People, Locations, Episodes

Portia Washington Pittman, Teacher born

Portia Washington Pittman was born on this date in 1883, in Tuskegee, AL. She was an African American musician and teacher, and the only daughter of Booker T. and Fanny (Smith) Washington.

Her father was the founder of Tuskegee Institute. After her mother’s death in 1884, Portia was cared for by nursemaids and two stepmothers. An accomplished pianist by the age of ten, she attended New England’s finest boarding schools, including Framingham State Normal School in Massachusetts in 1895, Tuskegee Institute, and, in 1901, Wellesley College in Massachusetts.

Anita Bush, Actress and, Dancer born

Anita Bush was born on this date in 1883. She was an African American dancer, actress, and theatrical administrator.

Nora Hendrix, Singer, and Dancer born

*Nora” Moore Hendrix was born on this date in 1883.  She was a Black vaudeville singer and dancer.  Born in Georgia, Zenora “Nora” Moore’s parents were Fanny Moore, originally from Ohio, and Robert Moore Sr., a Georgia native.  Fanny Moore was half Cherokee and half African.  Robert Moore Sr. was a freed African slave.  Together […]

William E. Scott, Art Muralist born

*William E. Scott was born on this date in 1884. He was a Black artist. William Edouard Scott was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, to Edward and Caroline Scott (née Russell). After graduating from Manual Training High School in 1903, Scott spent a year studying drawing under Otto Stark. In 1904, he moved to Chicago and […]

Rose McClendon, Stage Actress born

Rose McClendon was born on this date in 1884. She was an African American actress, theater administrator, and director.

Abbie Mitchell, Singer, and Entertainer born

*Abbie Mitchell was born on this date in 1884. She was an African American singer and actress.

From the Lower East Side of New York City, she was the daughter of an African American mother and a German Jewish father, both who were musically talented. After completing her public school training in Baltimore, she began to study voice in New York in 1897. Lyricist, Paul L. Dunbar, and composer Will Marion Cook who cast her in their musical Clorindy, the Origin of the Cakewalk, recognized her talent.

Flournoy Miller, Vaudeville Playwright born

*Flournoy Miller was born on this date in 1885. He was a Black entertainer, actor, lyricist, producer, and playwright.   Flournoy Eakin Miller was born in Columbia, Tennessee, the second son of the editor of a Black newspaper; his older brother Irvin C. Miller also became a noted vaudeville performer and theatre producer. He studied […]

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 […]

James Van Der Zee, Photographer born

On this date, James Van Der Zee was born in 1886. He was an African American photographer whose portraits of Black New Yorkers chronicled the Harlem Renaissance.

Alice T. Gafford, Nurse, and Artist born

*On this date in 1886, Alice Taylor Gafford was born. She was an African American nurse and artist.

From Los Angeles, she was one of ten children of Benjamin and Alice Armstead Taylor, and the only one who showed an interest in art. She spent twenty-five years in the nursing profession before deciding to pursue her first love, painting. Gafford attended and graduated from the Otis Art Institute, receiving attention from critics when she won second prize for one of her paintings at the Stendahl Gallery on Wilshire Blvd.

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 […]

Laura Waring, Artist born

On this date we remember the birth of Laura Wheeler Waring in 1887. She was an African American artist.

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.

Roland Hayes, Philharmonic Singer born

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

Tim Moore, Actor born

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