People, Locations, Episodes

Harry Burleigh, Gospel Performer born

*Harry T. Burleigh was born on this date in 1866. He was an African American gospel singer and composer.

From Erie Pennsylvania, he was the grandson of slaves. It was his grandfather that passed on to him the tradition of plantation songs. Burleigh had little formal music training in his youth, but was accepted into the National Conservatory of Music at the age of 26. There he took voice and lessons in composition with Antonin Dvorek.

Emma Hackley, Music Educator born

On this date in 1867, Emma Azalia Smith Hackley was born. She was an African American classical singer, social worker, writer, philanthropist, and activist who championed the use of the Black spiritual among her own people as a tool for social change.

Emma Smith was born in Murfreesboro, TN, the daughter of Henry and Corilla Smith, a blacksmith and a schoolteacher. Corilla Smith had established a school to teach freed black people and their children, but white hostility drove the family out and they moved to Detroit.

John A. Lomax, Musicologist born

*John Lomax was born on this date in 1867. He was a white-American teacher, musicologist, and folklorist who helped preserve American folk music. The Lomax family came from England with William Lomax, who settled in Rockingham County in “the colony of North Carolina.” John Avery Lomax was born in Goodman in Holmes County in central […]

Robert Allen Cole Jr., Playwright born

*Robert Allen Cole Jr. was born on this date in 1868.  He was a Black composer, actor, playwright, stage producer, and director.   He was born in Athens, Georgia, where his father, Robert Allen Cole, Sr., and mother, Isabella Thomas Weldon, settled after the Emancipation Proclamation.   There, it became a prosperous city dominated by Black communities and professionals.  His father became well […]

Scott Joplin, Pianist, and Composer born

Scott Joplin was born on this date in 1868. He was an African American composer and pianist, one of the most important developers of ragtime music.

Ida Elizabeth Asbury, Musician, and Teacher born

*Ida Elizabeth Asbury was born this date in 1869. She was an African American musician and teacher.

Will Cook, Composer, and Arranger born

*On this date, Will Cook was born in 1869. He was an African American composer and arranger.

Born in Washington D.C., Will Marion Cook was the son of John Cook, the treasurer of Howard University. In 1882, he went to Oberlin College to study violin, returning three years later to give his first recitals. After studying in Berlin with the great Joseph Joachim, Cook returned to America and within five years was performing at Carnegie Hall.

Harriett Gibbs-Marshall, Pianist, and Educator born

*Harriett Gibbs Marshall was born on this date in 1869. She was an African American concert pianist, author, and educator.

Sissieretta Jones, Opera Singer born

*The birth of Sissieretta Jones is remembered on this date in 1869. She was an African American concert and spiritual singer.

Joseph Douglass, Violinist born

*Joseph Douglass was born on this date in 1869. He was an African American violinist and composer.

The grandson of Frederick Douglass he was born in the Anacostia area of Washington D.C. to Charles and Mary Elizabeth Douglass, their second child and only that would live to adulthood. Following in the path of his famous grandfather and father, Joseph took up the violin at a young age, receiving classical training at the New England Conservatory for five years and later the Boston Conservatory.

Boogie Woogie Music, and Black History, a story

*Boogie-woogie music and Black History are celebrated on this date in 1870.  This blues music genre was developed in American Black communities in the 1870s and became popular during the late 1920s. It was eventually extended from piano-to-piano duo and trio, guitar, big band, country and western music, and gospel. While standard blues traditionally expresses various […]

William Tyers, Music Arranger born

*William Tyers was born on this date in 1870. He was a Black musician and arranger.    William H. Tyers was born in Petersburg, Virginia, just south of Richmond, to former Virginia slaves Henry Tyers and his wife Jane “Jennie” Jones.  After spending his first 12 years in Richmond, Virginia, Will’s family moved to New York City for a better situation. […]

Tom Lemonier, Actor, and Composer, born

*Tom Lemonier was born on this date in 1870. He was a Black actor and composer. Little is known about his childhood. He contributed to popular music during the ragtime era, mainly active in Black Vaudeville. His work has been featured in various musicals. The Gotham-Attucks Music Publishing Company published some of his work. Numerous recordings […]

Thomas W. Talley, Chemist born

*Thomas W. Talley was born on this date in 1870.  He was a chemist, poetry collector, and professor.  Thomas W. Talley was born in Shelbyville, Tennessee. He was one of eight children born to former slaves Charles Washington and Lucinda Talley.  Talley attended public school for six years, followed by high school and college at […]

Estelle Ricketts, Composer born

*This date in 1871 celebrates the birth of Estelle Ricketts, a Black composer who lived in Darby, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. She lived with her mother, her younger brother, and her father, who operated a boarding stable. She was the only one in her family who could read and write.           Career            Estelle Ricketts’s […]