Honoring those we lost on May 24 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind. Duke Ellington Born April 29, 1899 — Died May 24, 1974 Field: Jazz / Composition / Bandleading / American Music Duke Ellington was one of the most important composers and bandleaders in American history. He led […]
Honoring those we lost on May 23 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind. Vernon D. Jarrett Born June 19, 1921 — Died May 23, 2004 Field: Journalism / Black Press / Television / Civil Rights Commentary Vernon Jarrett was a journalist, columnist, broadcaster, and commentator whose career connected the […]
Honoring those we lost on May 22 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind. Claude McKay Born September 15, 1889 — Died May 22, 1948 Field: Harlem Renaissance / Poetry / Fiction / Radical Politics Claude McKay was a poet and novelist whose work became central to the Harlem Renaissance. […]
Honoring those we lost on May 21 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind. Katherine Dunham Born June 22, 1909 — Died May 21, 2006 Field: Dance / Anthropology / Choreography / Black Cultural Scholarship Katherine Dunham was a dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, educator, and social activist. Why it matters: Dunham […]
Honoring those we lost on May 20 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind. Nannie Helen Burroughs Born May 2, 1879 — Died May 20, 1961 Field: Education / Black Women’s Organizing / National Baptist Convention / Labor Nannie Helen Burroughs was an educator, orator, religious leader, and founder of […]
Honoring those we lost on May 19 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind. Mary Turner Born c. 1899 — Died May 19, 1918 Field: Racial Terror / Lynching / Black Women’s History / Georgia Mary Turner was lynched in Georgia after speaking out against the lynching of her husband, […]
Honoring those we lost on May 18 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind. Mary McLeod Bethune Born July 10, 1875 — Died May 18, 1955 Field: Education / Civil Rights / Black Women’s Leadership / Federal Service Mary McLeod Bethune was an educator, institution builder, civil rights leader, founder […]
Honoring those we lost on May 17 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind. E. Franklin Frazier Born September 24, 1894 — Died May 17, 1962 Field: Sociology / Race Relations / Black Intellectual History E. Franklin Frazier was a sociologist whose work examined Black family life, class, race relations, […]
Honoring those we lost on May 16 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind. A. Philip Randolph Born April 15, 1889 — Died May 16, 1979 Field: Labor / Civil Rights / Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters / March on Washington Asa Philip Randolph was one of the most important […]
Honoring those we lost on May 15 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind. Richard Theodore Greener Born January 30, 1844 — Died May 15, 1922 Field: Education / Law / Diplomacy / Reconstruction Leadership Richard Theodore Greener was the first African American graduate of Harvard College. He later became […]