Birthday Celebrations — September 20

Born on this day. These are the birthdays we celebrate on September 20 — the people whose lives added to the story of Black history.

Jean-Jacques Dessalines

Born September 20, 1758 — died October 17, 1806

Leader of the Haitian Revolution and first ruler of independent Haiti.

Dessalines defeated Napoleon’s armies and declared Haitian independence on January 1, 1804 — the world’s first Black republic, born of the only successful slave revolution in history.

Dorothy Vaughan

Full name: Dorothy Johnson Vaughan

Born September 20, 1910 — died November 10, 2008

Mathematician and NASA’s first Black supervisor.

Vaughan led Langley’s segregated West Area Computing unit, then taught herself and her staff FORTRAN — the Hidden Figures foresight that kept Black women at the center of the space program.

Hughie Lee-Smith

Born September 20, 1915 — died February 23, 1999

Painter.

Lee-Smith’s haunting, surreal shorelines earned him election to the National Academy of Design, only the second Black member at the time.

Ursula Burns

Full name: Ursula M. Burns

Born September 20, 1958

Business leader.

Rising from a New York housing project and a Xerox internship, Burns became the first Black woman to lead a Fortune 500 company as Xerox CEO.

Deborah Roberts

Born September 20, 1960

Broadcast journalist and author.

The Emmy-winning ABC News correspondent has covered four decades of national stories for 20/20 and beyond.

Van Jones

Full name: Anthony Kapel Jones

Born September 20, 1968

Attorney, author, and commentator.

Jones founded Dream Corps, advised the White House on green jobs, and helped push the First Step Act into law.

Crystle Stewart

Full name: Crystle Danae Stewart

Born September 20, 1981

Miss USA 2008 and actress.

The Houston native later returned to lead the Miss USA organization itself.

Aldis Hodge

Full name: Aldis Alexander Basil Hodge

Born September 20, 1986

Actor and watch designer.

From One Night in Miami’s Jim Brown to DC’s Hawkman, Hodge is also a self-taught horologist.