People, Locations, Episodes

G. Caliman Coxe, Artist and Educator born.

*G. Caliman Coxe was born on May 7,1907. He was a Black artist and educator. Gloucester Caliman Coxe was a native of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and moved to Louisville, Kentucky, in 1924. In his 40s, he entered the University of Louisville to study art. He was the first African American to receive a Hite art scholarship […]

Rudolph Dunbar, Clarinetist and Conductor born

Rudolph Dunbar was born on this date in 1907. He was a Guyanese conductor, clarinetist, and composer.

Dunbar was born in Nabaclis, British Guyana. He was 14 when he joined the British Guiana Militia Band as a clarinet-playing apprentice. He immigrated to the United States five years later, and began studying at the Institute of Musical Art, (now the Juilliard School) in New York, where he was also involved with the Harlem jazz scene. During this time, he was a recording artist, playing clarinet solos. He also established a friendship with Black composer William Grant Still.

Charles Alston, Artist, and Teacher born

On this date we celebrate the birth of Charles Alston in 1907. He was an African American artist and teacher.

Charles Henry Alston was born in Charlotte, N.C. His father died when he was three. Soon after, his mother moved to New York and married Harry P. Bearden (the uncle of artist Romare Bearden). Alston attended DeWitt Clinton High School, taught there, and graduated from Columbia University in 1929. In 1931, he received a master’s degree from Columbia’s Teachers College.

Irene Britton Smith, Classical Composer born

*Irene Britton Smith was born on this date in 1907. She was an African and Native classical composer and educator. Irene Britton was born in Chicago, Illinois, the youngest of four siblings. She was of African, Crow, and Cherokee descent. Smith attended Ferron Grammar School, Doolittle Grammar School, and Wendell Phillips High School. Britton attended […]

Ruby Elzy, Stage and Film Vocalist born.

*Ruby Elzy was born on this date in 1908. She was an African American opera singer who appeared on stage, radio and film.

A native of Pontotoc, Mississippi, at the age of five her family was abandoned. Her mother (Emma) Elzy supported the family as a teacher at the colored school in Pontotoc. Elzy is known to have created the role of Serena in George Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” on Broadway in 1935. She was married twice, her second husband was actor Jack Carr, who appeared on stage with her in “Porgy and Bess” and who also appeared in a number of films.

Robert Pious, Graphic Artist born

*Robert Savon Pious, a black graphic artist, was born on this date in 1908 in Meridian, Mississippi. His father was Nattie Pious, and his mother was Loula Pious. His parents married in 1895 and had nine children, of which he was the sixth born. The family lived at 2005 18th Avenue in Meridian. At the […]

Isabelle Washington, Dancer, and Actress born

*Isabel Washington Powell was born on this date in 1908. She was a Black dancer and actress.   Isabel Geraldine Washington was born in Savannah, Georgia. She was one of five children, with her older sister being the actress Fredi Washington. She was primarily raised in New York City, where she pursued a career in […]

James Hampton, Folk Artist born

*On this date in 1909, James Hampton was born. He was an African American folk artist.

Ermine Hall Allen, Vocalist born

*Ermine Hall Allen was born on this date in 1910.  She was a Black classical vocalist and educator. Born in St. Paul, Minnesota’s Rondo community, she was the youngest of two daughters to S.Edward. and Harriet ‘Hattie’ Grissom Hall.  Her older sister Dorothy was a music teacher.  Ermine’s first performances were impromptu affairs. At age […]

Allan Crite, Artist born

*Allan Rohan Crite was born on this date in 1910. He was a Black painter.

From Plainfield, New Jersey, he moved to Boston as a child where he spent most of his life. Crite was one of the few African American artists to work for the Federal Arts Project (FAP). During the 1930s, he studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and Harvard University Extension School. In his later years, as a devout Episcopalian, Crite focused on religious themes, completing murals and other paintings for many churches.

Wilmer Jennings, Artist, and Printmaker born

*This date in 1910 is celebrated as the birth date of Wilmer Jennings, a Black printmaker, artist, and jeweler. Wilmer Angier Jennings was born in Atlanta, Georgia. While attending Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, Jennings studied under the artist Hale Woodruff, who introduced him to the principles of modernism. Under the Graphic Arts Division of the Works Progress Association (WPA) in 1934, […]

Katherine Dunham, Choreographer, and Dancer born

Katherine Dunham was born on this date in 1910. She was an African American choreographer and dancer.

Kapo, Afro Caribbean Spiritual Artist born

*On this date in 1911, Kapo was born. He was an Afro Caribbean painter and sculptor.

From Byuloss in Saint Catherine parish in Jamaica, he was born Mallica Reynolds. Kapo was totally self-taught as an artist. His extremely intuitive art was an extension of his spiritual development, which led him into a life of service to the people of his homeland as a religious leader. Kapo’s first paintings were done in the mid-1940’s consisting of straightforward religious symbols.

Charles H. Coles, Dancer born

On this date in 1911 Charles “Honi” Coles, an African American tap dancer, was born.

Portia White, Classical Vocalist born

Portia White, an African Canadian classical singer, was born on this date in 1911.

Portia May White was born in the town of Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada to the Reverend William Andrew White and Izie Dora White. She made her musical debut at the age of six in her father’s church choir. At the age of 17, while teaching school, she received her first break, winning a silver cup in the Nova Scotia Music Festival.