People, Locations, Episodes

Azie Taylor Morton, Policy Administrator born

*Azie Taylor Morton was born on this date in 1936. She was an African American teacher, politician, and cabinet member.

From the small but well-known community of St. John Colony in Dale, Texas, she was the daughter of Fleta Hazel Taylor. Her mother was deaf and could not speak, and she did not know who her father was. Her youth was spent on a farm in, near Austin; her first childhood work was in a cotton field. Graduating from high school at 16 with an outstanding record, she enrolled at Huston-Tillotson, an all-Black college in Austin.

Barbara Jordan, Politician, and Educator born

*Barbara Jordan was born on this date in 1936. She was an African American politician, educator and member of the United States House of Representatives.

Marion Barry, Activist, and Politician born

*Marion Barry was born on this date in 1936. He was a Black activist and politician.   Marion Shepilov Barry Jr. was born in rural Itta Bena, Mississippi, the third child of Mattie Cummings and Marion Barry. His father died when he was four years old, and a year later, his mother moved the family to Memphis, Tennessee, where her employment prospects were […]

Ralph Metcalfe, Athlete, and Politician born

On this date, the Registry recalls the birth of Ralph Metcalfe in 1910. He was an African American sprinter and politician.

Alcee Hastings, Politician born

*Alcee Hastings was born on this date in 1936. He was a Black politician and judge. Alcee Lamar Hastings was born in Altamonte Springs, Florida, the son of Mildred L. (Merritt) and Julius “J. C.” Hastings. Hastings earned his Bachelor of Arts in zoology and botany from Fisk University in 1958. He attended Howard University School of Law from […]

Julius Chambers, Lawyer, and Activist born

*Julius Chambers was born on this date in 1936. He was an African American lawyer, Civil Rights activist and educator.

Eleanor Holmes Norton, Politician born

*Eleanor Holmes Norton was born on this date in 1937. She is an African American lawyer and politician.

Moshood Abiola, Nigerian Chief born

Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola was born on this date in 1937 in Nigeria. He was an African entrepreneur and politician.

Abiola graduated from the University of Glasgow in Scotland with a degree in accounting. From 1969 to 1988 he worked for the International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation (ITT), meanwhile amassing a fortune from transportation, publishing, and other businesses. He also maintained close ties with Nigeria’s military rulers. In 1993, Abiola ran for president and was believed to be winning when the military halted the election and annulled the vote.

Jean Augustine, Administrator born

*Jean Augustine was born on this date in 1937. She is a Black Canadian educational administrator, advocate for social justice, and politician. Jean Augustine was born in 1937 in Grenada but immigrated to Canada in 1960 under the West Indian Domestic Scheme. She studied at the University of Toronto, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Education. After university, she […]

Johnny Cochran Jr., Lawyer born

Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr., was born on this date in 1937. He was an African American attorney and entrepreneur.

Cochran was born at Charity Hospital in Shreveport, LA to Johnnie L. Cochran, Sr., the son of Alonzo Cochran, and the late Hattie Bass Cochran, who was the daughter of Eugene Bass. He was raised in Los Angeles, attended UCLA, and received his law degree from Loyola Marymount University.

Maynard Jackson Jr., Politician born

On this date, in 1938, Maynard Jackson was born. He was an African American attorney and politician.

Born in Dallas, Maynard Holbrook Jackson, Jr., was the third of six children from a family considered a member of the “Black aristocracy.” His father, Maynard Jackson, Sr., was a Baptist minister and his mother, Irene (Dobbs) Jackson, was a college language teacher with a doctorate in French. Young Jackson and his family moved to Atlanta when he was seven years old, where his father took over as pastor of the Friendship Baptist Church.

Katie Hall, Politician born

*Katie Hall was born on this date in 1938. She was a Black educator and politician.   Katie Beatrice Green was born to Jeff and Bessie Mae (Hooper) Green at Mound Bayou in Bolivar County, Mississippi. She attended the public schools of Mound Bayou and married John Henry Hall on August 15, 1957. They had […]

Kofi Annan, Diplomat, and Administrator born

*Kofi Annan was born on this date in 1938; he was a Black Ghanaian diplomat, foundation, and international administrator.  Kofi Atta Annan was born in the Kofandros section of Kumasi on the Gold Coast (now Ghana). His twin sister Efua Atta, who died in 1991, shared the middle name Atta, which in Akan means ‘twin’; his mother was Victoria Annan, and his father was Henry Reginald Annan. […]

The House Un-American Committee is Established

*On this date in 1938, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was formed. The HUAC was created to investigate alleged disloyalty and subversive activities on the part of America’s private citizens, public employees, and those organizations suspected of having Communist ties.   The House Committee on Un-American Activities was established as a special investigating committee, reorganized from its previous incarnations […]

Julia Carson, Politician born

Julia Carson was born on this date in 1938. She was an African American administrator and politician and a member of the Indiana House of Representatives.

Carson was born Julia May Porter in Louisville, KY. The daughter of Velma V. Porter, she grew up in Indianapolis, and worked in various positions to support her family. She graduated from Crispus Attucks High School, and then attended Martin University, and Indiana University-Purdue University, all in Indianapolis.