People, Locations, Episodes

Clayton Bates, Dancer born

The birth of Clayton Bates, an African American tap dancer, is marked on this date in 1907.

He was born in rural Fountain Inn, S.C., where his mother, Emma, raised him alone after his father abandoned them. He loved to dance and started dancing at the age of five. When he was 12, he lost his left leg after it was mangled in the conveyor belt of a cotton separator at a mill where he was working. With no hospital nearby for Black people, his leg was amputated on the table in his mother’s kitchen. After the mill accident, people said he would never dance again.

‘Jacko’ Maxwell, Negro League Broadcaster born

Sherman “Jocko” Maxwell was born on this date in 1907. He was an African American sports broadcaster, journalist, and postal worker.

A Newark, N.J. native Sherman Leander Maxwell was the son of William and Bessie E. (Harris) Maxwell. In 1928, Sherman graduated from Newark Central High School. He had hoped to attend Panzer College of Physical Education and Hygiene in East Orange, only to find it did not accept Black students.

Ralph Cooper, Actor, and Apollo Theater Master of Ceremonies born

*Ralph Cooper was born on this date in 1908. He was an African American actor and entertainment administrator.

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.

Carlton Moss, Film Screenwriter and Director born.

*Carlton Moss was born on this date in 1909. He was a Black screenwriter, actor, and film director. From Newark, New Jersey, he was the son of Frederick Douglas and Sarah Vincent Moss. Moss grew up in both North Carolina and Newark. He attended Morgan State University, where he formed an acting troupe called “Toward […]

Helen Martin, Actress born

*Helen Martin was born on this date in 1909.  She was a Black actress on stage and television.   Helen Dorothy Martin was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and was the daughter of William Martin, a minister, and Amanda Frankie Fox. She was raised in Nashville, Tennessee, and attended segregated public schools. During her teenage years, she led a band and performed […]

Robert E. Jones, Actor born

*Robert E. Jones was born on this date in 1910. He was a Black actor and professional boxer. Robert Earl Jones was born in Senatobia, or Coldwater, Mississippi, and was the son of Robert and Elnora Jones. He left school early to work as a sharecropper to help his family. Jones later became a prizefighter. Under the […]

Nick Stewart, Actor born

*On this date in 1910, Nick Stewart was born. He was a Black actor who founded Los Angeles’ Ebony Showcase Theater.

Scatman Crothers, Actor born

Scatman Crothers, an African American actor and musician, was born on this date in 1910.

Born in Terre Haute, IN, Benjamin Sherman Crothers (his name at birth) was the son of a cobbler at the age of 14 he began to teach himself to play the drums and guitar. Soon he got a job entertaining customers at one of the local speakeasies, and at the age of 19, he and his brother, Louis, moved to Indianapolis to find work as entertainers.

Ruth Attaway, Stage, Screen, and TV Actress born

Ruth Attaway was born on this date in 1910. She was an African American actress and volunteer.

Born in Greenville, MS, actress Ruth Attaway is best known for her work in theater. She debuted on Broadway in 1936 and went on to work on various stages, on and off Broadway, for over 40 years. Attaway was the first director in the New York Players Guild. She also had experience working in radio and on television. When not acting, she worked for the American Red Cross and for the state of New York.

Butterfly McQueen, Actress born

On this date we point out the birth of Butterfly McQueen in 1911. She was an African American actress who portrayed Scarlett O’Hara’s squeaky-voiced maid, Prissy in Gone With The Wind.

Rosetta LeNoire, Actress, and Producer born

*Rosetta LeNoire was born on this date in 1911. She was an African American actress and producer.

William Attaway, Writer born

William Attaway was born on this date in 1911. He was an African American novelist, essayist, short story writer, playwright, screenwriter, and song writer.

Nina McKinney, Actress born

*Nina M. McKinney is remembered on this date, born in 1912. She was an African American actress and entertainer; she was one of the first Black actress’ to make her name in American cinema.

Gordon Parks, Photographer, and Film Producer born

*On this date in 1912, Gordon Parks was born. He was an African American photographer and filmmaker.

Gordon Parks was born in Fort Scott, Kansas and was the youngest of fifteen children. His mother’s death at a young age and his father’s inability to manage the household led to the family’s break-up, and Parks moving to Minneapolis with his married sister. Unwelcome in his brother-in-law’s house, he soon found himself living on his own struggling to attend school and support himself.