People, Locations, Episodes

Abbé Youlou, Priest and Activist born

Abbé Youlou was born on July 19, 1917. He was a Black African Congolese Roman Catholic priest, nationalist leader, and politician. Abbé Fulbert Youlou, whose last name means “Grape” in the Lari language, was born in Madibou in Pool. At nine years old, a younger child in a family of three boys, he was baptized […]

Rev. T. J. Jemison, Minister born

*On this date, in 1918, T. J. Jemison was born.  He was a Black minister and activist.   Theodore Judson Jemison was born in Selma, Alabama, where his father, the Reverend David V. Jemison, was the pastor of the Tabernacle Baptist Church. He came from a family of prominent ministers and strong churchgoing women. The youngest of six children, he […]

Calvary Baptist Church (Oklahoma City) is Founded

*Calvary Baptist Church, Oklahoma City, OK, is celebrated on this date in 1921. was the physical and spiritual base for a multi-year sit-in campaign that changed the face of segregation in Oklahoma City. Constructed in 1921 by black architect and church member Russell Benton Bingham, Calvary Baptist Church is a striking three-story brick building with […]

Samuel Proctor, Minister, and Eductor born

*Samuel Proctor was born on this date in 1921.  He was a Black minister, educator, and humanitarian. Samuel DeWitt Proctor was born in Norfolk, Virginia.  Proctor’s grandparents on both sides had received education at the university level: his paternal grandmother had attended Hampton Institute, and both of his maternal grandparents had attended Norfolk Mission College. His parents, Herbert Proctor and Velma Hughes, met […]

Joseph Lowery, Minister, and Activist born

*Joseph Lowery was born on this date in 1921. He is an African American minister in the United Methodist Church and civil rights activist.

From Huntsville, Ala. Joseph E. Lowery is the son of LeRoy and Dora Lowery. He attended middle school in Chicago while staying with relatives, returning to Huntsville to complete high school. He then attended Knoxville College and Payne College and Theological Seminary, earning his doctorate of divinity at Chicago Ecumenical Institute.

Bessie Griffin, Gospel Singer born

*Bessie Griffin was born on this date in 1922. She was an African American gospel vocalist.

Doris Akers, Gospel Composer, and Vocalist born

Doris Akers was born on this date in 1923. She was an African American Gospel composer and vocalist.

Born in Brookfield, Missouri, she she began her musical career at a young age. She was playing piano at age six, and her first song, “Keep the Fires Burning in Me,” was written when she was ten. While in school she formed her own moving to Los Angeles in the 1940s, she performed with the Sally Martin Singers and later organized her own gospel group, the Doris Akers Singers.

C. T. Vivian, Minister born

*C. T. Vivian was born on this date in 1924.  He was a Black minister, author, and activist.   Cordy Tindell Vivian was born in Boonville, Missouri.  As a small boy, he migrated with his mother to Macomb, Illinois, where he attended Lincoln Grade School and Edison Junior High School. Vivian graduated from Macomb High […]

Rev. John Cross Jr., Activist born

*The Reverend John H. Cross, Jr. was born on this date in 1925. He was an African American minister and activist.

From Haynes, Arkansas he was the son of Margie Ann and John H. Cross Sr. He attended elementary school at Spring Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Haynes, Arkansas and Lincoln High School in Forrest City, Arkansas. As a teenager, Cross gave his trial sermon and was ordained at Springfield Missionary Baptist Church. After high school, in 1944, Cross entered the United States Army as an Assistant Regimental Chaplain.

The New Everdale Baptist Church is Formed

*On this date in 1925 the New Everdale Baptist Church was built. This is one of the oldest Black churches in Alabama.

Ralph Abernathy, Minister, and Activist born

*This date marks the birth of Ralph David Abernathy in 1926. He was an African American minister, and civil rights leader.

James Reeb, Minister, and Activist born

*On this date, in 1927, James Reeb was born.  He was a white-American minister, pastor, and activist.   James Reeb was born in Wichita, Kansas, to Mae (Fox) and Harry Reeb.  He was raised in Kansas and Casper, Wyoming.  He attended Natrona County High School and graduated in 1945, after which he joined the Army despite the fact that his commitment to the ministry made him exempt from service. […]

Michael E. Haynes, Minister and Activist born

*Michael E. Haynes was born on this date in 1927. He was a Black minister, politician, and activist from Boston, MA. Taught daily by a praying mother, he surrendered his life to Christ as a teenager. In the following decades, Haynes passionately represented his Savior to the city of Boston as a youth director, teacher, […]

Dorothy Coates, Gospel Vocalist born

*Dorothy Coates was born on this date in 1928.  She was a Black gospel vocalist.  Born Dorothy McGriff in Birmingham, Alabama, she was one of seven children of a minister.  She sang in local churches and started a family group, the Royal Gospel Singers, as a teenager.  Coates joined the Gospel Harmonettes, a well-known Birmingham […]

Robert Graetz, Pastor, and Activist born

*Robert Graetz was born on this date in 1928. He was a white-American Lutheran clergyman and activist.  Robert S. Graetz, of German descent, was born in Clarksburg, West Virginia, and educated in Columbus, Ohio. He graduated from Capital University in Bexley, Ohio, in 1950 and received a B.D. in 1955 from Evangelical Lutheran Theological Seminary […]