People, Locations, Episodes

Bernice Cross, Artist, and Art Instructor born

*Bernice Cross was born on this date in 1912. She was a Black artist and art instructor based in Washington, D.C., for most of her professional career. Her full name was Bernice Francena Cross was born in Iowa City, Iowa, as an only child. Her father was Frank Wallace Cross, a lifelong Iowa resident; her mother was […]

Lewis A. Jackson, Aviator, and Educator born

Lewis A. Jackson was born on this date in 1912. He was an African American aviator, innovator, educator, and administrator.

The Delta Sigma Theta Sorority is Formed

On this date in 1913, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority was found by 22 college women at Howard University.

These students wanted to use their collective strength to promote academic excellence and to provide assistance to persons in need. The first public act performed by the Delta Founders was their participation in the Women’s Suffrage March in Washington D.C., March 1913. Delta Sigma Theta was incorporated in 1929.

Jarvis Christian College Begins Classes

*Jarvis Christian College opened on this date in 1913.  This is a private, four-year, Historically Black College (HBCU), fully accredited, co-educational liberal arts institution.   Located in Hawkins, Texas, since its founding in 1912, Jarvis Christian College has been a source of hope for those who want a quality liberal arts education, professional preparation, guidance in […]

Margaret Bonds, Teacher, and Composer born

On this date in 1913, Margaret Bonds was born. From Chicago, Illinois, she was an African American pianist and composer.

The Carnegie Colored Library (Houston, TX), Opens

*The Carnegie Colored Library, established by Houston’s African A rican community in the Fourth Ward, is celebrated on this date in 1913. Because of Jim Crow, Blacks were prohibited from accessing the Houston Lyceum and Carnegie Library, so Black leaders organized their public library in Houston’s Booker T. Washington High School in 1909. Native Houston […]

Beneta Edwards McHie, Librarian and Social Worker born

*Beneta Edwards McHie was born on this date in 1913. She was a Black social worker and librarian. Beneta Amelia Edwards, born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, was the daughter of Benjamin Franklin Edwards and Lola Dodd Ford Edwards and had one sister, Leatrice Dodd. Her grandparents escaped from Kentucky (Annie Ford) and Texas (Benjamin Edwards) […]

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity is Founded

On this date in 1914, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., was founded.

Howard University’s Langston Taylor, Charles I. Brown, and Leonard F. Morse chartered the fraternity. Its motto is: Culture for Service and Service for Humanity.

Phi Beta Sigma is constitutionally bound to Zeta Phi Beta Sorority.

Henry McBay, Scientist, and Educator born

On this date in 1914, Henry McBay was born. He was an African American scientist and educator.

Henry Ransom Cecil McBay was from Mexia, TX. He received a Bachelor of Science from Wiley College in 1934, a Master of Science from Atlanta University in 1936, and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Chicago in 1945. He was an instructor of chemistry at Wiley College from 1936 to 1938, then an instructor at Western University, Kansas City. In 1944 and 1945, he won the Elizabeth Norton prize at the University of Chicago for outstanding research in chemistry.

Kenneth B. Clark, Educator, and Psychologist born

This date marks the birthday of Kenneth Bancroft Clark in 1914. He was an African American psychologist, educator, and social activist. His research, in particular his famous “doll study,” was crucial to the desegregation of public schools.

Mary Fair Burks, Scholar, and Activist born

*Mary Fair Burks was born on this date in 1914. She was a Black educator, scholar, and activist. She was the daughter of Gustavus “Gus” Samuel and Ollie (née Williams) Fair. She attended Alabama State University and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in English literature in 1933, and Michigan State University, where she earned a Master […]

Jean Blackwell Hudson, Librarian born

*Jean Blackwell Hutson was born on September 7, 1914. She was an African American librarian and researcher.

Marjorie Browne, Mathematician, and Teacher born

On this date in 1914, Marjorie Lee Browne was born. She was an African American mathematician and professor.

Born in Memphis, TN., her father was a railway postal clerk and her mother died before she was two years old. Because her father had taken two years of college, excelling in arithmetic, he passed on his love for math to mathematical concepts to her.

The Moorland-Spingarn Research Collection is Established

The Moorland-Spingarn Research Collection is celebrated on this date. This is a vast collection of scholarly materials by and about people of African descent, located at Howard University.

The collection was first donated on this date in 1914. The holdings of the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center (MSRC) chronicle the experiences of people of African descent in Africa, the Americas, and other parts of the world from the sixteenth century through the present. It is composed of two divisions: Library and Manuscript.

John H. Clarke, Historian, and Educator born

John Henrik Clarke was born on New Years Day, 1915. He was an African American historian, writer, and educator.

He was born in Union Springs, Alabama, into a family that came from a long line of sharecroppers. The family moved to Columbus, Georgia, when he was four years old. As a young young man, Clarke taught the junior Bible class at a local Baptist church. He noticed that although many Bible stories “unfolded in Africa…I saw no African people in the printed and illustrated Sunday school lessons.”