Honoring those we lost on September 8 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind. Sarah Mapps Douglass Born September 9, 1806 — died September 8, 1882 Abolitionist, educator, and writer. From a prominent free Black Philadelphia family, Douglass ran one of the earliest rigorous schools for Black girls and helped […]
Honoring those we lost on September 7 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind. Bernard Shaw Born May 22, 1940 — died September 7, 2022 Journalist and CNN’s first chief anchor. A Chicago postal worker’s son and Marine who willed himself into journalism, Shaw anchored CNN from its 1980 launch […]
Honoring those we lost on September 6 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind. Hale Woodruff Full name: Hale Aspacio Woodruff Born August 26, 1900 — died September 6, 1980 Painter, muralist, and educator. Woodruff’s Amistad murals at Talladega College placed the 1839 slave ship rebellion at the center of […]
Honoring those we lost on September 5 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind. E. C. Morris Full name: Elias Camp Morris Born May 7, 1855 — died September 5, 1922 Minister and founding president of the National Baptist Convention. Born enslaved in Georgia, Morris led the National Baptist Convention […]
Honoring those we lost on September 4 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind. Buddy Young Full name: Claude Henry Young Sr. Born January 5, 1926 — died September 4, 1983 Football star and pioneering NFL executive. At five-foot-four, Young was an All-American sprinter and halfback at Illinois and a […]
Honoring those we lost on September 3 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind. Papa Jo Jones Full name: Jonathan David Samuel Jones Born October 7, 1911 — died September 3, 1985 Jazz drummer and architect of modern swing. As the pulse of the great Count Basie rhythm section, Jones […]
Honoring those we lost on September 2 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind. Gerald Wilson Born September 4, 1918 — died September 2, 2014 Jazz trumpeter, composer, arranger, bandleader, and educator. Wilson wrote for Ellington, Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and Ray Charles, led his own celebrated […]
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 […]
Honoring those we lost on August 31 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind. Lionel Hampton Full name: Lionel Leo Hampton Born Apr 20, 1908 — died Aug 31, 2002 Jazz vibraphonist, drummer, pianist, bandleader, composer, and big-band innovator. Hampton helped make the vibraphone a major jazz voice after recording […]
Honoring those we lost on August 30 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind. Govan Mbeki Full name: Govan Archibald Mvuyelwa Mbeki Born Jul 9, 1910 — died Aug 30, 2001 South African anti-apartheid leader, journalist, intellectual, and African National Congress organizer. Mbeki organized rural workers, wrote influential analyses of […]