People, Locations, Episodes

Mamie Clark, Child Psychologist born.

Mamie Phipps Clark was born on this date in 1917. She was an African American educator (child psychology), community activist and administrator.

The Municipal Training School for Colored Nurses Begins

*On this date in 1917, we celebrate the first class of the Municipal Training School for Colored Nurses (MTSCN). Mrs. Ludie Andrews founded MCSTN, which became part of the Grady Memorial Hospital School of Nursing program. This was an accredited nursing school for black students. Municipal School students took courses at Spelman College and completed clinical work at Hughes […]

Carolyn B. Parker, Physicist, and Professor born

*Carolyn Parker was born on this date in 1917.  She was a Black physicist and professor.  Carolyn Beatrice Parker was born in Gainesville, Florida. Her father, Julius A. Parker, was a successful physician and pharmacist who graduated from Meharry Medical College, the first medical school in the South for Blacks. Her mother was Della Ella […]

Mabel Cason, Educator born

Mabel Cason was born on this date in 1918. She was an African American educator and activist.

Jamye Coleman Williams, Educator, and Author born

*Jamye Coleman Williams was born on this date in 1918. She was a Black educator, administrator, and community (church) activist. Jamie Coleman was from Louisville, KY; her father was an A.M.E. preacher, and her mother was a poet and musician. In 1938, Williams graduated with honors in English from Wilberforce University. She received her M.A. in […]

Yosef Alfredo Antonio Ben-Jochannan, Historian born

*Yosef Alfredo Antonio Ben-Jochannan was born on this date in 1918. He is an African American writer and historian.

Juanita Stout, Judge, and Educator born

*The birth of Dr. Juanita Kidd Stout in 1919 is marked on this date. She was an African American educator, lawyer, and in 1959 was one of the first Black women in America to be elected to the Bench.

David Blackwell, Math Professor born

David Blackwell was born on this date in 1919. He was an African American mathematician and professor.

David Harold Blackwell grew up in Centralia, Illinois, a town on the “Mason-Dixon Line.” He was raised in a family which expected and supported working hard. As a schoolboy, Blackwell did not care for algebra and trigonometry.

Emmett Scott High School (South Carolina) is Created

*On this date in 1919, Rock Hill, South Carolina appropriated funding for Emmett Scott High School, the first South Carolina school for blacks.

Elizabeth Koontz, Educator, and Politician born

On this date in 1919, we celebrate the birth of Elizabeth Koontz, an African American educator and politician.

Elizabeth Duncan Koontz was born in Salisbury, N.C., and attended that city’s public school system. She graduated from Livingstone College in 1938. Koontz attained her Masters Degree from Atlanta University in 1941, and did further study at Columbia University. A classroom teacher who devoted her entire life to education, Koontz also served as the first Black woman president of the National Education Association (NEA) in 1968.

Aurabelle Caggins, Community Activist born

*Aurabelle Caggins was born on this date in 1919.  She was a Black educator, community activist, and politician.  From Kiln, Mississippi, Aurabelle Denise Mondy moved to Bay St. Louis, MS, at the age of three with her family.  She was educated in the Gulfport school system and graduated from 33rd Avenue High School in 1937. […]

Viola Duvall, Teacher, and Activist born

*Viola Duvall was born on this date in 1919.  She was a Black teacher and education activist.  Born in Charleston, South Carolina, Viola Louise Duvall was the only child of Vincent and Pearl Duvall.  She was named for two of her mother’s sisters who died in the Spanish flu pandemic of that era.  After her […]

Harold Delaney, Scientist, and Educator

Harold Delaney was born on this date in 1919. He was an African American scientist and educator.

He was born in Philadelphia, PA, the son of Rev. William Y. High School in Providence, RI, in 1936. In 1941, Delaney received his B.S. degree in chemistry from Howard University, the same school from which he received his M.A. in 1943.

Charles Bailey, Pilot, and Teacher born

*Charles Bailey was born on this date in 1919. He was a Black army pilot, educator, businessman, and WW II hero.   From DeLand, Florida, he was the son of Archie, and Josephine Bailey raised these children in a small town on the southwest coast of Florida; their hometown offered no schooling for Blacks. He and […]

Adelaide Cromwell, Professor and Activist born

*Adelaide Cromwell was born on this date in 1919. She was a Black sociologist, activist, and professor emeritus.  Adelaide McGuinn Cromwell was born in Washington, D.C. Her grandfather, John Wesley Cromwell, was a well-known activist and educator, and her father, John Wesley Cromwell Jr., was the city’s first black certified public accountant. Her aunt, Otelia […]