People, Locations, Episodes

The Langston Golf Course (Washington D.C.) Opens

*The opening of Langston Golf Course occurred on this date in 1939. Located in Washington, D.C., this facility was a benchmark in the growth of golf as a popular recreational and professional sport for African Americans.

The National Negro Airmen Association of America is Formed

*On this date in 1939, the National Negro Airmen Association of America (N.N.A.A.A.) was formed. During the mid-1930s and before World War II, a group of foresighted, concerned, and dedicated individuals came together in the Chicago area to create an organization that actively pursued and set the stage for blacks in aviation and aeronautics.  Cornelius […]

Lloyd McDermott, Aboriginal Athlete, and Lawyer born.

*Lloyd McDermott, also known as Mullenjaiwakka, was born on this date in 1939. He was an Aboriginal Australian lawyer and rugby union player. Born in Eidsvold, Queensland, Lloyd Clive McDermott had links to the Mununjali clan and the Wakka Wakka people. Lloyd McDermott’s academic and sporting prowess, the son of a farm laborer, won him a scholarship […]

Ernie Davis, Football Player born

Ernie Davis was born on this date in 1939 in New Salem, Pennsylvania. He was an African American college football player and the first Black man to win the Heisman Trophy.

Wilma Rudolph, Track & Field Sprinter born

On this date in 1940, Wilma Glodean Rudolph was born. She was an African American sprinter and first American woman to win three Olympic gold medals.

American Professional Tennis Integrates

On this date in 1940, American professional tennis integrated for the first time.

Interracial matches were played on the courts of the Cosmopolitan Tennis Club, an affiliate of the American Tennis Association (ATA), in New York City. Ed Hughes, a reporter for the “Brooklyn Daily Eagle,” wrote, “The color line was erased, at least temporarily, for the first time in the history of major American Tennis yesterday. Don Budge, greatest tennis player in the world, encountered Jimmy McDaniel, Negro National Champion, defeating him, 6-1 and 6-2.”

Buck Buchanan, Football Player born

*Junious (Buck) Buchanan was born on this date in 1940. He was an African American Football Player.

Buchanan, a native of Gainesville, Alabama, was a football and basketball star at A. H. Parker High School in Birmingham, Alabama. In the late 1950s, Eddie Robinson, football coach at Grambling College in Louisiana, offered him one of the few scholarships then available to Black students. Buchanan played both offense and defense at Grambling.

Sandy Stephens, Collegiate, and CFL Football Player born

*Sandy Stephens was born on this date in 1940. He was an African American football player and civic leader.

Sanford Emory Stephens II was raised in Uniontown, Pennsylvania to athletic parents, Sanford Sr. and Helen Pryor Stephens, who met on a tennis court. Sanford, Sr. was an outstanding multiple sports athlete. The oldest of four children, Sandy and his younger brother Raymond both excelled in sports. Stephens lettered for three years in football, basketball, track and field and was a spectacular baseball player.

Harry Jerome, Track Sprinter born

*Harry Jerome was born on this date in 1940. He was a Black Canadian Olympic athlete and businessman.  Harry Winston Jerome was born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, and was one of five children of Harry Sr. and his wife, Elsie. His grandfather was John Howard Armstrong. In the 1950s, Jerome and his family eventually moved […]

Pelé, Footballer, and Humanitarian born

Pelé was born on this date in 1940. He was an African Brazilian soccer player and is an international humanitarian.

He was born Edson Arantes do Nascimento in a small town in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazile. He was the son of a Fluminense semiprofessional footballer Dondinho (born João Ramos do Nascimento) and Maria Celeste Arantes.

Willie Stargell, Baseball Player born

*On this date in 1941, Willie Stargell was born. He was an African American professional baseball player.

He was born Wilver Dornel Stargell in Earlsboro, Oklahoma, with ancestry of African and Seminole Indian decent.

John Thompson, College Basketball Coach born

*John Thompson was born on this date in 1941. He was a Black basketball player and men’s college basketball coach.   John Robert Thompson Jr. was born and raised in Washington, D.C. As a child, his mother insisted on sending him to Catholic schools for educational opportunities and academic challenges. At Archbishop Carroll High School, Thompson emerged as a standout […]

John Mackey, Football Player born

*John Mackey was born on this date in 1941.  He was an African American football player.  

The Cleveland Buckeyes Baseball Team is Formed

*The founding of the Cleveland Buckeyes is celebrated on this date in 1941.  They were a Negro League baseball team that played in the Negro American League.   They were based in Cincinnati for their first season and Louisville for their second-to-last season. The Buckeyes were established as the Buckeyes Baseball Club, initially in Cincinnati, […]

Joseph Searles III, Businessman born

*Joseph Searles was born on this date in 1942. He was a Black professional football player and is a lawyer, businessman, and community administrator. Joseph L. Searles, III, was raised in Ft. Hood, Texas. Young Searles was large enough to play with his father’s colleagues on the battalion team at a young age. He attended […]