People, Locations, Episodes

Aimé Césaire, Writer, and Politican born

*Aimé Césaire was born on this date in 1913. He was an Afro Caribbean, Martinican poet, playwright, and politician.    His mother was a dressmaker in the small town of Basse-Pointe, and his father was the local tax inspector. Césaire was raised in Martinique with his five siblings. Although their father was well-educated, and they […]

David Pitt, British Politician, and Administrator born

On this date the Registry observes the birth of David Pitt in 1913. He was a physician and one of first Black politicians in Great Britain.

Dorothy L. Brown, Surgeon and Politician born

On this date, Dorothy Lavinia Brown was born in 1919. She was an African American doctor, legislator, and the first Black female surgeon in the South.

Cora M. Brown, Politician born

On this date Cora Brown was born in 1914. She was an African American politician and social worker and the first Black woman in the United States to be elected to the state senate (Michigan 1952).

Cora Mae Brown was from Bessemer, Alabama. She was eight years old when her family moved to Detroit. After graduating from Cass Technical High School and Fisk University in Tennessee, she took a job with the Detroit Police Department. At the same time, she attended the Wayne State University Law School. She graduated in 1948 and was admitted to the Michigan Bar that same year

Carlton Goodlett, Physician, and Publisher born

*Carlton Goodlett was born on this date in 1914. He was a Black physician, newspaper publisher, and political activist.    Carlton Benjamin Goodlett was born in Chipley, Florida, to Fannie T. Russ and Arthur Goodlett and later migrated to Omaha, Nebraska. He was the youngest of two children. His sister’s name is unknown, but when she was five and Carlton […]

Crispus A. Wright, Lawyer born

The birth of Crispus Attucks Wright in 1914 is celebrated on this date. He was an African American civil rights lawyer and businessman.

Wright’s father was born a slave in Louisiana. He graduated from Louisiana’s Leland University. The elder Wright was a teacher and high school principal who stressed to his children the importance of an education.

Young Wright came to Los Angeles with his dying father, who wanted to live his final days in what was then the Southland’s cleansing, dry air. Crispus sold newspapers at the Dunbar Hotel on Central Avenue.

Sir William Arthur Lewis, Economist born

*Sir William Arthur Lewis was born on this date in 1915. He was a Black Caribbean economist, educator and Nobel Prize winner.

From St. Lucia, he was the fourth son of George Ferdinand and Ida Lewis. He was educated in St. Lucia up to the secondary Level. He proved during this time to be quite a scholar. Later he entered the London School of Economics where he distinguished himself as a student of Economics. His excellence was rewarded, when at the age of twenty-three, he was made a lecturer. During this time he published numerous papers and pamphlets.

Claude Cargill, Community Activist born

*Claude Cargill was born on this date in 1915. He was a Black policeman and community activist. He was born in Harlem, New York City, the last of eight children. His lifelong love of young people came from one of the earliest Black New York City policemen. He organized and coached Police Athletic League basketball […]

Walter E. Washington, Politician born

Walter Edward Washington was born on this date in 1915. He was an African- merican politician.

Charles Black, Law Professor born

*Charles L. Black Jr. was born on this date in 1915. He was a White American Professor, and authority in constitutional law.

Oliver Sutton, Lawyer, and Judge born

*Oliver Sutton was born on this date in 1916.  He was a Black attorney and judge.   Born in San Antonio, Texas, he was the last of fifteen children born to Samuel (“S.J.”) Sutton and Lillian Sutton.  His father was born a slave and became an early 20th-century American civil rights activist.  He was one of the first blacks […]

Ulric Cross, a British Soldier and Diplomat, was born.

*Ulric Cross was born on this date in 1917. He was a Black British jurist, diplomat, and Royal Air Force (RAF) navigator. Philip Louis Ulric Cross was born in Belmont, Port of Spain, Trinidad, to Reginald Rufus and Maud Iris Cross. He was the second child in a family of nine. At 11, he came […]

Joshua Nkomo, Politician born.

*Joshua Nkomo was born on this date in 1917. He was a Black African revolutionary and politician. Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo was born in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) to a poor Ndebele family, one of eight children. His father (Thomas Nyongolo Letswansto Nkomo) was a preacher and a cattle rancher for the London Missionary Society. […]

Melvin H. Evans, Politician born

*On this date in 1917, Melvin Herbert Evans was born. He was an African American politician, public health official, and physician.

The First Black West Point Officers Graduate

On this date in 1917, the first Black enlistees from West Point graduated from military duty at Fort Des Moines, Iowa.