Those We Lost — September 8

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 found the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society. She died the day before what would have been her seventy-sixth birthday, having educated generations for freedom.

Dorothy Dandridge

Full name: Dorothy Jean Dandridge

Born November 9, 1922 — died September 8, 1965

Actress, singer, and Hollywood trailblazer.

Dandridge became the first Black woman nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, for Carmen Jones, and the first to grace the cover of Life magazine — a superstar in an industry that gave her almost nothing to star in. Dead at forty-two, she became the symbol of Hollywood’s squandered Black genius, later honored by Halle Berry’s Oscar tribute.

Roy Wilkins

Born August 30, 1901 — died September 8, 1981

Civil rights leader and longtime NAACP executive director.

Wilkins led the NAACP through Brown v. Board, Little Rock, the March on Washington, and the passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, trusting the long, grinding work of law and organization. The legal victories his NAACP secured dismantled segregation’s foundations brick by brick.

Prince Buster

Birth name: Cecil Bustamente Campbell

Born May 24, 1938 — died September 8, 2016

Jamaican singer, producer, and King of Ska.

From his Kingston sound system, Prince Buster helped invent ska itself — producing "Oh Carolina," recording "Madness," and shaping the sound that grew into rocksteady, reggae, and Britain’s two-tone movement. Generations of music trace to his studio.