People, Locations, Episodes

William Tolbert Jr., Politician born

*William Tolbert Jr. was born on this date in 1913. He was a Black Liberian politician.  William Richard Tolbert Jr. was born in Bensonville, Liberia, to William Richard Tolbert Sr. and Charlotte Augusta Tolbert, nee Hoff, of Cape Mount, Liberia. The Tolbert and Hoff families were Americo-Liberian families of African American descent, and the Hoff family originated from Virginia. His father was […]

The Harlem Hell Fighters (Infantry) are Commissioned

*The Harlem Hell fighters were commissioned on this date in, 1913. They were an all black WWI 369th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army.

Samuel Tucker, Attorney born

*Samuel Tucker was born on this date in 1913. He was a Black lawyer and a cooperating attorney with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Samuel Wilbert Tucker was born in Alexandria, Virginia. His father, Samuel A. Tucker, a real estate agent and NAACP member, and teacher mother saw to his […]

Aimé Césaire, Writer, and Politican born

*Aime Cesaire 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. Cesaire was raised in Martinique with his five siblings. Although their father was well-educated, and they […]

Thomas R. Jones Jr., Lawyer born

*Thomas R Jones was born on this date in 1913.  He was a Black lawyer and politician. Thomas Russell Jones, Jr. was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of Thomas Russell Jones, Sr. and Mabel (Ward) Jones, immigrants from Barbados.  Jones graduated from St. John’s University and St. John’s University School of Law. […]

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

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.

American Troops Occupy Haiti

*The United States’ occupation of Haiti began on this date in 1915.  This intervention occurred following the murder of dictator President Vilbrun Guillaume Sam by insurgents angered by his political murders of elite opposition.   That day, 330 US Marines landed at Port-au-Prince, Haiti, under the authority of US President Woodrow Wilson. The first invasion […]

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.

The No. 2 Construction Battalion is Formed

*On this date in 1916, the No. 2 Construction Battalion was formed. Raised in Nova Scotia, the No. 2 Construction Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF), was one of two predominantly black battalions in Canadian military history. It was the only Canadian battalion composed of black soldiers to serve in World War I. With the outbreak […]