*Carl Braden was born on this date in 1914. He was a white-American trade unionist, journalist, and activist. He was born in New Albany, Indiana. He worked for several newspapers in Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri, Indiana, and Illinois. His parents were Catholics, but his father had lost his faith and became an agnostic socialist. Carl’s father was […]
learn more*Archie Givens Jr. was born on this date in 1944. He was a Black philanthropist, humanitarian, collector of literature, and businessman. From the southside of Minneapolis, MN., Givens’ father was a businessman who, with his wife, Phebe O’Shields Givens, built a successful real estate development business and became the state’s first black millionaire family. In […]
learn more*This date, in 1954, celebrates Dissent magazine’s publication. This publication is an American Left intellectual magazine edited by Natasha Lewis and Timothy Shenk. The University of Pennsylvania Press publishes the magazine on behalf of the Foundation for the Study of Independent Social Ideas. A group of New York Intellectuals established the magazine. Its co-founder and publisher for […]
learn more*On this date in 1935, we celebrate the creation of the National Youth Administration (NYA). Franklin Roosevelt signed the executive order establishing the NYA, a New Deal program explicitly designed to address the problem of unemployment among (then) Depression-era youth. The number of unemployed youths in the 1930s drew attention to several fears adults had […]
learn more*The birth of Thomas Walker is affirmed on this date in 1758. He was a white British slave trader. He is the ancestor of two U.S. presidents, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush. Thomas Walker was born in Henbury, now a suburb of Bristol, England. Also known as Beau, Walker worked when Bristol […]
learn more*Benjamin Tanner Johnson was born on this date in 1896. He was a Black businessman, community activist, and administrator. He was born in Princeton, New Jersey, to John Quincy and Halle Johnson. He graduated from Howard University cum laude in 1919 and received his MBA from Harvard Business School (HBS) in 1921. He was the third African […]
learn more*The Denver Star newspaper is celebrated on this date in 1888. This Black newspaper was The Statesman and also known as Franklin’s Paper. It was a weekly newspaper published in Denver, Colorado, and distributed in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, and New Mexico. The newspaper was founded as “The Statesman” by Joseph D. D. Rivers. From 1901 until 1913, […]
learn more*Edwin Henry Hackley was born on this date in 1859. He was a Black lawyer and journalist. His parents were John Hackley and Susan Belmore Hackley from Romeo, Michigan. As a child, he had pneumonia that affected his health into adulthood, and he was black middle class. After graduating from high school, Hackley attended the […]
learn more*Lester Melrose was born on this date in 1891. He was a white-American talent scout and producer of Chicago blues music. Lester Franklin Melrose was born in Sumner, Illinois, the second of six children of Frank and Mollie Melrose, who owned a small farm. He relocated to Chicago around 1914 and tried unsuccessfully as a catcher […]
learn more*Norris Herndon was born on this date in 1897. He was a Black businessman and philanthropist. Born in Atlanta, Norris Bumstead Herndon was the only child of millionaire businessman Alonzo F. Herndon and Adrienne McNeil Herndon. Herndon and his family, light-complexioned African Americans, could each “pass” for white, easily blending into Atlanta’s white community. When Herndon was 13, […]
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