*The birth of Sherman Dudley is celebrated on this date c1872. He was a Black vaudeville performer and theatre entrepreneur. Sherman Houston Dudley was born in Dallas, Texas of humble parentage. A jockey early in his youth, he turned to theater and gained a reputation by singing in a medicine show on a Dallas street corner. By 1897 he had his […]
learn more*The Last Poets were formed on this date in 1968. They were a progressive group of Black Nationalist poets and musicians that evolved from the late 1960s American Civil Rights movement. Their name was taken from a poem by the South African revolutionary poet Keorapetse Kgositsile, the original users of that name were the trio […]
learn more*Tina Allen was born on this date in 1949. She was a Black sculptor. Born Tina Powell in Hempstead, N.Y. Her father, Gordon “Specs” Powell, was a studio musician for CBS Records who played in “The Ed Sullivan Show” band. Her mother was a writer and a nurse, and one of Allen’s uncles was a […]
learn more*Ned Wayburn was born on this date in 1874. He was a Black choreographer. Edward Claudius Weyburn was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Elbert Delos Weyburn and Harriet Landon Beach. Chauncey Weyburn was his paternal grandfather. Ned Wayburn spent much of his childhood in Chicago where he was introduced to theater and studied classical piano. At […]
learn more*Sam Lucas was born on this date in 1848. He was a Black actor, comedian, singer, and songwriter. Samuel Mildmay Lucas was from Washington Court House, Ohio; the son of free Black parents. He showed a talent for guitar and singing as a teenager, and while working as a barber, his local performances gained him a reputation. In 1858 he began his career […]
learn more*On this date in 1970, the first Black won the Pulitzer Prize for drama. The award came to Charles Gordone, American playwright for the Broadway production of No Place to Be Somebody. His gritty barroom drama was based on his work at a bar in New York City’s Greenwich Village. No Place to Be Somebody […]
learn moreDancer (retired), Instructor, Artistic Director and Arts Entrepreneur Toni Pierce Sands shares two treasured moments in dancing career
learn more*William Rapp was born on this date in 1895. He was a Black playwright, author and news writer. Born in NYC, William Jourdan Rapp was the son of a cigar manufacturer and merchant. He graduated from Cornell, Class of 1917 and volunteered for Army service. Rapp served in France and remained in Europe until 1924. He worked […]
learn more*Sylvia H. Williams was born on this date in 1936. She was a Black museum director, curator, art historian, and scholar of African art. Sylvia Louise Hill was born and grew up in Lincoln, Pennsylvania. Her father was a professor of English and dean at Lincoln University. She married Charlton Williams, and the couple never had children. Williams held art history degrees […]
learn more*Warren M. Robbins was born on this date in 1923. He was a white-American Jewish art collector. Warren Murray Robbins was born in Worcester, Massachusetts to Jewish immigrants from Ukraine. He attended the University of New Hampshire where he earned a bachelor’s degree in English in 1945. He was awarded a master’s degree from the University of Michigan in 1949, majoring in history. After graduating […]
learn more
