*John Work Jr. was born on this date in 1871. He was a Black musicologist, choral director, educationalist, singer, and songwriter. John Wesley Work Jr. was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and was the son of Samuella and John Wesley Work. His father was a choir director, and some members were in the original Fisk Jubilee […]
learn more*Leota O. Palmer’s birth is celebrated on this date in 1904. She was a Black musician and music teacher. She and her twin brother were born in Oberlin to Columbus and Lelia Palmer, owners of a popular restaurant and bakery. She enrolled in the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in high school, studied piano, and graduated […]
learn more*Dennis Oglesby was born on January 21, 1960. He was a Black minister and community activist. Born in Chicago to insurance executive Dennis Michael Oglesby Sr. and community organizer Sylvia Oglesby, Dennis Jr. grew up in California with his father after his parents divorced. In 1983, he graduated from Rust College, an HBCU in Holly […]
learn more*R. Roosevelt Thomas, Jr. was born on this date in 1944. He was a Black administration activist and author. From Chattanooga, TN, Rufus Roosevelt Thomas, Jr. attended Chattanooga Public Schools and was a 1962 honor graduate of Howard High School. He graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.A. in Math from Morehouse College. Thomas Jr. received an […]
learn more*The birth of Saint Gelasius I is celebrated on this date in c 450. He was the Black Roman African bishop of Rome. Gelasius was born in Africa and was one of the most prolific authors of the early bishops of Rome. Over 100 Gelasian letters survive; although 49 are fragmentary, some are relatively short. Additionally, six treatises are […]
learn more*João Felisberto was born on this date in 1880. He was an Afro Brazilian sailor and activist. João Cândido Felisberto was born in Encruzilhada do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, to a poor Afro Brazilian family. His father and mother were former slaves. He entered the Brazilian Navy in 1894 at the age of 13. The […]
learn more*Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (D.E.I.) in America is affirmed on this date in 1965. This is a policy that levels the presence of non-white, disabled, female, aged, and binary citizens. D.E.I. is in the private and public sectors of education and business. As educational subjects began to diversify more in the 1960s, student bodies did […]
learn more*George Biddle Kelley was born on this date in 1884. He was a Black civil engineer. From Troy, New York, his father, Richard, was a runaway slave who volunteered with the 54th Massachusetts Infantry. His mother, Mathilda, was the daughter of an African Methodist Episcopal minister, the Rev. W.H. Decker. Young Kelley was named after […]
learn more*Alfred Cookman was born on this date in 1828. He was a white-American Methodist minister and abolitionist. He was born in Columbia, Pennsylvania, the son of the Methodist Episcopal minister George G. Cookman. He was early consecrated to the ministry by his pious mother; experienced religion while attending the grammar school of Dickinson College. In 1851, […]
learn more*Vertner Woodson Tandy was born on this date in 1885. He was a Black architect. He was born in Lexington, Kentucky. His parents were Henry A. Tandy and Emma Brice Tandy. Henry Tandy was a successful entrepreneur and building contractor. In 1904 young Tandy attended Tuskegee Institute studying architectural drawing. In 1905 he transferred to Cornell University, where […]
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