People, Locations, Episodes

Jeanne Noble, Educator, and Author born

The birth of Dr. Jeanne L. Noble in 1926 is celebrated on this date. She was an African American educator and writer.

Paul Robeson Jr., Author, and Activist born

*Paul Robeson Jr. was born on this date in 1927. He was an African American author, activist and translator.

Barbara Sizemore, Educator and Author born

Barbara Sizemore, an African American educator, was born on this date in 1927.

Barbara Laffoon was born in Chicago, the only child of Sylvester Walter Laffoon and Delila Alexander Laffoon. She grew up in Terre Haute, IN where she attended Booker T. Washington Elementary School. Her father died when she was 8 years old and her mother remarried a man named Aldwin E. Stewart.

After graduating from Wiley High School, she received both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Northwestern University, and a Ph.D. in educational administration from the University of Chicago.

Dolly Rathebe, South African Entertainer, and Columnist born

*Dolly Rathebe was born on this date in 1928. She was a Black South African musician, columnist, and actress. Dolly Rathebe was born in Randfontein, South Africa, but grew up in Sophiatown, which she describes as “a wonderful place.” She was discovered around 1948 after singing at a picnic in Johannesburg. A talent scout from […]

Maya Angelou, Writer, and Activist born

*Maya Angelou was born on this date in 1928. She was an African American poet, historian, author, actress, playwright, civil-rights activist, producer and director.

Sylvia Wynter, Novelist and Philosopher born

*Sylvia Wynter was born on this date in 1928. She is an Afro Caribbean novelist, dramatist, critic, philosopher, and essayist. Sylvia Wynter was born in Cuba to Jamaican parents, actress Lola Maude (Reid) Wynter and tailor Percival Wynter. At the age of two, she and her brother Hector and their parents returned to their home country of […]

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.

The Saturday Evening Quill is Published

*The publication of the Saturday Evening Quill is celebrated on this date in 1928. It was a short-lived Black literary magazine of the Harlem Renaissance. It was founded by the journalist Eugene Gordon. In 1925, Boston-based journalist Eugene Gordon organized a Black literary group, the Saturday Evening Quill Club (also known as the Boston Quill Club). Its […]

Lerone Bennett Jr., Author, and Historian born

Lerone Bennett, Jr. was born on this date in 1928. He is an African American author, historian, and journalist.

He was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, the son of the Lerone and Alma (Reed) Bennett. He and his family moved to Jackson, Mississippi, where he attended public schools. Bennett graduated from Morehouse College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1949. That same year, Bennett attended Atlanta University for graduate study. Bennett became a journalist for the Atlanta Daily World in 1949, continuing until 1953 and he worked as city editor for JET magazine from 1952-53.

Evelyn Fairbanks, Minnesota Author born

*On this date in 1928, Evelyn Fairbanks was born. She was an African American writer, educator, and administrator.

Sarah Elizabeth Wright, Author born

*Sarah Elizabeth Wright was born on this date in 1928. She was a Black writer and social activist. Sarah Elizabeth Wright was born in Wetipquin, Maryland, and began writing poetry at eight. She attended Salisbury Colored High School and, in 1945, entered Howard University. At Howard, she was mentored by Sterling Allen Brown and Owen Dodson […]

Paule Marshall, Educator, and Writer born

*Paule Marshall was born on this date in 1929. She was a Black poet, prose writer, and professor. She was born Valenza Pauline Burke in Brooklyn, New York, to Adriana Viola Clement Burke and Sam Burke. Marshall’s father had migrated from Barbados to New York in 1919 and, during her childhood, deserted the family to […]

Eloise Greenfield, Author born

Eloise Greenfield, an African American writer, was born on this date in 1929.

Walter Scott Sr., Publisher born

*Walter Scott was born on this date in 1929.  He was a Black author, historian, and self-publisher.  Walter R. Scott Sr. was born in Greenville, Mississippi, the son of George and Cozy Grossley Scott. His father was also related to Baseball’s George Scott of the Kansas City Royals. As a young boy, he moved to […]

Raymond R. Patterson, Harlem Poet born

On this date in 1929, Raymond R. Patterson was born. He was an African American poet, writer, and professor.