bahai Faith of Savannah, and served on its assembly. Pleasant was a 33 degree Mason, a corporal in the United States Air Force, and a member of the Mu Eta Kappa Fraternity.

Ted Joans, ‘Spoken Word’ Artist born

Ted Joans was born on this date in 1928. He was an African American painter, trumpeter, and a jazz poet.

From Illinois, He studied trumpet, sang bebop, and earned a B.A. in Fine Arts from Indiana University before moving to Greenwich Village in New York City in 1951. He was one of the first Beat poets, and authored over 30 books of poetry, prose, and collage, including Black Pow-Wow, Beat Funky Jazz Poems, Afrodisia, Jazz is Our Religion, Double Trouble, Wow, and Teducation.

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.

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 […]

James Barnor, Ghanaian Photographer born.

*James Barnor was born on this date in 1929. He is a Black African photographer. Frederick Seton James Barnor was born in Accra, Ghana, West Africa. At 17, Barnor was teaching basket weaving at a missionary school, and the headmaster gave him a camera “to play around with––it was a Kodak Brownie 127, made of plastic”. […]

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. […]