Today in Black History, 11/9/2013 • November 9, 1731 Benjamin Banneker, astronomer, surveyor and almanac author, was born in Ellicott’s Mills, Maryland. When Banneker was old enough to help on his parent’s farm, his formal education ended. In 1753, he carved a wooden clock that struck hourly, using a pocket watch as a model, and continued to work until his death. He began to study astronomy using borrowed books and equipment in 1788. In 1791, Banneker was hired to assist in the survey of what is now the District of Columbia, however due to illness he only worked on the project for three months. Banneker made astronomical calculations that predicted solar and lunar eclipses that he included in a six year series of almanacs from 1792 to 1797. The almanacs included the times for the rising and setting of the sun and moon and were commercially successful. Banneker expressed his views on slavery and racial equality, including a plea for justice for African Americans, in a 1791 letter to United States Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson. Banneker died October 9, 1806. His biography, “The Life of Benjamin Banneker: The First African-American Man of Science,” was published in 1972. In 1977, a commemorative obelisk was erected near his grave site by the Maryland Bicentennial Commission and the State Commission on Afro-American History and Culture. In 1980, the United States Postal Service issued a commemorative postage stamp in his honor and in 1998 the Benjamin Banneker Historical Park located on the site of his former farm was dedicated. Banneker’s name is enshrined in the Ring of Genealogy at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, Michigan. • November 9, 1913 Felrath Hines, curator and artist, was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. Hines began his formal art training at the age of 31 at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago and later moved to New York City to study at the Pratt Institute. Trained to be an art conservator, he launched a very successful private practice that included clients such as the Yale University Art Gallery and the Whitney Museum of American Art. In 1972, he joined the Smithsonian Institute as chief conservator of the National Portrait Gallery and from 1980 to his retirement in 1984 served in the same capacity at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Hines was active in the Civil Rights Movement, including participating in the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and joining the Spiral Group, a group of African American artists formed by Romare Bearden in 1963. While not opposed to participating in exhibitions of African American artists, Hines wanted his images to remain universal and not to be seen as having relevance exclusively to African Americans. As a result, in 1971 he refused to participate in the Whitney Museum of Art’s exhibition “Contemporary Black Artists in America”. Hines died October 3, 1993. • November 9, 1913 Theodore “Ted” Rhodes, the first African American professional golfer, was born in Nashville, Tennessee. Rhodes learned to golf while working as a caddie at Nashville golf courses. In the late 1930s, Rhodes joined the Civilian Conservation Corps and served in the United States Navy during World War II. In 1948, he played in the U. S. Open, making him the first African American professional golfer. Rhodes and fellow African American golfer Bill Spiller sued the Professional Golfers’ Association to remove the association’s “Caucasian only” clause. Although they prevailed in court, the PGA circumvented the ruling by changing its tournaments to invitationals and only inviting White golfers. Rhodes played mostly in United Golf Association tournaments, a series of professional golf tournaments for Black golfers, winning about 150 tournaments. In the 1960s, Rhodes moved back to Nashville where he mentored several future PGA golfers, including Lee Elder and Charlie Sifford. A month after his death July 4, 1969, the Cumberland Golf Course in Nashville was renamed in his honor. In 1998, Rhodes was posthumously inducted into the Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame and in 2009 the PGA granted posthumous membership to Rhodes and Spiller. • November 9, 1922 Dorothy Jean Dandridge, singer and actress, was born in Cleveland, Ohio. As a young child, she and her sister toured the South with an act called The Wonder Children. Dandridge first gained fame because of her singing ability and as a solo performer in nightclubs around the country. She first appeared on screen in 1935 and in 1937 appeared in the Marx Brothers feature “A Day at the Races”. In 1954, Dandridge was cast as the lead in “Carmen Jones” which was a commercial success and garnered Dandridge a nomination for the 1955 Academy Award for Best Actress. She was the third African American to be nominated for an Academy Award and the first in the Best Actress category. Dandridge also appeared in “Island in the Sun” (1957) and “Porgy and Bess” (1959). In the early 1960s, Dandridge suffered significant financial difficulties and alone and without any singing or acting engagements, suffered a nervous breakdown. Dandridge died September 8, 1965. In 1999, Halle Berry portrayed Dandridge in the HBO movie “Introducing Dorothy Dandridge”. Dandridge has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to the motion picture industry. Biographies of Dandridge include “Dorothy Dandridge: A Portrait in Black” (1970) and “Dorothy Dandridge: A Biography” (1997). • November 9, 1923 Alice Marie Coachman, hall of fame track and field athlete, was born in Albany, Georgia. Coachman dominated the United States amateur high jump competition from 1939 to 1948, winning 34 U. S. National titles and at the 1948 London Olympic Games becoming the first Black woman to win an Olympic Gold medal. Coachman retired from competition after the Olympics and in 1949 earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in home economics from Albany Normal and Agricultural College (now Albany State University). In 1952, she signed a product endorsement deal with Coca-Cola, the first African American woman to have such an arrangement. In 1975, Coachman was inducted into the USA Track & Field Hall of Fame and in 1994 she established the Alice Coachman Track and Field Foundation to help proven amateur athletes achieve their full potential and to help former Olympians transition from public celebrities to private productive citizens. Alice Coachman Elementary School in Albany is named in her honor. Her biography, “Jumping Over the Moon: A Biography of Alice Coachman Davis,” was published in 1993. During the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, Coachman was honored as one of the 100 greatest Olympic athletes in history. • November 9, 1935 Pack Robert “Bob” Gibson, hall of fame baseball pitcher, was born in Omaha, Nebraska. Despite a childhood filled with medical problems, Gibson was active in sports and won a basketball scholarship to Creighton University. In 1957, he signed to play baseball with the St. Louis Cardinals but delayed his start to play basketball with the Harlem Globetrotters for a year. Gibson entered the major leagues in 1959 and over the eight seasons between 1963 and 1970 won six Gold Glove Awards, the World Series Most Valuable Player Award in 1964 and 1967, and the Cy Young Award in 1968 and 1970. In game 1 of the 1968 World Series, Gibson had 17 strikeouts, a World Series record. Gibson retired after the 1975 season with a record of 251 wins and 174 losses. In 1981, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame and in 1999 was selected a member of the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. His autobiography, “Stranger to the Game: The Autobiography of Bob Gibson,” was published in 1994. A bronze statue of Gibson was unveiled April 18, 1998 in front of Busch Stadium, home of the Cardinals and Bob Gibson Boulevard in Omaha is named in his honor. In 2010, he co-authored with fellow Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson “Sixty-Feet Six-Inches,” detailing their careers and approach to baseball. • November 9, 1964 Roger Arliner Young, the first African American woman to receive a doctorate degree in zoology, died. Young was born in 1899 in Clifton Forge, Virginia but raised in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Howard University in 1923 and her Master of Science degree in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1926. In 1924, her article “On the Excretory Apparatus in Paramecium” was published in the journal Science, making her the first African American woman to research and professionally publish in her field. In 1940, she earned her Ph. D. in zoology from the University of Pennsylvania. After obtaining her doctorate, Young held teaching positions at several colleges, including Howard University, Jackson State University, and Southern University. • November 9, 1970 William Levi Dawson, lawyer and politician, died. Dawson was born April 26, 1886 in Albany, Georgia. He earned his bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from Fisk University in 1909 and in 1912 moved to Chicago, Illinois to study at Northwestern University Law School. During World War I, he served overseas as a first lieutenant from 1917 to 1919. After returning home, he earned his law degree and was admitted to the bar in 1920. From 1933 to 1939, Dawson served as an alderman in Chicago and in 1942 was elected to the United States House of Representatives where he served until his death. During his tenure in Congress, Dawson was a vocal opponent of the poll tax and is credited with defeating the Winstead Amendment which would have allowed members of the United States armed forces to opt out of racially integrated units. Dawson was also the first African American to serve as chairman of a regular congressional committee, serving as chairman of the Expenditures in the Executive Departments Committee (later renamed Government Operations). His biography, “William L. Dawson and the Limits of Black Electorial Leadership,” was published in 2009. • November 9, 1999 The Little Rock Nine received the Congressional Gold Medal which along with the Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award in the United States. The medal is bestowed by the United States Congress on individuals who perform outstanding deeds or acts of service to the security, prosperity, and national interest of the U. S. On May 17, 1954, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Brown v. Board of Education declaring all laws establishing segregated schools to be unconstitutional and calling for the desegregation of all schools throughout the nation. By 1957, the NAACP had registered nine Black students to attend the previously all-White Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus deployed the Arkansas National Guard to block the students from attending the school. President Dwight Eisenhower ordered the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army to Little Rock to facilitate the entry and provide protection to the students. On September 25, 1957, the Little Rock Nine successfully entered Central High School. During their ordeal, the Little Rock Nine were advised by journalist and activist Daisy Bates and for their efforts they received the NAACP Spingarn Medal in 1958. In 2007, the U. S. Mint distributed a commemorative silver dollar to “recognize and pay tribute to the strength, the determination and courage displayed by African American high school students in the fall of 1957”. Two made for television movies have dramatized the events, the 1981 CBS movie “Crisis at Central High” and the 1993 Disney Channel movie “The Ernest Green Story”. • November 9, 2000 Ruth Jean Simmons became the first Black person to head an Ivy League institution when she was elected president of Brown University. Simmons was born July 3, 1945 in Grapeland, Texas. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Dillard University in 1967 and her Master of Arts degree and Ph. D. in romance literature from Harvard University in 1970 and 1973, respectively. Simmons served in various capacities at a number of colleges and universities prior to becoming the first African American woman to head a major majority White college or university when she was selected in 1995 to become the president of Smith College. At Smith, she started the first engineering program at a U. S. women’s college. As president of Brown, Simmons completed an ambitious $1.4 billion fundraising initiative and made internationalization a strategic priority to better prepare students for the challenges and opportunities of an interconnected world. Simmons stepped down as president of Brown in 2012 but remains professor of comparative literature and Africana studies. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the American Philosophical Society and the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2009, President Barack Obama appointed Simmons to the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships. In 2010, she was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor for her many humanitarian efforts. Simmons holds honorary doctorate degrees from numerous colleges and universities, including Amherst College, Harvard University, and Spelman College. • November 9, 2005 Muhammad Ali was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, by President George W. Bush. Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. January 17, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky. He began boxing at the age of 12 and six Kentucky Golden Gloves titles, two national Golden Glove titles, and the Light Heavyweight Gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympic Games. Ali turned professional in 1960 and won the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship for the first time February 25, 1964. Ali was stripped of the title and had his boxing license suspended in 1967 for refusing to be drafted into the United States Army. He was quoted as saying “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Viet Cong…….They never called me a nigger”. Ali was allowed to fight again in 1970 and regained his title in “The Rumble in the Jungle” October 30, 1974. That year, he received the Hickok Belt, given annually to the top professional athlete of the year. He lost the title in 1978 but regained it for the third time seven months later. Ali retired from boxing in 1981 with a record of 56 wins and 5 losses and has devoted himself to humanitarian endeavors around the globe. Ali was named “Fighter of the Year” by Ring Magazine five times, the most of any fighter, and in 1990 was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. In 1997, he was the recipient of the Arthur Ashe Courage Award and in 1999 was named Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated magazine and Sports Personality of the Century by the British Broadcasting Corporation. In 2001, a biographical film, “Ali,” was released. Ali received the Presidential Citizens Medal in 2001. On November 19, 2005, the Muhammad Ali Center opened in Louisville. Ali published his autobiography, “The Greatest, My Own Story,” in 1975. Other biographies include “Muhammad Ali: The Birth of a Legend, Miami, 1961-1964” (2000) and “Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times” (2004). A documentary, “The Trials of Muhammad Ali,” was released in 2013. • November 9, 2005 Frank Robinson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, by President George W. Bush. Robinson was born August 31, 1935 in Beaumont, Texas. He broke into the major leagues in 1956 with the Cincinnati Reds and that year tied the record of 38 home runs by a rookie and was named National League Rookie of the Year. Robinson played with the Reds until 1965 and the Baltimore Orioles from 1966 to 1971. He retired as a player in 1976. Over his 21 season major league career, he was a 14-time All-Star and 1958 Gold Glove winner. He was named National League Most Valuable Player in 1961 and American League Most Valuable Player in 1966, the only player in history to win the award in both leagues. In 1966, he was awarded the Hickok Belt as the top professional athlete of the year in any sport. In 1975, the Cleveland Indians named Robinson manager of their team, the first Black manager in the major leagues. Robinson also managed the San Francisco Giants, the Montreal Expos, and the Baltimore Orioles where in 1989 he won the American League Manager of the Year Award. Robinson’s number 20 was retired by the Orioles in 1972 and the Reds in 1998. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982 and the Orioles unveiled a bronze statue of him at their stadium April 28, 2012. Robinson’s autobiography, “My Life in Baseball,” was published in 1968. He also co-wrote “Frank: The First Year” in 1976 and “Extra Innings” in 1988. Robinson currently serves as executive vice president of baseball development for Major League Baseball. • November 9, 2005 Aretha Louise Franklin was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, by President George W. Bush. Franklins was born March 25, 1942 in Memphis, Tennessee but raised in Detroit, Michigan. She was a self-taught piano prodigy and at the age of 14 recorded her first album, “Songs of Faith”. In 1967, Franklin recorded her breakthrough single “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)”. That was followed by “Respect” which reached number one on both the R&B and the Pop charts and earned Franklin the Grammy Awards for Best R&B Recording and Best Female R&B Performance. By the end of the 1960s, Franklin’s position as “The Queen of Soul” was firmly established. In 1972, she released “Amazing Grace” which sold more than 2 million copies, becoming the best-selling gospel album of all time. Other albums by Franklin include “Jump to It” (1982), “Aretha” (1986), “A Rose Is Still a Rose” (1998), “So Damn Happy” (2003), and “Aretha: A Woman Falling Out of Love” (2011). Franklin has had 20 number one singles on the Billboard R&B Chart and earned 18 Grammy Awards, including the Living Legend Award in 1991 and the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994. In 1987, she was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 1994 she was the youngest recipient of Kennedy Center Honors, in 1999 she was awarded the National Medal of Arts, the highest honor bestowed on an individual artist by the United States, by President William Clinton, and in 2005 she was the second woman inducted into the United Kingdom Music Hall of Fame. Franklin’s autobiography, “Aretha: From These Roots,” was published in 1999. She was inducted into the Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame in 2012. • November 9, 2005 Paul Rusesabagina was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, by President George W. Bush. Resesabagina was born June 15, 1954 in the Central-South region of Rwanda. After graduating from the hotel management program of Utalii College in Kenya, he was employed as an assistant hotel manager from 1984 to 1992. In 1992, he was promoted to general manager. In 1994, when the Rwandan Genocide began, Rusesabagina used his influence and connections to shelter 1,268 Tutsis and moderate Hutus from being slaughtered by the militia. When the violence subsided, Rusesabagina and the refugees were able to escape to Tanzania. His story was first told in the book “We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families” (1998). It was dramatized in the 2004 Academy Award nominated movie “Hotel Rwanda”. In 2011, Rusesabagina received the Tom Lantos Human Rights Prize. His autobiography, “An Ordinary Man,” was published in 2006. The Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation works to prevent future genocides and raise awareness of the need for a new truth and reconciliation process in Rwanda and the Great Lakes Region of Africa. • November 9, 2005 James Anderson DePreist was awarded the National Medal of Arts, the nation’s highest honor for artistic excellence, by President George W. Bush. DePriest was born November 21, 1936 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He studied composition at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music and went on to earn his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. In 1962, he won the Gold medal at the Dimitris Mitropoulos International Conducting Competition. He then became assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic during the 1965-1966 season. In 1969, DePriest made his European debut with the Rotterdam Philharmonic. From 2005 to 2008, he was permanent conductor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. As a guest conductor, he appeared with every major North American orchestra and had more than 50 recordings to his credit. DePriest was director emeritus of conducting and orchestral studies at the Julliard School and laureate director of the Oregon Symphony. DePriest published two books of poetry, “The Precipice Garden” (1987) and “The Distant Siren” (1989). He was awarded 13 honorary degrees and was an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. DePriest died February 8, 2013. • November 9, 2006 Edward Randolph Bradley, Jr., award winning journalist, died. Bradley was born June 22, 1941 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in education from Cheyney State College in 1964. Bradley started reporting the news at WDAS-FM during the 1960s in Philadelphia and in 1967 moved to the CBS owned WCBS in New York City. In 1972, he volunteered for a transfer to Saigon to cover the Vietnam War where he was injured by a mortar round. In 1976, Bradley became CBS News’ White House correspondent, the first Black person to serve in that capacity. In 1981, he joined the “60 Minutes” television show where over the next 26 years he did over 500 stories and won 19 Emmy Awards. In 2005, the National Association of Black Journalist awarded Bradley their Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2007 he posthumously received the George Foster Peabody Award given annually for distinguished and meritorious public service in radio and television. The Ed Bradley Scholarship is provided annually by the Radio and Television News Directors Foundation. Bradley’s name is enshrined in the Ring of Genealogy at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, Michigan. • November 9, 2006 Roy Rudolph DeCarava was awarded the National Medal of Arts, the highest honor bestowed on an individual artist by the United States, by President George W. Bush. DeCarava was born December 9, 1919 in Harlem, New York. He determined early that he wanted to be an artist and initially worked as a painter and commercial illustrator. Eventually he was drawn to photography and in 1955 opened A Photographer’s Gallery, pioneering an effort to win recognition for photography as a fine art. Also in 1955, he collaborated with Langston Hughes on a book about life in Harlem, “The Sweet Flypaper of Life”. DeCarava served as professor of photography at Cooper Union Institute from 1968 to 1975 and Hunter College from 1975 to his death October 27, 2009. A collection of his photographs, “Roy DeCarava, Photographs,” was published in 1981.
Posted on: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 15:13:56 +0000
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