People, Locations, Episodes

Ted Poston, Journalist born

*Ted Poston was born on this date in 1906. He was an African American journalist.

Ernest Hendon, Sharecropper, and Landscaper born

*Ernest Hendon was born on this date in 1907. He was a Black landscaper and sharecropper. He also was the last unwitting surviving participant in the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Study. Ernest Herndon was the son of North and Mary Reed Hendon, sharecroppers from Roba, Alabama. The family resided in rural Alabama, where Ernest Hendon spent his […]

Leon Washington Jr., Newspaper Publisher born

*Col. Leon H. Washington Jr. was born on this date in 1907. He was a Black newspaper publisher. Washington was born in Kansas City, Kansas, and attended Washburn University. He began his career in journalism by working for several newspapers. In 1933, he founded the Sentinel, an African American newspaper in Los Angeles. During this time, Washington […]

John A. Lomax Jr., Folklorist, and Singer born

*John A. Lomax Jr. was born on this date in 1907. He was a white-American folklorist, performer, and land developer. John A. Lomax Jr. was born in Austin, Texas, United States. He was the son of John Avery Lomax and Bess Bauman Brown and the brother of Shirley Lomax, Alan Lomax, and Bess Lomax. He […]

The Greenwood District (Tulsa, Oklahoma), a story

*Black Wall Street is affirmed on this date in 1907.  The Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma, became known as “Black Wall Street,” one of the most commercially successful and affluent majority African American communities in the United States in the 20th century.   Many Blacks came to Oklahoma during the Native American removal. When these tribes […]

Thomas Flemings, Journalist born

*Thomas Flemings was born on this date in 1907. He was an African American newspaper journalist.

From Jacksonville, Florida his grandmother initially raised Fleming. At the age of 8 his family moved to Harlem, New York and in 1919 they moved to Chico, California. In 1926 he graduated from Chico High School and began working as a bellhop for the Admiral Line, (then) spending five years as a cook for the Southern Pacific Railroad. He entered journalism in the early 1930s as an unpaid writer for the Spokesman, a progressive Black newspaper in San Francisco.

Robert C. Weaver, Economist born

This date marks the birth of Robert Clifton Weaver in 1907. An African American economist and administrator, he was the first Black to serve in the U.S. Cabinet.

Cornelius A. Scott, News Publisher born

*Cornelius Adolphus ”C.A.” Scott was born on this date in 1908. He was a Black newspaper publisher.   The 5th child of nine children, Scott, was from Edwards, Miss. His father, Dr. William A. Scott Sr., was a Christian Church minister and a printer. His mother, Emmeline Southall Scott, was active in the printing business in […]

Mal Goode, TV’s First Black Network News Reporter

*On this date we mark the birth of Malvin (Mal) Russell Goode in 1908. He was an African American television journalist and news correspondent.

Alfred Lion, Jazz Music Producer born

*Alfred Lion was born on this date in 1908. He was a white Jewish-American jazz record executive. Lion was born in Schöneberg, a borough of Berlin, Germany. His fascination with jazz began at the age of 16. In 1926, Lion emigrated to the United States, but while working on the New York docks, he was attacked by […]

Erna P. Harris, Journalist and Activist born.

*Erna P. Harris was born on this date in 1908. She was a Black journalist, businesswoman, and activist. Erna Prather Harris was born in Kingfisher, Oklahoma, to Frances A. “Frankie” and James E. Harris. Her father was a postman. As an admirer of Mahatma Gandhi, he influenced his daughter’s later activism. Unlike most men in […]

Allensworth, CA., California’s First Black Community is Founded

On this date, we celebrate the founding of Allensworth, California, in 1908. This was the first and only all Black town in California’s history.

The Empire States Federation of Women’s Clubs, a story

*On this date in 1908, we celebrate the beginning of the Empire State Federation of Women’s Clubs (ESFWC). Founded in Brooklyn by Alice Wiley Seay, the ESFWC is the umbrella organization of New York State African American women’s groups. The organization had two main goals: to do “uplift work among girls and young women” and care […]

Lew Hayman, Sports Businessman born

*Lew Hayman was born on this date in 1908. He was a Jewish-American sports executive. Lewis Edward Hayman was born in New York City and grew up in Paterson, New Jersey. He attended high school at the New York Military Academy. He played basketball at Syracuse University as a three-year starter and was named College Humor third-team […]

Charles ‘Teenie’ Harris, Photographer born.

This date in 1908, celebrates the birth of Charles (“Teenie”) Harris.
Harris was an African American photographer, the youngest son of William A. and Ella Mae “Olga” Taliaferro Harris who lived in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, The family owned the Masio Hotel on Wylie Avenue.

Young Harris attended Watt School, now the Robert L. Vann School, and after graduating, he worked as a chauffeur and mechanic with brother William “Woogie” Harris until 1938. Woogie also owned the Crystal Barber Shop on Wylie Avenue and was involved in the “numbers” or “policy” lottery.