KRLemmons African American History

April 8 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – April 8 *

1922 – Carmen McRae is born in the village of Harlem in New York
City. She will study classical piano in her youth, even
though singing was her first love. She will win an
amateur contest at the Apollo Theater and begin her
singing career. She will be influenced by Billie
Holiday, who will become a lifelong friend and mentor.
She will devote her albums and the majority of her
nightclub acts to Lady Day’s memory. Her association
with jazz accordionist Matt Mathews will lead to her
first solo recordings in 1953-1954. In her later years,
McRae’s original style will influence singers Betty
Carter and Carol Sloane. Her best known recordings will
be “Skyliner” (1956) and “Take Five” with Dave Brubeck
(1961). She will also work in films and will appear in
“Hotel” (1967) and “Jo Jo Dancer Your Life is Calling”
(1986). She will receive six Grammy award nominations
and the National Endowment for the Arts’ National Jazz
Masters Fellowship Award in 1994. She will join the
ancestors on November 10, 1994.

1938 – Cornetist and bandleader Joe “King” Oliver joins the
ancestors in Savannah, Georgia. He was considered one
of the leading musicians of New Orleans-style jazz and
served as a mentor to Louis Armstrong, who played with
him in 1922 and 1923.

1953 – Louis “Sweet Lou” Dunbar is born in Houston, Texas. He will
become a professional basketball player (for 27 years) with
the Harlem Globetrotters. After his playing days, he will
become the Director of Player Personnel. He will be the 25th
person to receive the Globetrotter “Legends” Distinction,
awarded on February 9, 2007 at Houston’s Toyota Center. He
will also become a member of the National Basketball Retired
Players Association (Legends of Basketball).

1974 – Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hits his 715th home run
against a pitch thrown by Los Angeles Dodger Al Downing
at a home game in Fulton County Stadium. Aaron’s home
run breaks the long-standing home run record of Babe
Ruth.

1975 – Frank Robinson, major league baseball’s first African
American manager, gets off to a winning start as his
team, the Cleveland Indians, defeat the New York
Yankees, 5-3.

1980 – State troopers are mobilized to stop racially motivated
civil disturbances in Wrightsville, Georgia. Racial
incidents are also reported in Chattanooga, Tennessee,
Oceanside, California, Kokomo, Indiana, Wichita, Kansas,
and Johnston County, North Carolina.

1987 – Los Angeles Dodgers general manager Al Campanis is fired
for alleged racially biased comments about the
managerial potential of African Americans.

1990 – Percy Julian, who helped create drugs to combat glaucoma
and methods to mass produce cortisone, and agricultural
scientist George Washington Carver are the first African
American inventors admitted into the National Inventors
Hall of Fame in the hall’s 17-year history.

1992 – Tennis great Arthur Ashe announces at a New York news
conference that he had AIDS. He contracted the virus
from a transfusion needed for an earlier heart surgery.
Ashe will join the ancestors in February 1993 of
AIDS-related pneumonia at age 49.

2001 – Tiger Woods becomes the first golfer to hold all four
major professional golf titles at one time when he wins
the 2001 Masters tournament.

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

KRLemmons African American History

February 7 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – February 7 *

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1712 – Twenty-one slaves are executed after killing nine whites when
a slave revolt occurs in New York City.

1872 – The doors of Alcorn Agricultural & Mechanical College open.

1883 – James Hubert “Eubie” Blake is born in Baltimore, Maryland. He
will become a pianist, who will be an instrumental part of the
creation of a new music movement named ‘ragtime.’ He will
form a song-writing team with Noble Sissle that will create
many Broadway musicals. He will temporarily retire after
` World War II and will see a resurgence of his career in the
1960’s, with renewed public interest in ragtime. He will
remain active as a jazz pianist and composer until his
ninety-ninth year. He will join the ancestors on February 12,
1983 in New York City.

1926 – The first Negro History Week begins. Originated by Dr. Carter
G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and
History, the Sunday kickoff celebration involves ministers,
teachers, professionals, and business people in highlighting
the “achievements of the Negro.” The concept will win
increasing popularity and be expanded in 1976 to an entire
month of local and national events exploring African American
culture.

1946 – A filibuster in the United States Senate kills the Fair
Employment Practices Commission bill.

1974 – Grenada achieves its independence from Great Britain.

1986 – Haiti’s President-for-Life, Jean-Claude Duvalier loses control
of his country to strikes, led by students. The U.S.
government asked him to resign and helped him flee to exile
in France. Henri Namphy becomes leader of Haiti.

1991 – The Rev. Jean-Bertrand Aristide is sworn in as Haiti’s first
democratically elected president.

2000 – Tiger Woods gains his sixth straight PGA Tour victory with an
astonishing comeback to win the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am,
becoming the first player since Ben Hogan in 1948 to win six
in a row.

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

KRLemmons African American History

November 7 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – November 7          *

1775 – Lord Dunmore, the British governor of the colony of
Virginia, issues a proclamation granting freedom to
any slave who is willing to join the British army in
its fight against the American revolutionaries. The
offer applies only to slaves owned by “rebels”.  About
800 slaves will eventually accept the offer.

1876 – Edward Bouchet, is the first African American to
receive a Ph.D. from a college in the United States
(Yale University).

1876 – Edward Bannister, the first African American artist to
win wide critical acclaim, is awarded a prize at the
Philadelphia Centennial Exposition for his work, “Under
the Oak”.

1915 – Meharry Medical College is incorporated as a separate
entity in Nashville, Tennessee.

1916 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is awarded to Col. Charles
Young, U.S. Army, for organizing the Liberian
constabulary and establishing order on the frontiers of
Liberia.

1934 – Arthur L. Mitchell, becomes the first African American
Democratic congressman (Illinois), after defeating
Republican Oscar Depriest in a Chicago election.

1938 – Delecta Clark is born in Blythesville, Arkansas.  He will
become a rhythm and blues singer better known as “Dee”
Clark.  He will move to Chicago as a child and be in the
Hambone Kids with Sammy McGrier and Ronny Strong. They
will recorded for Okeh Records in 1952 – the next year
Clark will sing with the Goldentones. This group will
later become the Kool Gents.  Clark will go solo in 1957
and in 1958 enjoyed his first smash with “Nobody for You,”
an Abner release that will reach number three Rhythm &
Blues and just miss the Top 20 on the pop charts. He will
continue a string of R&B winners with “Just Keep It Up,”
“Hey Little Girl,” and “How About That” for Abner in 1959
and 1960. Clark will team with guitarist Phil Upchurch to
write “Raindrops” in 1961, which will become his
signature song.  Raindrops will peak at number three
Rhythm & Blues and number two pop, and will be his last
major hit. He will join the ancestors in 1990.

1950 – Alexa Canady is born in Lansing, Michigan.  She will
become, at age 30, the first African American female
neurosurgeon in the United States.  She will be first in
her class at the Wayne State University School of Medicine.
She will become one of the finest neurosurgeons in the
country, and be highly esteemed for her outstanding
ability as a pediatric surgeon and researcher.  Canady
will become the director of neurosurgery at Children’s
Hospital in Detroit and a clinical professor at Wayne
State University.

1955 – In reviewing a Baltimore, Maryland case, the U.S. Supreme
Court bans segregation in public recreational areas.

1963 – Elston Howard, of the New York Yankees, becomes the first
African American to win the American League MVP award.

1967 – Carl Stokes of Cleveland, Ohio, and Richard Hatcher of
Gary, Indiana, become the first African American mayors of
these major United States cities.

1967 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is presented to Edward W. Brooke
for his public service as the first African American U.S.
senator since Reconstruction.

1967 – A report of the Senate Permanent Investigating Committee
says there were seventy-five major riots in 1967, compared
with twenty-one major riots in 1966.  The committee
reports that eight-three persons were killed in 1967
riots, compared with eleven in 1966 and thirty-six in
1965.

1970 – A racially motivated civil disturbance occurs in Daytona
Beach, Florida.

1972 – Reverend Andrew Young of Atlanta, Georgia and Barbara
Jordan of Houston, Texas become the first southern
African Americans elected to Congress since Reconstruction.
Also elected for the first time was Yvonne Brathwaite Burke
(California). Republican Senator Edward W. Brooke of
Massachusetts was overwhelmingly endorsed for a second
term.

1978 – Five African Americans are elected to Congress: William Gray
III (Pennsylvania), Bennett Stewart (Illinois), Melvin
Evans (Virgin Islands), Julian Dixon (California) and
George “Mickey” Leland (Texas).

1989 – David Dinkins is the first African American elected mayor of
New York City.

1989 – L. Douglas Wilder is elected as the first African American
governor (D-Virginia) in the United States since
Reconstruction.

1990 – The National Football League withdraws its plans to hold the
1993 Super Bowl in Phoenix due to Arizona’s refusal to
honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday.

1991 – Los Angeles Lakers’ superstar Magic Johnson announces his
retirement from professional basketball after learning he
has tested positive for the AIDS virus.

1999 – Tiger Woods becomes the first golfer since Ben Hogan in
1953, to win four straight tournaments.

1999 – Kenya’s Joseph Chebet wins the New York City Marathon.

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