People, Locations, Episodes

Vinnette Carroll, Actress, and Director born

*Vinnette Carroll was born on this date in 1922. She was an African American actress, playwright, and director from New York City.

Her parents were Florence and Edgar Carroll. When she was three, the family moved to Jamaica; and consequently, young Carroll spent much of her childhood in the West Indies. She received a B.A. from Long Island University in 1944; and an M.A. from New York University in 1946, followed by doctoral work in psychology at Columbia University. Carroll’s father encouraged his daughters to become physicians, and as a compromise, she chose psychology.

Jane White, Stage Actress, and Dancer born

*Jane White was born on this date in 1922. She was an African American stage actress and dancer.

Percival Borde, Choreographer born

*Percival Borde was born on this date in 1922. He was an Afro Caribbean dancer-choreographer, educator, and scholar. From the Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, Percival Sebastian Borde was the son of veterinarians George Paul Borde and Augustine Francis Lambie. He was raised in Trinidad and attended school at the Queen Royal College. In his […]

Samella Sanders Lewis, Visual Artist, Professor, and Art Historian born

*Samella Sanders Lewis was born on this date in 1923. She was a Black visual artist, professor, and art historian. Samella Sanders was born to Samuel Sanders and Rachel Taylor Sanders in New Orleans, Louisiana, and raised in Ponchatoula, Louisiana. Her father was a farmer, and her mother was a domestic worker. Widely exhibited and […]

Warren M. Robbins, Art Collector born

*Warren M. Robbins was born on this date in 1923.  He was a white Jewish-American art collector.   Warren Murray Robbins was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, to Jewish immigrants from Ukraine. He attended the University of New Hampshire, earning a bachelor’s degree in English in 1945. He was awarded a master’s degree from the University of Michigan in 1949, majoring in history. After graduating […]

‘The Charleston’ (Dance) Goes Public

On this date in 1923, “Runnin’ Wild” opened at the Colonial Theater in New York City. This Miller and Lyles Production was the first public introduction of the dance “The Charleston” to New York and the world.

The Black chorus line moved and sang James P. Johnson’s “Charleston” and other songs. In the show both dance and songs expressed the mood of reckless daring, abandon, and restlessness of the jazz-age flappers.

Soon “The Charleston” became the trend and craze throughout the United States and the world. The show had 228 performances and closed on June 28, 1924

Saka Acquaye, Playwright and Musician born

*Saka Acquaye was born on this date in 1923. He was a Black Ghanaian musician, playwright, sculptor, and textile designer. Saka Acquaye was born in Accra, Ghana, the sixth child of his parents, Regina and John Akweifio. He attended the Methodist School, Accra Royal School, and then Government Boys Schools. He obtained a Cadbury Scholarship to […]

The Cotton Club (NYC) Opens

*The Cotton Club opened on this date in 1923.  This popular segregated New York City nightclub from 1923 to 1940 exemplified how American racial intersectionality and inequity lived together.  It was located on 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue (1923 to 1935), then briefly in the midtown Theater District (1935-1940).   In 1920, heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson rented the upper floor of the building on the corner […]

Clara Ledesma Terrazas, Afro Dominican Artist born

*Clara Ledesma Terrazas was born on this date in 1924.  She was an Afro Dominican artist and teacher.   Clara Ledesma was born in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic.   She initially studied art under Yoryi Morel in his academy in that city. Ledesma later enrolled in the National School of Fine Arts in Santo […]

Julia Perry, Classical Composer, and Teacher born

*Julia Perry was born on this date in 1924.  She was a Black classical composer and teacher. Born in Lexington, Kentucky, Julia Amanda Perry studied voice, piano, and composition at the Westminster Choir College from 1943–48. There, she received her B.M. and M.M. She continued on to her graduate studies at Berkshire Music Center in Tanglewood and then later studied at the Juilliard School of Music. Around this […]

Richard Mayhew, Artist born

*Richard Mayhew was born on this date in 1924. He is an Afro Native American landscape painter, illustrator, and arts educator. Richard Mayhew was born in Amityville, New York, to Alvin Mayhew, of African and Shinnecock tribe descent, and his mother, Lillian Goldman Mayhew, was of African and Cherokee-Lumbee descent. His mother would take him to New York City to see paintings, and George Inness’s […]

John Biggers, Artist born

On this date in 1924, John Biggers was born. He was a gifted, African American artist.

From Gastonia, North Carolina, he was born in a shotgun house built by his father Paul. His father was a Baptist preacher, schoolteacher, farmer, principal of a three-room school, and shoemaker. His mother, Cora, did laundry and cooked for white families. Biggers was the youngest of seven in a tightly knit family that valued education and creative endeavors.

William Marshall, Stage and Screen Actor born

*William Marshall was born on this date in 1924. He was an African American stage and screen actor.

Born and raised in Gary, Indiana, Marshall graduated from that cities Roosevelt High School. His acting career began in the early 1950s with the films Lydia Bailey, Demetrius and the Gladiators, and Sabu and the Magic Ring, in which he played “Ubal,” the genie.

Linda Hopkins, Singer, and Actress born

*Linda Hopkins was born on this date in 1924. She was a Black actress and blues and gospel singer. Born Melinda Helen Matthews in New Orleans, Louisiana, the second child of the Reverend Fred Matthews, Sr. and Hazel Smith, Hopkins grew up in the section of New Orleans known by the locals as “Zion City.” […]

Matthew Beard Jr., Child Actor born.

*Matthew Beard Jr. was born on this date in 1925. He was a Black child actor. Beard was born near Los Angeles, California, to Matthew Beard Sr. and Johnnie Mae Beard (née Clay). His father was the founding pastor of the Beloved Church of God in Christ in Los Angeles. Beard previously played baby parts […]