KRLemmons African American History

October 30 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – October 30 *

1831 – Nat Turner is remembered for his role in the slave
revolt that took place in Southampton county,
Virginia on August 21.

1939 – Eddie Holland is born in Detroit, Michigan. He will
become one-third of an amazing songwriting and
production trio, Holland-Dozier-Holland. Eddie
Holland will not be as successful on his own as when
teamed with brother Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier.
Eddie Holland will score his biggest hit as a solo
artist back in 1962, with “Jamie” reaching number six
on the R&B charts and peaking at #30 pop. He recorded
three more songs for Motown in the mid-’60s, but none
of them were hits, and he then concentrated on
songwriting and production. The Holland-Dozier-
Holland trio will write numerous hits for Motown acts
through the ’60s before departing in 1968. They will
form their own label in 1970, Hot Wax/Invictus, and
will have success for a while with such acts as The
Chairmen Of The Board, Laura Lee, and the Honey Cone.
Some of the songs written by the trio are “Where Did
Our Love Go”, “Baby Love”, “Stop! In the Name of Love”,
“I Hear a Symphony”, “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”, “Reach
Out”, and “I’ll Be There.” Holland-Dozier-Holland will
be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

1941 – Otis Miles is born in Texarkana, Arkansas. He will
become a rhythm and blues singer known as Otis Williams
and will be one of the original members of the Motown
group, The Temptations. Some of their hits will be “I
Can’t Get Next to You”, “Cloud Nine”, “Runaway Child”,
“Running Wild”, “Just My Imagination”, “Papa was a
Rolling Stone”, and “Masquerade.”

1950 – Philip “Phil” Chenier is born in Berkeley, California.
He will become a professional basketball player and will
be best known as a member of the Washington Bullets
team.

1954 – The Defense Department announces that all units in the
armed forces are now integrated. The announcement comes
six years after President Harry S. Truman issued
Executive Order 9981.

1966 – Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, students at Oakland City
College in Oakland, California, create the Black Panther
Party for Self Defense.

1976 – Joseph H. Evans is elected president of the United Church
of Christ, the first African American to hold the post
in this predominantly white denomination.

1978 – Esther Rolle wins an Emmy Award for her role in “Summer
of my German Soldier.”

1979 – Richard Arrington is the first African American to be
elected mayor of Birmingham, Alabama.

1989 – Frank Mingo, CEO of the Mingo Group, joins the ancestors
in New York City. He, along with D. Parke Gibson,
Barbara Proctor of Proctor and Gardner, and Tom Burrell
of Burrell Advertising was one of the pioneering
advertising executives who specialized in targeting
African American consumers.

1991 – Led by President Robert L. Johnson, BET Holdings, Inc.,
the parent company of Black Entertainment Television,
sells 4.2 million shares of stock in an initial public
offering on the New York Stock Exchange. BET is the first
African American company listed on the “Big Board.”

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

KRLemmons African American History

October 29 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – October 29 *

1902 – The Dinwiddle Quartet from Virginia is the first
African American singing group on record when they
record six single sided discs, including “Down at the
Old Camp Ground,” on the Victory Talking Machine
Company’s Monarch label.

1923 – Runnin’ Wild opens at the Colonial Theater, Broadway.
Miller and Lyles Productions introduced the Charleston
to New York and the world.

1924 – Dixie to Broadway, “the first real revue by Negroes,”
opens at the Broadhurst Theater, New York City, with
Florence Mills in the starring role.

1929 – The collapse of the stock market and the beginning of
the Great Depression. By 1937, 26 per cent of African
American males will be unemployed.

1945 – Beatrice Moore is born in New York, New York. She will
become an actress and singer better known as Melba
Moore. Her big break will come when she joins the cast
of the Broadway musical “Hair.” She will eventually win
the lead role. It will be the first time that an African
American actress replaces a white actress (Diane Keaton)
for a lead role on Broadway. That engagement will be
followed with another Broadway hit, “Purlie,” which
earns her a Tony Award and rave reviews. This success
will be followed by appearances in film and television.
In addition to her success in acting, she will have a
fruitful recording career.

1947 – The President’s Committee on Civil Rights condemns racial
injustices in America in a formal report, “To Secure
These Rights.”

1947 – Texas Southern University is established.

1947 – The NAACP Spingarn Medal is awarded to Dr. Percy L. Julian
for his achievements as a scientist.

1949 – Alonzo G. Moron, from the Virgin Islands, becomes the
first person of African descent to become president of
Hampton Institute (now University) in Hampton, Virginia.

1960 – Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) boxes in his first professional
fight, beating Tunney Hunsaker in 6 rounds.

1961 – Randy Jackson is born in Gary, Indiana. He will become a
member of the famed family group, “The Jackson Five.”

1969 – Johnson Products Company of Chicago, Illinois, the largest
African American hair-care products manufacturer, is
incorporated. Founded by George Johnson in 1954, in 1971,
it will become the first African American owned company
listed on the American Stock Exchange.

1969 – The U.S. Supreme Court states that school systems must end
segregation “at once” and “operate now and hereafter only
unitary schools.” In the Mississippi case, Alexander v.
Holmes, the Court abandons the principle of “all
deliberate speed.”

1974 – Muhammad Ali defeats George Foreman in Zaire to regain his
heavyweight crown in a fight billed as “The Rumble in the
Jungle.” In addition to the fight being the first
heavyweight title fight held in Africa, it is the 14th
Anniversary of Ali’s professional boxing debut.

1981 – William Otis Walker, publisher of the “Cleveland Call &
Post,” joins the ancestors at the age of 85. He was the
first African American to hold a post in the Ohio Cabinet
in 1963, and was national chairman for “Black Republicans
for Reagan and Bush” in 1980.

1987 – Thomas Hearns wins an unprecedented 4th boxing title in
different weight classes.

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

KRLemmons African American History

October 28 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – October 28 *

1862 – The First Kansas Colored Volunteers, while greatly
outnumbered, repulse and drive off a rebel force at Island
Mound, Missouri. This is the first engagement for African
American troops in the Civil War.

1873 – Patrick Healy becomes president of Georgetown University,
the oldest Catholic University in the United States and
becomes the first African American president of a
predominantly white university in the United States.

1914 – Omega Psi Phi fraternity is incorporated. Founded in 1911
by three students, Frank Coleman, Oscar J. Cooper and
Edgar A. Love and their faculty adviser, Ernest Everett
Just, the fraternity will grow to have over 90,000 members
in chapters throughout the United States and abroad.

1937 – Leonard Randolph “Lenny” Wilkens is born in Brooklyn, New
York. He will become a professional basketball player for
the St. Louis Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Portland Trail
Blazers and Seattle Supersonics. He will also coach every
team for which he played. In 1995, he will surpass Red
Auerbach as the NBA winningest coach, with his 939th
victory. On March 1, 1996, he will become the first coach
to win 1,000 regular season games. He and John Wooden will
become the only two persons to be elected to the Basketball
Hall of Fame as a player and coach.

1948 – Telma Louise Hopkins is born in Louisville, Kentucky. She will
become a member of the 1970’s group, “Tony Orlando and Dawn”,
and later a television actress. She will be best known for
her roles in “Bosom Buddies,” “Gimme a Break!,” “Family
Matters,” “Getting By,” and “Half & Half.”

1965 – Earl Bostic, popular jazz alto saxophonist and winner of the
1959 Playboy Jazz poll, joins the ancestors in Rochester,
New York. The Tulsa, Oklahoma native had begun his career
in the Midwest and, after studying music and playing with
bands in the South, landed with Lionel Hampton’s big band,
among others.

1973 – Elmore Smith of the Los Angeles Lakers blocks 17 shots in a
game to establish a NBA record.

1981 – Edward M. McIntyre is elected as the first African American
mayor of Augusta, Georgia.

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

KRLemmons African American History

October 27 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – October 27 *

1891 – Charles H. Garvin is born in Jacksonville, Florida. He
will become the first African American physician
commissioned in World War I.

1891 – Philip B. Downing, invents the street letter box and is
awarded patent # 462,093.

1924 – Ruby Dee is born in Cleveland, Ohio. She will become one
of the foremost actresses in America, beginning her
career on Broadway in the early 1940’s. She will marry
actor Ossie Davis and have a strong personal career with
such notable stage roles as “A Raisin in the Sun”,
“Purlie Victorious”, and “The Taming of the Shrew” as
well as work in numerous television series and movies
including “Raisin”, “Do the Right Thing”, and “Jungle
Fever.”

1951 – Jayne Kennedy is born in Washington, DC. She will become
an actress, writer and producer. Her movie credits will
include “Fighting Mad,” “Body and Soul,” “Mysterious
Island of Beautiful Women,” “Cover Girls,” “The Muthers,”
and “Group Marriage.”

1954 – Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. becomes the first African American
general in the history of the United States Air Force.
He is designated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

1960 – Martin Luther King Jr. is released on bond from the
Georgia State Prison in Reidsville. Political observers
say the John F. Kennedy call for King’s release increased
the number of African American voters who ensured his
election.

1971 – The Republic of the Congo becomes the Republic of Zaire.

1978 – President Carter signs the Hawkins-Humphrey full
employment bill.

1979 – St Vincent & the Grenadines becomes independent of Great
Britain.

1981 – Andrew Young, former United Nations Ambassador, is elected
mayor of Atlanta, Georgia.

2003 – Walter Washington, ex-mayor of Washington, DC, joins the
ancestors at age 88. He was the first elected mayor of
the nation’s capital in modern times and the first
African American to head the government of a major U.S.
city.

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