People, Locations, Episodes

Charles Alston, Artist, and Teacher born

On this date we celebrate the birth of Charles Alston in 1907. He was an African American artist and teacher.

Charles Henry Alston was born in Charlotte, N.C. His father died when he was three. Soon after, his mother moved to New York and married Harry P. Bearden (the uncle of artist Romare Bearden). Alston attended DeWitt Clinton High School, taught there, and graduated from Columbia University in 1929. In 1931, he received a master’s degree from Columbia’s Teachers College.

Irene Britton Smith, Classical Composer born

*Irene Britton Smith was born on this date in 1907.  She was an African and Native classical composer and educator. Irene Britton was born in Chicago, Illinois, the youngest of four siblings. She was of African, Crow, and Cherokee descent. Smith attended Ferron Grammar School, Doolittle Grammar School, and Wendell Phillips High School. Britton attended […]

Ruby Elzy, Stage and Film Vocalist born.

*Ruby Elzy was born on this date in 1908. She was an African American opera singer who appeared on stage, radio and film.

A native of Pontotoc, Mississippi, at the age of five her family was abandoned. Her mother (Emma) Elzy supported the family as a teacher at the colored school in Pontotoc. Elzy is known to have created the role of Serena in George Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” on Broadway in 1935. She was married twice, her second husband was actor Jack Carr, who appeared on stage with her in “Porgy and Bess” and who also appeared in a number of films.

Robert Pious, Graphic Artist born

*Robert Savon Pious, a black graphic artist, was born on this date in 1908 in Meridian, Mississippi. His father was Nattie Pious, and his mother was Loula Pious.  His parents married in 1895 and had nine children, of which he was the sixth born. The family lived at 2005 18th Avenue in Meridian.  At the […]

Isabelle Washington, Dancer, and Actress born

*Isabel Washington Powell was born on this date in 1908.  She was a Black dancer and actress.   Isabel Geraldine Washington was born in Savannah, Georgia.  She was one of five children, with her older sister being the actress Fredi Washington.  She was raised primarily in New York City, where she pursued a show business […]

The Frogs Club, (Artists Organization) is Formed

On this date in 1908, The Frogs Club was organized in New York. The Frogs was a group of African American theatrical professionals.

Zenobia Powell Perry, Composer and Professor born

*Zenobia Powell Perry was born on October 3, 1908.  She was a Black composer, professor, and civil rights activist. She was born Zenobia Powell in Boley, Oklahoma, to physician Calvin B. Powell and Birdie Thompson Powell (of some Creek Indian heritage). Her family was well-educated and middle-class. Her grandfather, who had been a slave, sang […]

Ida Shepley, British Singer and Actress born

*Ida Shepley was born on this date in 1908. She was a Black British actress and singer. She was born Ida Mary Humphrey in Nantwich, U.K. Her father was Clement Humphrey, a Caribbean-born herbalist; her mother was Gladys May, born Worthington; she had a younger brother born in 1912. In 1919, her mother remarried John […]

James Hampton, Folk Artist born

*On this date in 1909, James Hampton was born. He was an African American folk artist.

Lari Gilges, Black German Actor born

*Lari Gilges was born on this date in 1909. He was a Black German actor and communist. Hilarius Gilges was born in Düsseldorf, Germany, and he was one of the few Black Germans born in the country before the First World War. His mother, Maria Stüttgen, was a white textile worker in Düsseldorf; his biological […]

Norman Lewis, Painting Artist born

Norman Lewis was born on this date in 1909. He was an African American painter.

Helen Martin, Actress born

*Helen Martin was born on this date in 1909.  She was a Black actress on stage and television.   Helen Dorothy Martin was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of William Martin, a minister, and Amanda Frankie Fox. Raised in Nashville, Tennessee, Martin attended segregated public schools.  Martin led a band and performed with local theater groups during her teenage years. For […]

Ermine Hall Allen, Vocalist born

*Ermine Hall Allen was born on this date in 1910.  She was a Black classical vocalist and educator. Born in St. Paul, Minnesota’s Rondo community, she was the youngest of two daughters to S.Edward. and Harriet ‘Hattie’ Grissom Hall.  Her older sister Dorothy was a music teacher.  Ermine’s first performances were impromptu affairs. At age […]

Abram Hill, Theatrical Playwright born

*Abram Hill was born on this date in 1910.  He was a Black playwright, author, and theater administrator. Abram Hill was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and spent half his childhood there. At seven, he appeared in a Morehouse College Theatre production. In 1925, the family moved to Harlem, New York, and at 13 years of age, Hill attended De Witt […]

Robert E. Jones, Actor born

*Robert E. Jones was born on this date in 1910. He was a Black actor and professional boxer. Robert Earl Jones was born in n Senatobia, or Coldwater, Mississippi, the son of Robert and Elnora Jones. He left school early to work as a sharecropper to help his family. Jones later became a prizefighter. Under the name […]