People, Locations, Episodes

Marion Barry, Activist, and Politician born

*Marion Barry was born on this date in 1936.  He was a Black activist and politician.   Marion Shepilov Barry Jr. was born in rural Itta Bena, Mississippi, the third child of Mattie Cummings and Marion Barry.  His father died when he was four years old, and a year later, his mother moved the family to Memphis, Tennessee, where her employment prospects were better.  His mother […]

Ralph Metcalfe, Athlete, and Politician born

On this date, the Registry recalls the birth of Ralph Metcalfe in 1910. He was an African American sprinter and politician.

Alcee Hastings, Politician born

*Alcee Hastings was born on this date in 1936. He was a Black politician and judge. Alcee Lamar Hastings was born in Altamonte Springs, Florida, the son of Mildred L. (Merritt) and Julius “J. C.” Hastings. Hastings earned his Bachelor of Arts in zoology and botany from Fisk University in 1958. He attended Howard University School of Law from […]

Julius Chambers, Lawyer, and Activist born

*Julius Chambers was born on this date in 1936. He was an African American lawyer, Civil Rights activist and educator.

Colin Powell, Policy Administrator born

Colin Powell was born on this date in 1937. He is an African American politician, administrator and former soldier.

Hazel O’Leary, Administrator born

*Hazel O’Leary was born on this date in 1937. She is an African American politician and administrator.

Hazel Rollins O’Leary was born in Newport News, Virginia; she graduated from the former segregated Huntington High School of Newport News. O’Leary received her Bachelor’s degree in history and government from Fisk University in 1959; and her law degree from Rutgers University in 1966. O’Leary worked as a prosecutor in the state of New Jersey and was later a partner in the accounting firm of Coopers & Lybrand. During the Jimmy Carter administration,

Eleanor Holmes Norton, Politician born

*Eleanor Holmes Norton was born on this date in 1937. She is an African American lawyer and politician.

Bruce Boynton, Lawyer, and Activist born

*Bruce Boynton was born on this date in 1937.  He was a Black lawyer and civil rights leader.  Bruce Carver Boynton grew up in Selma, Alabama. His parents were civil rights activists, known in their community as Mr. and Mrs. Civil Rights because of their participation.  He was named after his Godfather, George Washington Carver. He […]

Moshood Abiola, Nigerian Chief born

Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola was born on this date in 1937 in Nigeria. He was an African entrepreneur and politician.

Abiola graduated from the University of Glasgow in Scotland with a degree in accounting. From 1969 to 1988 he worked for the International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation (ITT), meanwhile amassing a fortune from transportation, publishing, and other businesses. He also maintained close ties with Nigeria’s military rulers. In 1993, Abiola ran for president and was believed to be winning when the military halted the election and annulled the vote.

Johnny Cochran Jr., Lawyer born

Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr., was born on this date in 1937. He was an African American attorney and entrepreneur.

Cochran was born at Charity Hospital in Shreveport, LA to Johnnie L. Cochran, Sr., the son of Alonzo Cochran, and the late Hattie Bass Cochran, who was the daughter of Eugene Bass. He was raised in Los Angeles, attended UCLA, and received his law degree from Loyola Marymount University.

Breedlove v. Suttles is Decided

*On this date in 1937, Breedlove v. Suttles, 302 U.S. 277 (1937), was decided. This case was an overturned United States Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of requiring the payment of a poll tax to vote in state elections. At the time, Georgia imposed a poll tax of $1.00 per year, generally levied on all inhabitants. […]

Curt Flood, Baseball Player, and Union Activist born

*On this date in 1938, Curtis Charles Flood.  He was a Black baseball player and union activist.  He was a center fielder who played 15 seasons in the major leagues for the Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, and Washington Senators. Born in Houston, Texas, and raised in Oakland, California.  Flood played in the same outfield in West Oakland’s McClymond’s High School as Vada Pinson and Frank Robinson. All […]

Mary Frances Berry, Author, and Administrator born

*On this date in 1938 Mary Frances Berry was born. She is an African American lawyer, administrator, activist and author.

Berry was born in Nashville, Tennessee, where she attended public schools. She earned bachelors and master’s degrees at Howard University, a doctorate in history from the University of Michigan, and the jurist doctor degree from the University of Michigan Law School. She is a member of the Bar of the District of Columbia.

Maynard Jackson Jr., Politician born

On this date, in 1938, Maynard Jackson was born. He was an African American attorney and politician.

Born in Dallas, Maynard Holbrook Jackson, Jr., was the third of six children from a family considered a member of the “Black aristocracy.” His father, Maynard Jackson, Sr., was a Baptist minister and his mother, Irene (Dobbs) Jackson, was a college language teacher with a doctorate in French. Young Jackson and his family moved to Atlanta when he was seven years old, where his father took over as pastor of the Friendship Baptist Church.

Katie Hall, Politician born

*Katie Hall was born on this date in 1938.  She was a Black educator and politician.   Katie Beatrice Green was born to Jeff and Bessie Mae (Hooper) Green at Mound Bayou in Bolivar County, Mississippi. She attended the public schools of Mound Bayou and married John Henry Hall on August 15, 1957. They had three […]