KRLemmons African American History

December 14 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – December 14 *

1829 – John Mercer Langston is born in Louisa County, Virginia.
He will have a distinguished career as an attorney,
educator, recruiter of soldiers for the all African
American 5th Ohio, 54th and 55th Massachusetts regiments,
dean of the law school and president of Howard University,
diplomat, and U.S. congressman.

1915 – Jack Johnson becomes the world heavyweight boxing champion.

1920 – Clark Terry is born in St. Louis, Missouri. He will become
a trumpeteer and flugelhorn player who will be known for
his association with Duke Ellington on the 1950’s, his
innovative flugelhorn sound, and unusual mumbling scat
singing.

1939 – Ernest “Ernie” Davis is born in New Salem, Pennsylvania.
He will become the first African American to win the
Heisman Trophy (1961). He will join the ancestors on May
18, 1963, succumbing to acute monotypic leukemia before
he is able to play in the National Football League.

1945 – Stanley Crouch is born in Los Angeles, California. He will
become a drummer, poet, and writer for “The Village Voice.”
Among his books will be “Notes of a Hanging Judge,”
published in 1990.

1963 – Singer Dinah Washington joins the ancestors after a sleeping
pill overdose at the age of 39 in Detroit, Michigan. She
popularized many, many great songs, including “What a
Diff’rence a Day Makes”, “Unforgettable” and several hits
with Brook Benton, including “Baby (You’ve Got What it
Takes)” and “A Rockin’ Good Way (To Mess Around and Fall
in Love)”.

1968 – Sammy Davis Jr. is awarded the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal for
his “superb and many-faceted talent,” and his contributions
to the civil rights movement.

1968 – Classes of San Francisco State University are suspended
after demonstrations by the Black Student Union and Third
World Liberation Front.

1972 – Johnny Rodgers, a running back with the University of
Nebraska, is awarded the Heisman Trophy. Rodgers gained a
total of 5,586 yards for the Cornhuskers in three years.

1980 – Elston Howard, a New York Yankee catcher for many years,
joins the ancestors.

1991 – Desmond Howard, of the University of Michigan wins the
Heisman trophy.

Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle archives and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry

KRLemmons African American History

December 13 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – December 13 *

1903 – Ella Baker is born in Norfolk, Virginia. A civil rights
worker who will direct the New York branch of the NAACP,
Baker will become executive director of the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference in the 1960’s during
student integration of lunch counters in the southern
states. She also will play a key role in the formation
of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and its
voter registration drive in Mississippi. She will join
the ancestors on December 13, 1986 in New York City.

1913 – Archibald Lee Wright is born in Benoit, Mississippi.
Better known as Archie Moore, he will become a boxer and
win the light heavyweight crown in 1952. He will reign
as champion until 1959 and again in 1961. His will be one
of the longest professional careers in the history of
boxing. In 2002, he will be inducted into the St. Louis
Walk of Fame. In 2006, he will become a California Boxing
Hall of Fame Inductee and Ring Magazine will name him
boxing’s fourth Ring Magazine Best Punchers of all time
in 2003. He will join the ancestors on December 9, 1998.
He still holds the record for the most career knockouts
by any boxer, at 145.

1924 – Lawrence Eugene “Larry” Doby is born in Camden, South
Carolina. He will become the first African American in
baseball’s American League, playing for the Cleveland
Indians. He will be the 1954 RBI leader. His career
statistics include a .283 career average with 253 home
runs and 970 RBI in 1533 games. He will hit at least 20
homers in each season from 1949-56, leading the league in
1952 (32) and 1954 (32), and appearing between the top
ten leaders in seven seasons (1949, 1951-56). He will hit
for the cycle (1952), and also lead the league in runs in
1952 (104), RBI in 1954 (126), on base percentage in 1950
(.442), slugging average in 1952 (.541), and OPS in 1950
(.986). He will be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
in 1998. He will join the ancestors on June 18, 2003 in
Montclair, New Jersey.

1944 – The first African American women complete officer training
for the WAVES (Women’s Auxiliary Volunteers for Emergency
Service). They had been admitted to the corps two months
earlier.

1958 – Tim Moore, an actor best known for his portrayal of
Kingfish on the Amos ‘n’ Andy television show, joins the
ancestors at the age of 70.

1981 – Popular African American comedian Dewey “Pigmeat” Markham
joins the ancestors after a stroke at the age of 75. He
became famous in mainstream America, late in his life for
his “here comes de judge” routine popularized in
television’s “Laugh-In.”

1989 – President De Klerk of South Africa meets with imprisoned
Nelson Mandela, at de Klerk’s office in Cape Town, to talk
about the end of apartheid.

1997 – Charles Woodson, of the University of Michigan, is awarded
the Heisman Trophy. He is the first defensive player ever
to win the coveted prize.

Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle archives and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry

KRLemmons African American History

December 12 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – December 12 *

1870 – Joseph Hayne Rainey is the first African American to serve
in Congress representing South Carolina. He is sworn in
to fill an unexpired term.

1872 – U.S. Attorney General George Williams sends a telegram to
“Acting Governor Pinchback,” saying that the African
American politician “was recognized by the President as
the lawful executive of Louisiana.”

1899 – Boston native, dentist, and avid golfer, George F. Grant
receives a patent for a wooden golf tee. Prior to the
use of the tee, wet sand was used to make a small mound
to place the ball. Grant’s invention will revolutionize
the manner in which golfers swing at the ball.

1912 – Henry Armstrong is born in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1938
he will become the first boxer to hold three titles after
winning the lightweight boxing championship.

1913 – James Cleveland “Jesse” Owens is born in Oakville, Alabama.
He will become a world-class athlete in college, setting
world records in many events. He will go on to win 4 gold
medals in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, spoiling Hitler’s
plans to showcase Aryan sports supremacy.

1918 – Famed jazz singer Joe Williams is born in Cordele, Georgia.
Williams will sing for seven years in Count Basie’s band,
where he will record such hits as “Every Day I have the
Blues.”

1929 – Vincent Smith is born in New York City. Smith will exhibit
his works on four continents and be represented in the
collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the National
Museum of American Art, and the National Museum of Afro-
American Artists in Boston.

1938 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Missouri that a state must
provide equal educational facilities for African Americans
within its boundaries. Lloyd Gaines, the plaintiff in the
case, disappears after the decision and is never seen
again.

1941 – Dionne Warwick is born in East Orange, New Jersey. Warwick
will sing in a gospel trio with her sister Dee Dee and
cousin Cissy Houston, and begin her solo career in 1960
singing the songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. She
will become a three-time Grammy winner.

1943 – Grover Washington, Jr. is born in Buffalo, New York. He
will become a renown jazz artist and famous for his
recording of “Mr. Magic.” He will join the ancestors on
December 17, 1999.

1961 – Martin Luther King Jr., along with over seven hundred
demonstrators is arrested in Albany, Ga., after five mass
marches on city hall to protest segregation. The arrests
trigger the militant Albany movement.

1963 – Kenya achieves its independence from Great Britain with
Jomo Kenyatta as its first prime minister.

1963 – Medgar Wiley Evers is awarded the Spingarn Medal
posthumously for his civil rights leadership.

1965 – Johnny Lee, an actor best known for his portrayal of
“Calhoun” on “The Amos ‘n’ Andy Show,” joins the ancestors
at the age of 67.

1965 – Gale Sayers, of the Chicago Bears, scores 6 touchdowns and
ties the NFL record.

1968 – Arthur Ashe becomes the first African American to be ranked
Number One in tennis.

1975 – The National Association of Black Journalists is formed in
Washington, DC. Among its founding members are Max
Robinson, who will become the first African American anchor
of a national network news program, and Acel Moore, a
future Pulitzer Prize winner.

1979 – Rhodesia becomes the independent nation of Zimbabwe.

1986 – Bone Crusher Smith knocks out WBA champion Tim Witherspoon
in Madison Square Garden in New York City.

2007 – Ike Turner, whose role as one of rock’s critical architects
was overshadowed by his ogre-like image as the man who
brutally abused former wife and rock icon Tina Turner,
joins the ancestors at his home in suburban San Diego at the
age of 76.

Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle archives and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry