Those We Lost — November 2

Honoring those we lost on November 2 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind.

Daniel Payne

Born February 24, 1811 — died November 2, 1893

AME bishop; first Black university president in America

Born free in Charleston, Daniel Payne ran a school for Black children until South Carolina outlawed it in 1835, then became an African Methodist Episcopal minister and, in 1852, a bishop. In 1863 he led the AME Church’s purchase of Wilberforce University and served as its president until 1876; he is widely recognized as the first African American to lead a college in the United States. He died near Xenia, Ohio, on November 2, 1893.

John Roy Lynch

Born September 10, 1847 — died November 2, 1939

Born enslaved; Reconstruction congressman from Mississippi

John R. Lynch was born enslaved in Louisiana, became Speaker of the Mississippi House at 24, and in 1873 took his seat as Mississippi’s first Black member of the U.S. House, where he fought for the Civil Rights Act of 1875; at 26 he remains the youngest Black member ever elected to Congress. He later practiced law, served as an Army paymaster, and wrote The Facts of Reconstruction to counter the era’s racist histories. He died in Chicago on November 2, 1939, at 92, and was buried at Arlington.

Mississippi John Hurt

Born March 8, 1892 — died November 2, 1966

Country blues singer-guitarist rediscovered in the folk revival

John Hurt of Avalon, Mississippi, cut about 20 sides for Okeh in two 1928 sessions, including ‘Frankie’ and ‘Avalon Blues’, then went back to farming for 35 years. In 1963 record collector Tom Hoskins found him through the town named in ‘Avalon Blues’, and he spent his last three years on the folk circuit, from college stages to the Newport Folk Festival and Carnegie Hall. He died in Grenada, Mississippi, on November 2, 1966.

Toni Stone

Born July 17, 1921 — died November 2, 1996

First woman to play regularly in Negro league baseball

Toni Stone grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in 1953 signed with the Indianapolis Clowns, becoming the first woman to play as a regular in the Negro leagues; she played second base and always said she got a hit off Satchel Paige. She finished with the Kansas City Monarchs in 1954. She died of heart failure in Alameda, California, on November 2, 1996, at 75.

Walt Bellamy

Born July 24, 1939 — died November 2, 2013

Hall of Fame NBA center, 1960 Olympic champion

Walt Bellamy won Olympic gold in 1960, was the first overall pick of the 1961 draft, and averaged 31.6 points and 19 rebounds as a rookie for the Chicago Packers. Over 14 seasons with the Knicks, Pistons, Hawks and others he scored more than 20,000 points and was enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame in 1993. He died in Atlanta on November 2, 2013, at 74.

Roy Hargrove

Born October 16, 1969 — died November 2, 2018

Grammy-winning jazz trumpeter

Roy Hargrove was discovered by Wynton Marsalis at a Dallas arts high school and won Grammys for Habana and Directions in Music. He played on landmark neo-soul albums, D’Angelo’s Voodoo and Erykah Badu’s Mama’s Gun, and led his own jazz, hip-hop and R&B band, the RH Factor. He died in New York on November 2, 2018, at 49, of cardiac arrest after a long struggle with kidney disease.

Walter Davis

Born September 9, 1954 — died November 2, 2023

Hall of Fame NBA guard, 1976 Olympic champion

Walter Davis starred at North Carolina, won Olympic gold in 1976, and was the 1978 NBA Rookie of the Year for the Phoenix Suns, who retired his number 6 after a six-time All-Star career. He was elected to the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2024, months after his death. He died of natural causes while visiting family in Charlotte on November 2, 2023, at 69.