People, Locations, Episodes

William W. Higgins, Vaudeville Entertainer born

*William Higgins was born on this date in 1888. He was a Black vaudeville entertainer, comedian, singer, and songwriter.  William Weldon Higgins was born in Columbia, South Carolina; early on, he was a machinist. He began his career in 1912 on stage; he often worked in blackface and as a singer of ballads at private clubs in his hometown. […]

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.

Noble Sissle, Lyricist born

Noble Sissle, an African American musician and lyricist, was born on this date in 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.

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 […]

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 […]

Florence Cole Talbert, Soprano, and Educator born.

*Florence Cole Talbert was born on this date in 1890. She was a Black operatic soprano, music educator, and musician. Florence Cole was born in Detroit, Michigan, to a family deeply rooted in music and the performing arts. Her mother, Sadie Chandler Cole, was a mezzo-soprano and member of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. Her father […]

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

Asadata Dafora, Musician born

*Asadata Dafora was born on this date in 1890.  He was a Black multidisciplinary musician. He was among the first Africans to introduce African drumming music to the United States.   Austin Dafora Horton was born into the Creole ethnic group in Freetown, British Sierra Leone. The son of John ‘Johnnie’ Warner M. Horton, the […]

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.

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.

John Hardrick, Artist born

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

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.

Archibald Motley, Artist born

On this date in 1891, Archibald J. Motley, Jr. was born. He was an African American artist.

He was born in New Orleans, to Archibald Motley, Sr., and Mary Huff. His family moved to Chicago, where his father worked as a Pullman Porter, and the family settled into a quiet neighborhood on the West Side. In his home he would listen to his father and A. Phillip Randolph discuss the organization of the Pullman Porter’s Union. He also watched his nephew Williard Motley struggle to write. The hard work and ambition that he witnessed as a child would carry him through his artistic career.

Augusta Savage, Sculptor born

*This date celebrates the birth of Augusta Christine Savage in 1892. She was an American sculptor and educator who battled racism to secure a place for blacks in the art world.

From Green Cove Springs, Fla., Savage’s family moved to West Palm Beach about 1907, where she thrived academically, conducting art classes for a dollar a day while she was still a student herself. After failing to make a living by executing commissioned busts of Jacksonville’s well-to-do blacks, she moved to New York City to study art.