People, Locations, Episodes

Ella Sheppard, Jubilee Singer born

*Ella Sheppard was born on this date in 1851. She was a Black musician, vocalist, and educator.

Jennie Jackson, Choral Singer born

*Jennie Jackson is celebrated on this date in 1852. She was a Black singer and voice teacher. She was one of the original Fisk Jubilee Singers, an a cappella ensemble. Jennie Jackson was born in Kingston, Tennessee. Her grandfather was enslaved in Andrew Jackson’s household. Her parents were also enslaved, but she was raised in freedom from an […]

Walter Craig, Violinist and Orchestra Director born.

*Walter Craig was born on this date in 1854. He was a Black violin soloist and orchestra director. Walter F. Craig was born to Charles A. and Sarah E. Craig in Princeton, New Jersey. He moved to New York City in 1861, where he went to Colored School No. 7 under principal Charlotte Smith, who […]

Georgia Taylor, Jubilee Singer born

Georgia Gordon Taylor’s birth in 1855 is celebrated on this date. She was an African American vocalist.

From Nashville, Tennessee, she had a mulatto mother, Mercy Duke Gordon and a slave father, George Gordon. Mercy’s mother was white, and the law required that children of free mothers were free. Mercy had another child, Elwina, fathered by a white man (a “Doctor Warner”) before she married Gordon. Gordon was allowed to live in his free spouse’s household, hire out his own time, and pay part of his wages to his owner. Mercy and George had two children: Governor B. and Georgia.

Lucien Lambert Jr., Pianist and Composer, born

*Lucien Lambert, Jr. was born on this date in 1858. He was a Black pianist and composer of American Creole descent. Lucien-Leon Lambert was the son of New Orleans composer Charles Lucien Lambert, who married a French woman and emigrated from the U.S. in 1854. Lambert, Jr. studied music with his father, Theodore Dubois, and Jules Massenet. After […]

Henry O. Tanner, Artist born

Henry Ossawa Tanner was born on this date in 1859. He was a Black painter known for his paintings of everyday African American life and for his scenes from the Bible.

Mamie Hilyer, Classical Music Advocate born

*Mamie Hilyer was born on this date in 1863. She was a Black pianist and promoter of classical music.   Mamie Elizabeth Nichols was born in the District of Columbia. An accomplished pianist, she was an ‘active member of the city’s Black upper class. Hilyer became a devoted champion of ‘good music’ and its cultivation […]

Flora Batson, Concert Singer born

On this date in 1864, Flora Batson was born. She was an African American concert singer.

From Washington D.C., Batson’s youth was primarily spent in Providence, Rhode Island where she made her first public appearances. Batson sang in churches and a variety of programs promoting women’s temperance. She reached a summit with her career in 1885 with the Bergen Star Company as their lead singer. In 1896, another phase of her singing took place with Black bassist Gerard Miller. The two performed together as a feature duet with the South Before the War Company.

The ‘Celebration of Freedom by the Colored People in Washington D.C.’ Drawing is Created

*On this date in 1866, this sketch, “Celebration of the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia by the colored people in Washington D.C.,” was created.   The artist, Frederick Dielman. Served as a topographer and draughtsman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Fortress Monroe and Baltimore from 1866 to 1872. It was published in Harper’s Weekly […]

The Hyers Sisters Debut On Stage

*On this date in 1867, the Hyers Sisters performed their first stage show. They were Black Vaudeville Act singers and pioneers of Black musical theater.   The duo was Anna Madah and Emma Louise.  Their father, Samuel B. Hyers, came west to Sacramento, California, with their mother, Annie E. Hyers (née Cryer), after the Gold […]

Robert Allen Cole Jr., Playwright born

*Robert Allen Cole Jr. was born on this date in 1868. He was a Black composer, actor, playwright, stage producer, and director.   He was born in Athens, Georgia, where his father, Robert Allen Cole, Sr., and mother, Isabella Thomas Weldon, settled after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued.   There, it became a prosperous city dominated by Black communities and professionals. […]

Will Cook, Composer, and Arranger born

*On this date, Will Cook was born in 1869. He was an African American composer and arranger.

Born in Washington D.C., Will Marion Cook was the son of John Cook, the treasurer of Howard University. In 1882, he went to Oberlin College to study violin, returning three years later to give his first recitals. After studying in Berlin with the great Joseph Joachim, Cook returned to America and within five years was performing at Carnegie Hall.

Harriett Gibbs-Marshall, Pianist, and Educator born

*Harriett Gibbs Marshall was born on this date in 1869. She was an African American concert pianist, author, and educator.

Sissieretta Jones, Opera Singer born

*The birth of Sissieretta Jones is remembered on this date in 1869. She was an African American concert and spiritual singer.

Tom Lemonier, Actor, and Composer, born

*Tom Lemonier was born on this date in 1870. He was a Black actor and composer. Little is known about his childhood. He contributed to popular music during the ragtime era, mainly active in Black Vaudeville. His work has been featured in various musicals. The Gotham-Attucks Music Publishing Company published some of his work. Numerous recordings […]