Those We Lost — November 11

Honoring those we lost on November 11 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind.

Nat Turner

Born October 2, 1800 — died November 11, 1831

Leader of the 1831 Southampton slave rebellion

Nat Turner, born into slavery in Southampton County, Virginia, led the August 1831 revolt that Britannica calls the only effective, sustained slave rebellion in U.S. history. Between 55 and 60 white people were killed before local whites and the state militia crushed it, and at least 100 Black people were killed by whites in the suppression. He hid for six weeks before his capture, dictated his confession to attorney Thomas R. Gray, and was hanged at Jerusalem, Virginia, on November 11, 1831.

William ‘Froggie’ James

Birth date unknown — died November 11, 1909

Victim of the Cairo, Illinois, lynching of 1909

William ‘Froggie’ James, a Black man accused of murdering a young white shop clerk in Cairo, Illinois, was taken from Sheriff Frank Davis by a crowd and lynched in the center of Cairo on the night of November 11, 1909, before a crowd newspapers put at 10,000. The mob shot his body hundreds of times and burned it, and also killed a white prisoner. In December 1909 Ida B. Wells went to Springfield to oppose the sheriff’s reinstatement, and he was not restored to office.

Jordan Jameson

Born about 1870 (approximate) — died November 11, 1919

Lynching victim, Columbia County, Arkansas

Jordan Jameson, a Black farmer of about 50 who lived west of Magnolia, Arkansas, was accused of fatally shooting Columbia County Sheriff Benjamin Greer, who had come to arrest him on November 7, 1919. A posse captured him early on November 11, and a mob took him, tied him to a stake on the Magnolia town square and burned him to death.

J. Rosamond Johnson

Born August 11, 1873 — died November 11, 1954

Composer of ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’

J. Rosamond Johnson of Jacksonville, Florida, set his brother James Weldon Johnson’s poem ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ to music in 1900, and the NAACP came to call it the Negro National Anthem. With his brother and Bob Cole he wrote hit songs and the Broadway operettas The Shoo-Fly Regiment and The Red Moon. He arranged more than 150 spirituals, founded a music school in Harlem in 1918, and took leading roles on stage, including in Porgy and Bess in 1935. He died in New York on November 11, 1954, at 81.

Martin Luther King Sr.

Born 1899-12-19 (disputed; the King Institute gives 1897-12-19) — died November 11, 1984

Ebenezer Baptist pastor, ‘Daddy King’, civil rights leader

Martin Luther King Sr., born in a sharecropper’s shack in Stockbridge, Georgia, succeeded his father-in-law as pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta in 1931 and served the church for 44 years. In 1939 he called for a voter-registration drive launched by a march to City Hall. He outlived his son Martin Luther King Jr., his younger son A. D. King, and his wife Alberta, who was killed in the church in 1974. After a period of heart trouble he died at his home in Atlanta on November 11, 1984.

Channing E. Phillips

Born March 23, 1928 — died November 11, 1987

First Black person nominated for president at a major convention

Channing Phillips, a Brooklyn-born minister and civil rights leader, was pastor of Lincoln Temple, United Church of Christ, in Washington, D.C., and headed the Housing Development Corporation, which produced subsidized housing for low-income families. He ran Robert Kennedy’s District of Columbia campaign in 1968 and, after Kennedy’s assassination, was placed in nomination for president at the Democratic National Convention, the first Black American so nominated by a major party, receiving 67 1/2 votes. In 1971 he ran for the District’s first nonvoting seat in the House. He died of cancer in New York on November 11, 1987, at 59.

Rod Milburn

Born 1950-05-18 (disputed; March 18, 1950 in some references) — died November 11, 1997

1972 Olympic 110-meter hurdles champion

Rod Milburn of Opelousas, Louisiana, went undefeated in 28 races as a Southern University sophomore in 1971 and won the 110-meter hurdles at the 1972 Munich Olympics in 13.24 seconds, equaling the world record. He later coached track and field at Southern. He died in an accident at the Georgia-Pacific paper plant near Baton Rouge where he worked, on November 11, 1997, at 47.

Micheal Ray Richardson

Born April 11, 1955 — died November 11, 2025

Four-time NBA All-Star guard, ‘Sugar’

Micheal Ray Richardson, the fourth pick of the 1978 draft from Montana, was a four-time All-Star with the Knicks, Warriors and Nets who led the league in steals three times before the NBA banned him for life in 1986 for cocaine use. He rebuilt his career in Europe and later coached championship minor-league teams in Oklahoma. He died of prostate cancer at his home in Lawton, Oklahoma, on November 11, 2025, at 70.