Those We Lost — September 1

Honoring those we lost on September 1 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind.

Ethel Waters

Born October 31, 1896 — died September 1, 1977

Singer, actress, and entertainment pioneer.

Waters rose from poverty in Chester, Pennsylvania, to introduce enduring songs including "Stormy Weather" and "His Eye Is on the Sparrow," and became the first Black woman to star in her own network television show and only the second Black performer nominated for an Academy Award, for Pinky. Her dramatic triumph in The Member of the Wedding proved a Black woman could command the American stage in full emotional depth.

R. L. Burnside

Full name: Robert Lee Burnside

Born November 23, 1926 — died September 1, 2005

Mississippi hill country blues singer and guitarist.

Burnside farmed and fished most of his life while playing juke joints on weekends, finding wide fame only in his sixties when 1990s collaborations carried his raw, hypnotic hill country sound to international audiences. His late stardom proved the deep well of Black musical genius America had overlooked for decades.