People, Locations, Episodes

Charles Fuller, Playwright born

*Charles Fuller was born on this date in 1939. He is an African American playwright.

From Philadelphia, Fuller is the son of Charles H., a printer, and Lillian (Anderson) Fuller. From 1956-1958, young Fuller attended Villanova University, and from 1965-1968, LaSalle College where he earned a D.F.A..

Cleavon Little, Actor born

*Cleavon Little was born on this date in 1939. He was a Black stage, film, and television actor. Cleavon Jake Little was born in Chickasha, Oklahoma, the son of Malachi Little and DeEtta Jones Little. He was the brother of singer DeEtta Little West; he had another sister, Rosemarie Little Martin, and two brothers, Everett […]

Quincy Troupe, Writer born

*Quincy Troupe was born on this date in 1939. He is an African American poet, performer, and editor.

Novella Nelson, Stage, and Film Actress born

*Novella Nelson was born on this date in 1939. She was a Black actress and singer. Novella Christine Nelson was born in Brooklyn, New York, to James and Evelyn (formerly Hines) Nelson. Her father was a pastor and a taxi driver, and her mother was an executive assistant at magazine publisher Women’s Wear Daily. In […]

The American Negro Theater is Formed

On this date in 1940, The American Negro Theater (ANT) was organized in Harlem, New York. Coordinators were Frederick O’Neal, Abram Hill, and members of the McClendon Players.

ANT was a pioneering African American theater company and school in which several hundred Black actors, writers, and technicians began their careers. The Academy Award-winning actors Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee and actor and singer Harry Belafonte, are three of the prominent African-

John O’Neal, Playwright, and Activist born

*John Milton O’Neal Jr., a black playwright and activist, was born on this date in 1940. His father, a teacher from Mound City, Ill., and his mother, Rosetta (Crenshaw) O’Neal, were both teachers. In 1962, he received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and English at Southern Illinois University. His daughter said that when he was […]

Alvin Singleton, Composer born

*Alvin Singleton was born on this date in 1940. He is a Black composer. Born and raised in New York City, he received his music education from New York University (B.A.) and Yale School of Music (M.M.). Singleton was a Fulbright Scholar in Rome, Italy, from 1971-1985. After that, Singleton returned to the United States […]

Mary Lovelace O’Neal, Artist born

*Mary Lovelace O’Neal was born on this date in 1942. She is a Black artist and arts educator. Mary Lovelace was born in Jackson, Mississippi, and credits her father for nurturing her love of the arts. During her childhood and adolescence, O’Neal’s father, Ariel Lovelace, was the choir director and professor of music at Tougaloo […]

William T. Williams, Artist born

*William T. Williams was born on this date in 1942. He is a Black painter and art educator. William T. Williams was born in Cross Creek, North Carolina. At age 4, his family moved to Queens, New York City, though he spent his childhood summers in Spring Lake, North Carolina. After the family’s move to […]

Gilbert Moses, Stage, and Media Artist born

*Gilbert Moses was born on this date in 1942. He was a Black activist, theater, television, and film actor and director. Gilbert Moses III was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and began acting as a child at Karamu House. He studied at Oberlin College and spent a year at Sorbonne University in Paris before leaving college […]

Tania León, Composer, Conductor, and Educator born

*Tania León was born on this date in 1943. She is an Afro Cuban American composer of large-scale and chamber works, a conductor, educator, and advisor to arts organizations. She was born Tania Justina León in Havana, Cuba, and has mixed French, Spanish, Chinese, African, and Cuban heritage. Her grandmother recognized that her granddaughter liked […]

The Barnett-Aden Gallery Opens

*The Barnett-Aden Gallery opened on this date in 1943. This was the first Black-owned nonprofit art gallery in America. Located in Washington, D.C., it was founded by James V. Herring and Alonzo J. Aden, who was associated with Howard University’s art department and gallery. The gallery, operated until 1969, was the first successful Black-owned private […]

Lou Bellamy, Theatrical Director born

*Lou Bellamy was born on this date in 1944. He is an African American Theatric Director, actor, entrepreneur and educator.

Jalal Nuriddin, Poet, and Musician born

*Jalal Nuriddin was born on this date in 1944. He was a Black poet and musician.  Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin was born Lawrence Padilla in the Fort Greene housing project in Brooklyn, New York.  As a youth, Nuriddin ran with a local gang, the Fort Greene Chaplains; they fought a street rivalry with the Bed-Stuy Bishops […]

Germaine Acogny, Dancer born.

*The birth of Germaine Acogny is celebrated on this date in 1944. She is a Black African dancer, teacher, and choreographer. Born in Benin to a Senegalese civil servant, Germaine Acogny was also a descendant of the Yoruba people through her grandmother. When she was 10, the family moved to Dakar, Senegal, where she spent the remainder of her […]