Today's Articles

People, Locations, Episodes

Sat, 04.03.1886

Arthur Wilson, Actor, and Entertainer born

*Arthur Wilson was born on this date in 1886. He was a Black actor, singer, and musician.   Arthur “Dooley” Wilson was born in Tyler, Texas, the youngest of five children. At age seven, the year of his father’s death, he began to make a living by performing in churches in Tyler. When he was eight, he made $18 a […]

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Wed, 12.08.1886

Diego Rivera, Artist born

*Diego Rivera was born on this date in 1886. He was a Mexican painter whose artistic intersectionality mentored and influenced many Black artists.  Diego Rivera was born as one of the twin boys in Guanajuato, Mexico, to María del Pilar Barrientos and Diego Rivera Acosta, a well-to-do couple.  His twin brother Carlos died two years after they were born.  They […]

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Wed, 08.31.1887

Thomas Montgomery Gregory, Dramatist born

Thomas Montgomery Gregory was born on this date in 1887. He was an African American dramatist, educator, social philosopher, and activist.

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Thu, 09.08.1887

Roland Hayes, Philharmonic Singer born

Roland Hayes was born on this date in 1887. He was an African American concert singer.

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Fri, 12.09.1887

Tim Moore, Actor born

On this date we celebrate the birth of Tim Moore, an African American actor and entertainer, in 1888.

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Sun, 10.07.1888

Sargent Johnson, Artist born

On this date in 1888, Sargent Johnson was born. He was an African American painter and sculptor.

Sargent Claude Johnson was from Boston, the third of six children born to Anderson, who was Swedish and Lizzie Jackson, Cherokee and black. Racial problems and illness resulted in a troubled marriage. Some of the mixed race Johnson children were accepted as Indian or white and lived their lives as such. Sargent Johnson, however, chose to live as a black throughout his life.

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Tue, 11.05.1889

Willis Richardson, Playwright born

Willis Richardson, an African American playwright, was born on this date in 1889.

Born in Wilmington, N.C., he and his parents, Willis Wilder and Agnes Ann Harper Richardson, moved to Washington, D.C. shortly after the Wilmington Riots of 1898. The riots resulted in the death of 16 Blacks and affected Richardson as a child. Richardson’s father read to him as a young boy and encouraged his interest in books and writing.

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Thu, 05.01.1890

Ada Brown, Singer and Actress born

*Ada Brown was born on this date in 1890. She was an American blues and jazz singer and actress. Ada Scott Brown was born and raised in Kansas City, Kansas. She was born into a musically inclined family and grew up singing in church as a child. In 1910, she successfully launched her career at […]

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Fri, 06.06.1890

Dorothy Heyward, Playwright born.

*Dorothy Heyward was born on this date in 1890. She was a white-American playwright. She was born Dorothy Kuhns in Wooster, Ohio, and lived in New York, Puerto Rico, and Washington, DC, throughout her childhood. She was interested in literature from an early age and started writing plays. After graduating from high school, she attended […]

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Fri, 06.13.1890

Osceola Macarthy Adams, Actress, and Teacher born

*Osceola Macarthy Adams was born on this date in 1890. She was a Black actress, drama teacher, director, and clothing designer.   Born to a life insurance executive in Albany, Georgia, Osceola Macarthy was mixed with white-European, Native American, and Black African heritage. She attended schools in Albany, Georgia, including Albany Normal School, a predecessor […]

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Mon, 08.04.1890

The First Black Woman Performers On An American Stage

*On this date in 1890 Sam T. Jacks’ play Creoles opens.

The Haverhill, Massachusetts’s production is the first time African American women are featured as performers on stage

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Tue, 08.12.1890

Lillian E. Evanti, Vocalist born

*Lillian Evans Evanti was born on this date in 1890. A lyric soprano, she was the first African American to sing opera with an organized company in Europe.

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Sun, 11.09.1890

Palmer Hayden, Artist born

On this date we celebrate Palmer Hayden’s birth in 1890. He was an African American painter whose work became known during the Harlem Renaissance.

Born Peyton Cole Hedgeman in Wide Water, Virginia, he was a prolific artist of his era. He depicted African American life, painting in both oils and watercolors.

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Mon, 09.21.1891

John Hardrick, Artist born

*On this date in 1891, John Wesley Hardrick was born. He was an African American painter.

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Tue, 09.22.1891

Alma Thomas, Artist, and Instructor born

*On this date in 1891, Alma Thomas was born. She was an African American Painter and instructor.

From Columbus, Georgia, Thomas moved to Washington as a young girl. In 1924 she became the first graduate of the art department of Howard University and ten years later received an M. A. from Columbia University. She taught art at Shaw Junior High School in the nations capitol for thirty-six years until she retired in 1960 to devote her energies to painting. During her long tenure at Shaw, Thomas was a dedicated and imaginative teacher.

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New Poem Each Day

Poetry Corner

and some where distantly there is an answer as surely as this breath half hangs befo my face and some where there is a move meant as certain as... A BEGINNING FOR NEW BEGINNINGS by Angela Jackson.
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