Delores LaVern Baker (November 11, 1929 – March 10, 1997) was an American rhythm-and-blues singer who had several hit records on the pop chart in the 1950s and early 1960s. Her most successful records were "Tweedle Dee" (1955), "Jim Dandy" (1956), and "I Cried a Tear" (1958)

In 1895, Beulah Woodard was born. She was an African American artist who specialized in sculpture. Born near Frankfort, OH, Beulah Ecton Woodard was the youngest daughter in the William P. Ecton family. In , and none affected her more deeply than a native African she met when she was 12vyears ol

In 1907, Shirley Graham DuBois was born. She was an African American author, playwright, composer, and activist. She was born in Evansville, Indiana, to a minister father and homemaker mother. Her family moved around the country quite a bit when she was a child, and Shirley’s earliest memories a

The birth of William Henry Johnson in 1833 is celebrated on this date. He was a Black Abolitionist, politician and crusader for the rights of Blacks. Johnson was born near Alexandria Virginia of free parents. Johnson left home in Virginia at the age of twelve to travel to Philadelphia where he

On November 10, 1909 we celebrate the Clef Club of New York City, Inc., founded in New York by James Reese Europe and his associates. They were a fraternal and professional organization for the advancement of African American musicians and entertainers. The Clef Club was a popular entertainme

Saint Augustine was born on this date in 354. He was a Black saint, philosopher, and doctor. He was the eldest son of Saint Monica of Saint Augustine. Aurelius Augustinus (his birth name) was born in Africa, educated in Rome, and a Milanese by baptism. He spent his early years in what is now kn

John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. He is widely considered one of the major jazz guitarists, emerging after such seminal figures as Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and influencing countless others. Montgomery was known for an

Riley, George Putnam (1833--1905) George Putnam Riley, a native of Boston, participated in both the California and Canadian Northwest Territory Gold Rushes. In 1869, Riley along with 14 other Portland, Oregon residents--11 African American men, two African American women, and one white man--formed

Andrew Hatcher was an associate press secretary to President John F. Kennedy and a founder, in 1963, of 100 Black Men of America. Andrew T. Hatcher was born on June 19, 1923 in Princeton, New Jersey. As a youngster he attended the Witherspoon School for Colored Children, an educational institut

Benjamin Banneker was born on this date in 1731. He was a self-taught, Black astronomer and mathematician. Banneker and his sisters were born free and grew up on a self-sufficient, 100-acre tobacco farm in Ellicott, MD. Growing up, he spent much of his free time devising and solving mathematical

Robert Gibson (born November 9, 1935) is an American retired baseball pitcher who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (1959–75). Nicknamed "Gibby" and "Hoot", Gibson tallied 251 wins, 3,117 strikeouts, and a 2.91 earned run average (ERA) duri

John Henry is an African American folk hero. He is said to have worked as a "steel-driving man"—a man tasked with hammering a steel drill into rock to make holes for explosives to blast the rock in constructing a railroad tunnel. According to legend, John Henry's prowess as a steel-driv

Theodore "Ted" Rhodes (November 9, 1913 – July 4, 1969) was an African-American professional golfer. Rhodes was born in Nashville, Tennessee and attended the city's public schools. He learned the game of golf in his teenage years while working as a caddie at Nashville's Belle Mea

Dorothy Jean Dandridge (November 9, 1922 – September 8, 1965) was an American film and theatre actress, singer, and dancer. She is perhaps best known for being the first African-American actress to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1954 film Carmen Jones.

Esther Elizabeth Rolle (November 8, 1920 – November 17, 1998) was a Bahamian American actress. Rolle is best known for her role as Florida Evans, on the CBS television sitcom Maude, for two seasons (1972–1974), and its spin-off series Good Times, for five seasons (1974–77, 1978–79), for which Rolle

The world's fastest bicycle racer for 12 years, Marshall Walter "Major" Taylor was born in Indianapolis, 1878. Marshall Walter "Major" Taylor (November 26, 1878 – June 21, 1932) was an American track cyclist who began his amateur career while he was still a teenager in Indian

Minnie Julia Riperton-Rudolph (November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979), known professionally as Minnie Riperton, was an American singer-songwriter best known for her 1975 single "Lovin' You" and her five-octave vocal range. Born in 1947, Riperton grew up in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborh

Melvin Edward "Slappy" White (September 27, 1921 – November 7, 1995) was an American comedian and actor. He worked with Redd Foxx on the Chitlin' circuit of stand-up comedy during the 1950s and 1960s. He appeared on the television shows Sanford and Son, That's My Mama, Blossom, and

"Neg Maron" or "Brown Man" and RBG Nègre Mawon has become the iconic symbol of freedom and is viewed in the world as a symbol for the freedom of black people. This monument depicts a slave, blowing a conch shell, while holding a machete in his other hand with a broken chain and h