People, Locations, Episodes

Willie Foster, Baseball Pitcher born

On this date in 1904, William Foster was born. He was an African American Negro League baseball player from Calvert, Texas and a graduate of Alcorn State College.

The First Black Wins an Olympic Medal

*On this date in 1904, the first Black Olympic medal winner was crowned. George Coleman Poage won a bronze medal in the third Olympic games in St. Louis, Missouri.

Halley Harding, Actor, and Journalist born

*Halley Harding was born on this date in 1904.  He was a Black college and semi-pro athlete, actor, journalist, and civil rights activist.  William Claire (Halley) Harding was born in Wichita, Kansas.  Early in his childhood, his family moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and Chicago, Illinois.   In the early 1920s, he attended Knox College of Galesburg, Illinois, and […]

Edward Joseph Dwight Sr., Baseball Player born

*Edward Joseph Dwight Sr. was born on this date in 1905. He was a Black baseball player and chemist. He graduated from Sumner High School in Kansas City, Kansas.  He played second base and centerfield in the Negro League. He played mostly for the Kansas City Monarchs from 1924 to 1937. After retiring from baseball, he worked as a […]

Joe Lillard, Football and Basketball Player born

*Joe Lillard was born on this date in 1905. He was an African American professional athlete (primarily) football player.

From Tulsa, OK, Lillard came to Mason City, Iowa in 1915, following the death of his parents at the age of ten. He was adopted by a Mrs. Walter White, but during high school lived with two relatives, Herbert and Horace Spencer, brothers who owned a sidewalk paving company in Mason City. Joseph Lillard graduated from Mason City High School in 1927.

John C. Robinson, Aviator born

*John Robinson was born on this date in 1905.  He was a Black aviator and activist.  John Charles Robinson was born in Carrabelle, Florida, and spent his early years in Gulfport, Mississippi. His father died when he was a baby, leaving him and his four-year-old sister, Bertha, with their mother, Celeste Robinson, who married Charles Cobb. Robinson was inspired by flight at an […]

Willa Brown, Aviation Pioneer born

*On this date, we mark the birth of Willa Brown in 1906. She was an African American aviator, activist, and educator and the first Black officer in the Civil Air Patrol (CAP).

From Glasgow, Kentucky, Willa Mae Brown received her Bachelor of Science degree in business from Indiana State Teachers College in 1927. After graduating, she taught public school in Gary, Indiana, and Chicago, Illinois, where she developed an interest in aviation.

Marie Dickerson Corker, Aviator, and Dancer born

*Marie Dickerson Coker was born on this date in 1906. She was a Black singer, dancer, airplane Stunt Pilot, musician, and showgirl. From Muskogee, Oklahoma, the fifth of seven children to Sarah Ragsdale and a father surnamed Jones. After she was widowed, Marie’s mother left Muskogee for Los Angeles, California, along with Marie and some […]

Martin Dihigo, Baseball Player born

*Martín Dihigo was born on this date in 1906. He was an Afro Cuban professional baseball player.   Martín Magdaleno Dihigo Llanos was born in Cidra, Jesús María in Matanzas Province, Cuba. He began his professional career at 16 as a substitute infielder for Habana in the Cuban League. His first summer in United States […]

Satchel Paige, Baseball Pitcher born

Satchel Paige was born on this date in 1906. He was an African American baseball player, the first Black pitcher in the American League, and the first representative of the Negro Leagues to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Willie Wells, Baseball Player born

*Willie Wells was born on this date in1906. He was an African American baseball player.

Chauncey Spencer, Pilot born

Chauncey Spencer was born on this date in 1906. He was an African American pilot and educator.

He was born in Lynchburg, VA, one of three children of Edward Spencer and noted Harlem Renaissance poet Anne Spencer. One of the most respected families in Lynchburg, visitors to the Spencer home included George Washington Carver, Paul Robeson, James Weldon Johnson, Walter White, Clarence Muse, Dean Pickens, Adam Clayton Powell, Langston Hughes, Thurgood Marshall, and W.E.B. Dubois.

Chet Brewer, Baseball Player, and Baseball Scout born

*Chet Brewer was born on this date in 1907. He was a Black right-handed pitcher and player scout in baseball’s Negro leagues and National League. Born in Leavenworth, Kansas, Chester Arthur Brewer toiled on the mounds of black baseball for twenty-four years. He played with various teams worldwide, including China, Japan, the Philippines, Hawaii, Canada, […]

Charles Anderson, Black Aviator born

*Charles Anderson was born this date in 1907. He was an African American aviator.

From Bridgeport, Pennsylvania, he was the son of Janie and Iverson Anderson of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Young Anderson was enamored with airplanes and flying from the age of six. Because most flight instructors during that time would not take Black students, he taught himself to fly at the age of 22 in a used plane purchased with his savings and funds borrowed from friends and relatives. He earned a private pilot’s license in 1929 and a commercial pilot’s license in 1932.

Hilton Smith, Baseball Player born

*On this date in 1907, Hilton Smith was born. He was an African American baseball player with the Negro Leagues. A native of Giddings, Texas, Smith played baseball as a student at Prairie View A&M College and on his father’s local team.