People, Locations, Episodes

Betty Carter, Singer, and Music Businesswoman born

Betty Carter was born this date in 1930. She was an African American singer and entertainer.

Thomas Sowell, Economist, and Author born

*Thomas Sowell was born on this date in 1930. He is an African American economist, social critic, political commentator and author.

Tony ‘Lip’ Vallelonga, Chauffeur born

*Tony Lip was born on this date in 1930.  He was a white-Italian American actor, chauffeur, bodyguard, and occasional author.   Frank Anthony Vallelonga was born in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, and was the son of Italian parents Nazarena and Nicholas Vallelonga.  His family moved to the Bronx when he was an infant, and he grew up on 215th Street near […]

Frank Lucas, Graphic Designer born

*Frank Lucas was born on this date in 1930.  He is a Black Graphic designer.   Lucas was attracted to art from Cambridge, Massachusetts, at an early age. With his talent, he was hired as an Army illustrator and photographer during the Korean War. After the war, he returned to Boston and graduated from the Vesper […]

Xernona Clayton, Journalist, and Activist born

*Xernona Clayton was born on this date in 1930. She is an AfricanAmerican journalist and businesswoman.

Clarence B. Jones, Writer born

*On this date in 1931, Clarence Jones was born. He is an African American businessman and writer.

Clarence Avant, Music Executive and Entrepreneur born

*Clarence Avant was born on this date in 1931. He was a Black music executive, entrepreneur, and film producer. Clarence Alexander Avant was born in Climax, North Carolina, the oldest of eight children. He attended a one-room school in Greensboro, NC, until the ninth grade. He spent his freshman and second years at Dudley High […]

Jürgen Schadeberg, Photographer born

*Jürgen Schadeberg was born on this date in 1931. He was a white German-born South African photographer and artist. Jürgen Schadeberg was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1931, where he grew up during the Nazi regime and World War II. In the aftermath of the war, his mother began a relationship with a British officer in the […]

Kwame McDonald, Journalist, and Activist born

*Kwame McDonald was born on this date in 1931. He was an African American journalist, administrator and activist.

Charles Harrison Jr., Industrial Designer, and Inventor born

*Charles Harrison Jr., a Black industrial designer and inventor, was born on this date in 1931.   From Louisiana, when Charles “Chuck” Harrison was born, his father, Charles Harrison Sr., taught industrial arts at Southern University in Louisiana. 1936, the family moved to Texas, where Harrison Sr. became a Prairie View A&M University professor. Harrison […]

John Moutoussamy, Architect born

*John Moutoussamy was born on this date in 1922. He was a Black architect, educator, and designer. John Warren Moutoussamy was from Chicago, Illinois. He earned a degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1948, where he studied under Mies van der Rohe. He married Elizabeth R. Hunt during his studies on March 10, […]

Earl Woods, Businessman born

*Earl Woods was born on this date in 1932. He was an African American businessman, administrator, and teacher.

He was also the father of professional golfer Tiger Woods. From in Manhattan, Kan., he was the last of six children of Maude and Miles Woods. He attended Kansas State and played catcher on the baseball team, the first African American player in the Big Eight Conference.

The Pittsburgh Crawfords Baseball Team is Formed

*On this date in 1932, we remember the Pittsburgh Crawfords. They were one of the many Negro League Baseball teams in America.  Known as the Craws, they were based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team, previously known as the Crawford Colored Giants, was named after the Crawford Bath House, a recreation center in the Crawford neighborhood […]

Roger Wilkins, Journalist, and Professor born

*Roger Wilkins was born in on this date in 1932. He was an African American civil rights leader, professor of history, and journalist.

Club DeLisa, (Chicago) Opens

*This date celebrates the opening of Club DeLisa in 1933. Owned by white-American Italians, the four DeLisa brothers, it was an African-American-themed nightclub and music venue in Chicago, Illinois.   Located at 5521 South State Street (State Street and Garfield Avenue, on the South Side), it was possibly the most prestigious venue in the city, together with the Regal […]