People, Locations, Episodes

William A. Davis, Anthropologist, and Educator born

William Allison Davis was born on this date in 1902. He was an African American cultural anthropologist and educator.

He was born in Washington, DC, and attended Williams College in Williamstown, MA. He received a Masters Degree in anthropology from Harvard University in 1942 and a Ph.D. in education in 1942 at the University of Chicago. He was awarded the John Dewey Distinguished Professor honor. Davis taught at Dillard University and later at the University of Chicago. In 1948, he became one of the first African Americans to receive tenure at a non-historical Black institution.

Thelma D. Brown, Playwright, and Teacher born

*Thelma Duncan Brown was born on this date in 1902.  She was a Black writer, teacher, and stage producer.   A St. Louis, Missouri-born writer, she received her college education at Howard University, Washington, DC, and Columbia University, New York. At Howard, during the 1920s, she discovered her writing talents under the tutelage of Thomas […]

James Lesesne Wells, Artist, and Teacher born

*James Lesesne Wells was born on this date in 1902. He was an African American educator, artist and photographer.

Black History and The Rhodes Scholarship, a story

*The Rhodes scholarship is celebrated on this date in 1902. It is one of the most prestigious and oldest international fellowship programs for graduates and prolific intellectuals in the world. Created and named after South African mining magnate Cecil John Rhodes, the program brings together more than 80 scholars each year from South Africa, Australia, Canada, Botswana, India, Kenya, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Germany, Jamaica, and the United States, from which 32 scholars are chosen. Scholars are awarded scholarships worth $50,000 each for two years of study at Oxford University.

The Palmer Memorial Institute is Founded

*On this date in 1902, we celebrate the Alice Freeman Palmer Memorial Institute.  Also known as Palmer Memorial Institute, it was an American school for upper-class Blacks. Dr. Charlotte Hawkins Brown founded it in Sedalia, North Carolina, near Greensboro. Palmer Memorial Institute was named after Alice Freeman Palmer, former president of Wellesley College and benefactor of Dr. Brown, who died on this date.  More than 1,000 African […]

Mercer Cook, Educator, and Ambassador born

*On this date in 1903, Mercer Cook was born. He was an African American educator and ambassador.

Marvel Cooke, Writer, Teacher, and Activist born

*On this date in 1903, Marvel Cooke was born. She was an African American journalist, writer, and civil rights activist.

Viktor Lowenfeld, Art Professor born

*The birth of Viktor Lowenfeld is celebrated on this date in 1903. He was a white Jewish Austrian professor of art education. Born in Linz, Austria, Viktor Lowenfeld was always drawn to the arts. Through his narration, Lowenfeld mentioned that he was pulling toward music at four or five. He started to play the violin […]

Louis Leakey, Anthropologist born

*Louis Leakey was born on this date in 1903. He was a white-African anthropologist and historian.  Born at Kabete Mission, near Nairobi, Kenya, Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey’s parents, Harry and Mary Leakey were English missionaries to the Kikuyu tribe.   Despite brief stays in England during childhood, Louis grew up more African than English. He played with […]

The ‘Talented Tenth,’ a definition

*On this date in 1903, The Talented Tenth is briefly defined.  This term designated a leadership class of Blacks in the early 20th century. Northern white philanthropists created the term, then publicized by W. E. B. Du Bois in an influential essay of the same name, which he published in 1903.  It appeared in The Negro Problem, a collection of essays written […]

Grace Lorch, Teacher and Activist born

*Grace Lorch was born on this date in 1903. She was a teacher and activist. Grace Lonergan was born to William and Delia Lonergan in Boston, Massachusetts. She and her brother Thomas grew up in a working-class household where her father was a railroad worker, and her mother was a homemaker. Lonergan became a public […]

Florence Powell, Librarian and Teacher born.

Florence Powell was born on this date in 1897. She was an African American educator and the first Black woman to receive professional training in library science in the United States.

William Montaque Cobb, Anthropologist born

*W. Montaque Cobb was born on this date in 1903. He was an African American educator, professor of anatomy best known for his research in physical anthropology, the growth and development of the African American, and aging in the adult skeleton.

Felton G. Clark, Educator born

*Felton G. Clark was born on this date in 1903. He was an African American educator and administrator.

Benjamin Quarles, Historian born

*Benjamin Quarles was born on this date in 1904. He was an African American historian.

From Boston, Massachusetts, the son of a subway porter, he entered college at 23, receiving his Bachelor’s degree from Shaw University in 1931, his M.A. degree from the University of Wisconsin 1933, and PhD in 1940. Quarles taught at Shaw, served as dean at Dillard University, and has chaired the history department at Morgan State University.