KRLemmons African American History

April 30 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – April 30 *

1864 – A regiment captures a rebel battery after fighting
rearguard action. Six infantry regiments check rebel
troops at Jenkins’ Ferry, Saline River, Arkansas. The
troops are so enraged by atrocities committed at Poison
Spring two weeks earlier, that the Second Kansas Colored
Volunteers went into battle shouting, “Remember Poison
Spring!”

1881 – Julian Francis Abele is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
He will be the first black student to enroll in the
Department of Architecture at the University of
Pennsylvania, and become the department’s first black
graduate in 1902. He will become a prominent architect, and
chief designer in the offices of Horace Trumbauer. He will
contribute to the design of more than 400 buildings,
including the Widener Memorial Library at Harvard University
(1912-15), the Central Branch of the Free Library of
Philadelphia (1918-27), and the Philadelphia Museum of Art
(1914-28). He will be the primary designer of the west
campus of Duke University (1924-54). He will never travel to
view the campus he designed because of his revulsion of
segregation then so prevalent in the South. His contributions
to the Trumbauer firm were great, but the only building for
which he will claim authorship during Trumbauer’s lifetime
was the Duke University Chapel. He will join the ancestors
on April 23, 1950.

1931 – William Lacy Clay, Sr. is born in St. Louis, Missouri. He will
be elected to the House of Representatives as a Democrat in
1968. He will become an advocate for environmentalism, labor
issues, and social justice. He will face ethics charges in the
1970s for billing the government on auto trips while flying on
airlines, and the House banking scandal revealed that he had
328 overdrafts. In 1993, he will help to pass the Family and
Medical Leave Act. From 1991 until the Democrats lose control
of Congress in 1995, he will chair the House Committee on the
Post Office and Civil Service. In 2000, he will retire from
the House and be succeeded by his son, William Lacy Clay, Jr.

1940 – Jesse E. Moorland joins the ancestors in Washington, DC.
He was a clergyman, key force in fund-raising for African
American YMCAs, alumnus and trustee of Howard University.
The donation of his substantial private library to Howard
forms the basis of the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center
on the university’s campus.

1961 – Isiah Lord Thomas III is born in Chicago, Illinois. He will
become a basketball player, playing collegiately for the
Indiana Hoosiers. He will go on to play professionally as
point guard for the Detroit Pistons from 1981 until 1994 and
will lead the “Bad Boys” to NBA championships in the 1988–89
and 1989–90 seasons. After his playing career, he will be an
executive with the Toronto Raptors, a television commentator,
an executive with the Continental Basketball Association, head
coach of the Indiana Pacers, and an executive and head coach
for the New York Knicks. He will later be the men’s basketball
coach for the Florida International University (FIU) Golden
Panthers for three seasons from 2009 to 2012. He will be named
to the All-NBA First team three times and is the Pistons’ all-
time leader in points, steals, games played and assists. He
will rank fifth in NBA history in assists (9,061, 9.3 apg) and
rank ninth in NBA history in steals (1,861). He will be known
for his dribbling ability as well as his ability to drive to
the basket and score. His No. 11 will be retired by the Detroit
Pistons. In 2000, he will be elected to the Basketball Hall of
Fame in his first year of eligibility.[

1983 – Robert C. Maynard becomes the first African American to gain
a controlling interest in a major metropolitan newspaper
when he buys the Oakland Tribune from Gannett.

1994 – The counting of ballots begins in South Africa’s first all-
race elections.

1994 – Some 100,000 men, women and children fleeing ethnic slaughter
in Rwanda cross into neighboring Tanzania.

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

KRLemmons African American History

April 30 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – April 30 *

1864 – A regiment captures a rebel battery after fighting
rearguard action. Six infantry regiments check rebel
troops at Jenkins’ Ferry, Saline River, Arkansas. The
troops are so enraged by atrocities committed at Poison
Spring two weeks earlier, that the Second Kansas Colored
Volunteers went into battle shouting, “Remember Poison
Spring!”

1881 – Julian Francis Abele is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
He will be the first black student to enroll in the
Department of Architecture at the University of
Pennsylvania, and become the department’s first black
graduate in 1902. He will become a prominent architect, and
chief designer in the offices of Horace Trumbauer. He will
contribute to the design of more than 400 buildings,
including the Widener Memorial Library at Harvard University
(1912-15), the Central Branch of the Free Library of
Philadelphia (1918-27), and the Philadelphia Museum of Art
(1914-28). He will be the primary designer of the west
campus of Duke University (1924-54). He will never travel to
view the campus he designed because of his revulsion of
segregation then so prevalent in the South. His contributions
to the Trumbauer firm were great, but the only building for
which he will claim authorship during Trumbauer’s lifetime
was the Duke University Chapel. He will join the ancestors
on April 23, 1950.

1931 – William Lacy Clay, Sr. is born in St. Louis, Missouri. He will
be elected to the House of Representatives as a Democrat in
1968. He will become an advocate for environmentalism, labor
issues, and social justice. He will face ethics charges in the
1970s for billing the government on auto trips while flying on
airlines, and the House banking scandal revealed that he had
328 overdrafts. In 1993, he will help to pass the Family and
Medical Leave Act. From 1991 until the Democrats lose control
of Congress in 1995, he will chair the House Committee on the
Post Office and Civil Service. In 2000, he will retire from
the House and be succeeded by his son, William Lacy Clay, Jr.

1940 – Jesse E. Moorland joins the ancestors in Washington, DC.
He was a clergyman, key force in fund-raising for African
American YMCAs, alumnus and trustee of Howard University.
The donation of his substantial private library to Howard
forms the basis of the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center
on the university’s campus.

1961 – Isiah Lord Thomas III is born in Chicago, Illinois. He will
become a basketball player, playing collegiality for the
Indiana Hoosiers. He will go on to play professionally as
point guard for the Detroit Pistons from 1981 until 1994 and
will lead the “Bad Boys” to NBA championships in the 1988–89
and 1989–90 seasons. After his playing career, he will be an
executive with the Toronto Raptors, a television commentator,
an executive with the Continental Basketball Association, head
coach of the Indiana Pacers, and an executive and head coach
for the New York Knicks. He will later be the men’s basketball
coach for the Florida International University (FIU) Golden
Panthers for three seasons from 2009 to 2012. He will be named
to the All-NBA First team three times and is the Pistons’ all-
time leader in points, steals, games played and assists. He
will rank fifth in NBA history in assists (9,061, 9.3 apg) and
rank ninth in NBA history in steals (1,861). He will be known
for his dribbling ability as well as his ability to drive to
the basket and score. His No. 11 will be retired by the Detroit
Pistons. In 2000, he will be elected to the Basketball Hall of
Fame in his first year of eligibility.[

1983 – Robert C. Maynard becomes the first African American to gain
a controlling interest in a major metropolitan newspaper
when he buys the Oakland Tribune from Gannett.

1994 – The counting of ballots begins in South Africa’s first all-
race elections.

1994 – Some 100,000 men, women and children fleeing ethnic slaughter
in Rwanda cross into neighboring Tanzania.

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

KRLemmons African American History

April 29 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – April 29 *

1854 – Ashmun lnstitute, later Lincoln University, is founded in
Oxford, Pennsylvania. It will be “the first institution
founded anywhere in the world to provide a higher
education in the arts and sciences for youth of African
descent.” (This applies to the modern era).

1881 – Julian Francis Abele is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
He will become an architect widely believed to have
designed Philadelphia’s Museum of Art and the Free Library,
as well as major buildings on the Duke University campus.

1899 – Edward “Duke” Kennedy Ellington is born in Washington, DC.
He will form his first band in 1919, and move to New York
City in 1922. His five-year tenure at the famed Cotton
Club will garner him wide acclaim. Scoring both his first
musical and making his recording debut in 1924, Ellington
will be known as the first conventional jazz composer,
although he will also become renowned for his Sacred
Concerts in the mid-1960’s. His most notable works
include “Take the A Train,” “Mood Indigo,” “Sophisticated
Ladies,” and “I Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good.” He will
join the ancestors on May 24, 1974.

1915 – Donald Mills is born in Piqua, Ohio. With his brothers,
Herbert, Harry and John, the Mills Brothers will begin
performing in 1922 in their hometown and over time will
sell an estimated 50 million records. The group will break
racial barriers in the era of Jim Crow and sing before
royalty in London. From the early 1930s onward, the Mills
Brothers will be a nationwide hit on radio and in record
sales. In 1931, the song “Tiger Rag” will sell 1 million
copies. Some of their other hit songs will include “You
Always Hurt the One You Love,” “Glow Worm,” “Yellow Bird,”
and “Paper Doll.” The brothers will also appear in several
movies, including “The Big Broadcast” in 1932, and “Twenty
Million Sweethearts” in 1934. Donald will be the last
surviving member of the group and will tour in his later
years with his youngest son, John, after his brothers
retire in 1982. He will accept a Grammy Award for Life
Achievement for the Mills Brothers in 1998. He will join
the ancestors in 1999.

1922 – Parren James Mitchell is born in Baltimore, Maryland. In
1971, he will become the first African American elected to
Congress from the State of Maryland.

1928 – Carl Edward Gardner is born in Tyler, Texas. He will become
a singer and a member of the 1960’s Rhythm and Blues group,
The Coasters.

1934 – Otis Rush is born in Philadelphia, Mississippi. He will
become a blues musician and will help to shape Chicago’s
West Side blues sound.

1948 – Willi Smith is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A noted
designer, he will take his first job with Arnold Scaasi in
New York City and form his own fashion label, Willi Wear
Ltd., in 1976. He will be a Coty Award winner in 1983 and
will lead his company until he joins the ancestors in 1987.

1967 – Mrs. Robert W. Clayton is elected president of the YWCA, the
first African American president of the organization.

1983 – Harold Washington is sworn in as the first African American
mayor of Chicago.

1992 – Rioting erupts in Los Angeles after a jury acquits four
white policemen of charges related to the videotaped
beating of African American motorist Rodney King. The
National Guard and federal troops are mobilized to deal
with the civil disturbance, which will last several days
and cost the lives of 58 persons. There are demonstrations
and riots in other American cities.

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