People, Locations, Episodes

William H. Hastie, Judge and Administrator born

On this date in 1904, William H. Hastie was born. He was an African American attorney, judge and magistrate, and state government executive.

Ronald Davies, Lawyer and Judge born

*Ronald Davies was born on this date in 1904. He was a white-American lawyer and Judge. Ronald Davies was born in Grand Forks, ND. A 1922 Grand Forks Central High School graduate, he received a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Dakota in 1927. Davies attended law school at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., […]

Leon Jordan, Teacher, and Police Detective born

Leon Jordan was born on this date in 1905. He was an African American teacher, police detective and politician.

Born in Kansas City, MO., Jordan graduated from Wilberforce University, in Wilberforce, Ohio, and later worked as a social caseworker and teacher. In 1938, he joined the Kansas City Police Department, aftrer 16 years becoming the first African American to achieve the rank of lieutenant. He was granted an extended leave of absence in 1947, and lived for eight years in the West African country of Liberia, where he reorganized a 450-man police force.

Robert Nix Sr., Congressman born

*Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix Sr., was born on this date in 1905. He was an African American politician and the first Black congressman from Pennsylvania,

Theodore Berry, Attorney, and Politician born

Theodore M. Berry, an African American politician, was born on this date in 1905.

He was born in Maysville, a small town on the banks of the Ohio River, to a white father, a farmer he met only once, and a deaf mother who and communicated with him only in sign language. As a child, he sold newspapers, shined shoes, shoveled coal, delivered laundry, shelved books in local libraries, and worked as a desk clerk at the “Black” YMCA in Cincinnati, where he roomed during high school.

Theodore McNeal, Union Organizer, and Politician born

Theodore McNeal, an African American union organizer and politician, was born on this date in 1905.

Edward Akufo-Addo, Lawyer and Politician born

*Edward Akufo-Addo was born on this date in 1906. He was a Ghanaian politician and lawyer. Edward Akufo-Addo was born at Dodowa in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana to William Martin Addo-Danquah and Theodora Amuafi. Both of his parents were from the southern Ghanaian town of Akropong. He had primary education at Presbyterian Primary […]

Lena King Lee, Educator, and Lawyer born

*Lena King Lee was born on this date in 1906.  She was a Black educator and attorney who entered politics at 60 and became one of the first Black women elected to the Maryland General Assembly. She was born Lena King in Sumter County, Alabama, one of three children of Samuel Sylvester King and Lula Gully King.  Her father […]

The “Brownsville Affair” Occurs

*The “Brownsville Affair” of 1906 is remembered on this date. This was a racial incident from tensions between whites in Brownsville, Texas and Black infantrymen in the U.S. Army stationed at nearby Fort Brown.

Léopold Senghor, Politician, and Poet born

*Léopold Senghor was born on this date in 1906.  He was a Black Senegalese poet, politician, and cultural theorist.  Léopold Sédar Senghor was born in the city of Joal, south of Dakar, capital of Senegal.  His father, Basile Diogoye Senghor, was a businessman and merchant who owned thousands of cattle and vast lands, his mother […]

Hulan Jack, Politician born

*Hulan Jack was born on this date in 1906. He was an African American politician.

Grace Hamilton, Woman’s Advocate, and Politician born

*On this date in 1907, Grace Towns Hamilton was born. She was an African American civil rights advocate, feminist, and politician.

From Atlanta, she was the eldest of four children to George and Nellis McNair Towns. Towns graduated from American University in 1927, enrolling in graduate school at Ohio State University where she paid her way through school as a secretary at the YMCA. In 1930, she married Henry C. Hamilton, dean and professor of education at Lemoyne College. Grace Hamilton was the first African American woman to serve in the Georgia legislature (1966-1984).

Robert E. Lillard, Lawyer, Politician, and Activist born

Robert Emmitt Lillard was born on this date in 1907. He was an African American lawyer, politician, and activist.

Born in Nashville to John W. and Virginia (Allen) Lillard, he was educated at Immaculate Mother’s Academy and in local public schools. He then attended Beggins Commercial College, although his ambition was to become a lawyer. In 1928, R. E. Lillard began work as a garage attendant and married Hallie C. Moore. They had three children: Gladys, Sandra, and Robert Walter. Lillard entered law school in 1932 at Nashville’s Kent College of Law.

Oliver W. Hill, Lawyer, and Activist born

Oliver W Hill, Sr., an African American attorney and activist, was born on this date in 1907.

‘Gus’ Hawkins, Congressman born.

On this date in 1907, Augustus Hawkins, African American politician was born.

Augustus Freeman “Gus” Hawkins was born in Shreveport, LA. When he was 11, his family moved to California. His pharmacist father was from England and had been on several African Expeditions.