Today in Black History – October 27 *
1890 – Charles H. Garvin is born in Jacksonville, Florida. He will
graduate from Howard University”s medical school in 1915.
He will practice medicine in Cleveland, Ohio from 1916 until
he joins the ancestors on July 17, 1968. During WORLD WAR I,
he will become the first black physician commissioned in the
U.S. Army, serving in France as commanding officer in the
92nd Division. His interest in medicine will extended beyond
his practice to research and writing, especially tracing the
history of Africans and African Americans in medicine. He will
amass an important collection of books on the black experience
and also complete a manuscript (unpublished as of 1994) and
write several articles on the subject. His account of the
history of blacks in medicine in Cleveland will be published
in 1939 in the ‘Women”s Voice,’ a national women”s magazine.
He will be a founder of the Dunbar Life Insurance Company and
assist in organizing Quincy Savings & Loan, serving as a
director and board chairman. He will also pioneer integrated
housing during a period of intense racial separation in the
city, living in the home he built on Wade Park Ave., an
exclusive allotment, despite threats of violence and two
bombings. He will be a trustee of Karamu House, the Urban League
of Greater Cleveland, the Cleveland branch of the NAACP, and the
Cleveland Public Library. He will also be 4th General President
of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity from 1912 to 1914.
1891 – Philip B. Downing, invents the street letter box and is
awarded patent # 462,093.
1924 – Ruby Ann Wallace is born in Cleveland, Ohio. She will become
one of the foremost actresses in America, better known as
Ruby Dee, 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.” She will be married to Ossie Davis until he joins
the ancestors in 2005. She will join the ancestors on June
11, 2014.
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
The CamaraIfe Maktaba 