People, Locations, Episodes

Sarah Keys, Army Nurse born

*Sarah Keyes was born on this date in 1929.  She is a retired Black nurse’s aide and WAC Army officer. From Washington, N.C., Sarah Louise Keyes was the daughter of David Artist Keyes and Curley Vivian Wooten.  One of seven children, she graduated locally from Mother of Mercy School in 1948.  After graduation, Keyes worked in New Jersey […]

John Conyers, Michigan Congressman born

On this date in 1929, John Conyers, Jr., was born. He was an African American politician and lawyer.

Cornelius Charlton, Soldier born

*Cornelius Charlton was born on this date in 1929. He was a soldier in the United States Army during the Korean War. Cornelius H. Charlton was born in East Gulf, West Virginia. He was the eighth of 17 children born to Van Charlton, a coal miner, and Clara (née Thompson) Charlton, a housewife. Cornelius briefly […]

Ernest Morial, Lawyer, Mayor, Judge born

On this date in 1929, Ernest Morial, an African American politician, was born.

He was born the youngest of six children in Louisiana and nicknamed Dutch. The Morial family were devout Catholics and Ernest began his education at St. Louis Catholic School. He later attended Xavier Preparatory School. Morial graduated from Xavier University, a historically Black Catholic college, in 1951. At Xavier, the only historically Black Catholic College in the country at the time, he became president of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., the first Black Greek Fraternity.

Emery Barnes, Politician born

*Emery Barnes was born on this date in 1929. He was a Black Canadian football player and politician.

Born in New Orleans Louisiana and raised in Oregon, Barnes was an alternate hi-jumper for the 1952 US Olympic Track and Field team. He played football at the University of Oregon and graduated he received his B.S. degree in 1954. Later that year he was drafted by the NFL’s Green Bay Packers, but had much more success in the Canadian Football League with the B.C. Lions.

Charles Rangel, Politician born

Charles Rangel, an African American politician, was born on this date in 1930.

He was born in New Harlem, NY, and raised by his mother and grandmother after his parents separated. He dropped out of high school to serve in the U.S. Army from 1948-52. During his tour, he fought in Korea and was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star. Rangel is a graduate of New York University and St. John’s University School of Law.

Rosemary Brown, Canadian Politician born

Rosemary Brown was born on his date in 1930. She was an African Canadian politician and activist.

Born and raised in Jamaica, young Brown came from a home of strong, educated, political women. She moved to Canada in 1950 to study at McGill University in Montreal. Canadian racism was the custom and no white Canadian girl wanted to be her roommate. Only West Indians and a few white friends would even speak to her. Landlords and employers rejected her for jobs and apartments, and this experience was repeated when she moved to Vancouver in 1955.

Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku, Politician born

*Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku was born on this date in 1930. He was a Congolese politician and military officer. Mobutu, a member of the Ngbandi ethnic group, was born in Lisala, Belgian Congo. Mobutu’s mother, Marie Madeleine Yemo, was a hotel maid who fled to Lisala to escape the harem of a local village chief. There she […]

Clarence Pendleton, Politician born

On this date in 1930, Clarence Pendleton, Jr., was born. He was an African American politician.

Born in Louisville, KY, Clarence McClane Pendleton was raised in Washington D.C., attended Dunbar High School. He received a B.S. from Howard University in 1954, and a masters degree in 1961 while coaching swimming, football, rowing, and baseball.

Fred Gray, Attorney and Preacher born

*Fred Gray was born on this date in 1930.  He is a Black civil rights attorney, preacher, and activist.   Born in Montgomery, Alabama, Fred David Gray attended the Loveless School, where his aunt taught, until the seventh grade. He attended the Nashville Christian Institute (NCI), a boarding school operated by the Churches of Christ. He assisted the NCI president in visiting […]

Douglas Wilder, Politician born

*Douglas Wilder was born on this date in 1931. He is an African American lawyer, professor and politician.

Carl Brashear, Master Diver (Navy) born

*Carl Brashear was born on this date in 1931. He was an Africa American Master Chief Boatswain’s Mate and the first Black Master Diver in the Navy.

Bertie Bowman, Public Policy Administrator born.

*Bertie Bowman was born on this date in 1931. He was a Black federal congressional staffer. Herbert ‘Bertie’ Bowman was born to sharecroppers Mary Ragin and Robert Bowman in Summerton, South Carolina. His mother died, and his father soon remarried. Bowman had twelve siblings in a house with no plumbing. Career After meeting with U.S. […]

William Clay Sr. Politician born

*William Clay Sr. was born on this date in 1931.  He is a retired Black politician.   William Lacy Clay Sr. was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Luella S. (Hyatt) and Irving Charles Clay. He graduated from Saint Louis University. Clay served in the United States Army from 1953 to 1955 and was a St. Louis […]

Carrie Saxon Perry, Politician born

*Carrie Saxon Perry was born on this date in 1931.  She was a Black politician. Carrie Saxon was born in Hartford, CT, to David Saxon and Mabel Lee. Her grandmother primarily raised her after her father left the family when she was only six months old.  She graduated from Howard University with a degree in […]