People, Locations, Episodes

William Edmondson, Sculptor born.

On this date we recall the birth of William Edmondson in 1863. He was a black sculptor and the first Black artist to achieve a one-man exhibition in America.

A child of slaves, he was born in the Hillsboro section of Davidson County, next to Nashville, Tennessee. His father died while he and his siblings–four brothers and a sister–were young.

Mamie Hilyer, Classical Music Advocate born

*Mamie Hilyer was born on this date in 1863.  She was a Black pianist and promoter of classical music.   Mamie Elizabeth Nichols was born in the District of Columbia.  An accomplished pianist, she was an ‘active member of the city’s Black upper class. Hilyer became a devoted champion of ‘good music’ and its cultivation […]

Jesse Shipp Sr., Playwright born

*Jesse Shipp was born on this date in 1864.  He was a Black actor, playwright, and theatrical director.   Born in 1864 in Cincinnati, Jesse Allison Shipp, Sr’s father, Thomas Shipp, was born a slave in South Carolina. His mother, Ellen Shipp, was of bi-racial heritage and was born around 1830 in the slave state of Kentucky.  Sometime before the American Civil War, both had managed to leave the Southern […]

Flora Batson, Concert Singer born

On this date in 1864, Flora Batson was born. She was an African American concert singer.

From Washington D.C., Batson’s youth was primarily spent in Providence, Rhode Island where she made her first public appearances. Batson sang in churches and a variety of programs promoting women’s temperance. She reached a summit with her career in 1885 with the Bergen Star Company as their lead singer. In 1896, another phase of her singing took place with Black bassist Gerard Miller. The two performed together as a feature duet with the South Before the War Company.

Richard B. Harrison, Stage Actor born

Richard Berry Harrison was born on this date in 1864. He was an African American actor, teacher, dramatic reader, lecturer, and elocutionist.

Ernest Hogan, Stage Performer born

*The birth of Ernest Hogan c1865 is celebrated on this date.  He was a Black dancer, musician, comedian, actor, and producer.    He was born Ernest Reuben Crowders in the Shake Rag District of Bowling Green, Kentucky.  Little is known about his childhood, but as a teenager, he traveled with a minstrel troupe called the Georgia Graduate, where […]

Amanda Aldridge, Opera Singer and Opera Teacher born

*Amanda Aldridge was born on this date in 1866. She was a Black British opera singer, teacher, and composer. Amanda Christina Elizabeth Aldridge was born in Upper Norwood, London, the third child of Black actor Ira Frederick Aldridge and his second wife, Amanda Brandt, who was Swedish. She had two sisters, Rachael and Luranah, and […]

The ‘Celebration of Freedom by the Colored People in Washington D.C.’ Drawing is Created

*On this date in 1866, this sketch, “Celebration of the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia by the colored people in Washington D.C.,” was created.   The artist, Frederick Dielman. served as a topographer and draughtsman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Fortress Monroe and Baltimore from 1866 to 1872.  It was published in Harper’s Weekly on May […]

The Hyers Sisters Debut On Stage

*The Hyers Sisters performed their first stage show on this date in 1867.  They were Black Vaudeville Act singers and pioneers of Black musical theater.   The duo was Anna Madah and Emma Louise.  Their father, Samuel B. Hyers, came west to Sacramento, California, with their mother, Annie E. Hyers (née Cryer), after the Gold […]

Pat Chappelle, Vaudeville Pioneer born

*Pat Chappelle was born on this date in 1869.  He was a Black stage showman, theatre owner, and entrepreneur.  Patrick Henry Chappelle was from Jacksonville, Florida, the son of Lewis Chappelle and his wife Anna, who had been slaves in Newberry County, South Carolina. After slavery was abolished, they left South Carolina with their relatives […]

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.

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.

Olivia Bush, Writer, and Drama Coach born

Olivia Ward Bush-Banks, an African American writer and drama instructor, was born on this day in 1869.

Born in Sag Harbor, Long Island, New York, Olivia was the daughter of Eliza Draper and Abraham Ward, both of whom were of African and Montauk descent. Ward’s mother died when was about one year old. She and her father moved to Providence, R.I., where he married again, but he handed young Ward over to her mother’s sister, Maria Draper, who reared Olivia as her own child.

Adrienne Herndon, Actress, and Designer born

*Adrienne Herndon was born on this date in1869. She was an African American actress, and designer.

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 […]