Thursday, February 5, 2009 |
EUBIE BLAKE (1887-1983) was one of the most important figures in early-20th-century music, and one whose longevity made him a storehouse of the history of ragtime and early jazz music and culture.
Born to former slaves on February 7, 1887, Blake was the only surviving child of eight who all died in infancy. His musical training began when he was only about four years old. hile out shopping with his mother, he wandered into a music store, climbed on the bench of an organ, and started foolin’ around. When his mother found him, the store manager said to her: “The child is a genius! It would be criminal to deprive him of the chance to make use of such a sublime, God-given talent.”
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Thursday, January 29, 2009 |
BAYARD RUSTIN (1912-1987) was one of the most influential civil rights activists who maintained a low profile, reserving the spotlight for other prominent figures, such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and A. Philip Randolph.
Born March 17, 1910, Rustin was one of twelve children raised by his grandparents in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Rustin’s life-long commitment to nonviolence began with his Quaker upbringing and the influence of his grandmother, a member of the Society of Friends and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). NAACP leaders such as W.E.B. Du Bois and James Weldon Johnson were frequent guests in the Rustin home. With these influences in his early life, Rustin campaigned against racially discriminatory Jim Crow laws in his youth.
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Thursday, January 15, 2009 |
GUION BLUFORD (1942-) is NASA’s first black astronaut in space.
Bluford was born in West Philadelphia on November 22, 1942. Bluford loved finding out how things were put together, but what amazed him was how things flew.
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Thursday, January 8, 2009 |
BUTTERFLY MCQUEEN (1911-1995) was a successful Broadway dancer and stage & screen actress.
Thelma McQueen was born in Tampa, Florida, on January 8, 1911. She got the name Butterfly after appearing in a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, in which she danced in the butterfly ballet.
She entered films in 1939 with roles in Gone with the Wind in which she played Prissy, Scarlett O’Hara’s maid. Around this time, McQueen also modeled for the Mrs. Butterworth bottle. Over the next few years she played small roles often as a maid, a role she also played in Jack Benny’s radio show.
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Friday, January 2, 2009 |
PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR (1872-1906) was one of the first black writers to gain national prominence.
Born in Dayton, Ohio, on June 27, 1872, to Matilda and Joshua Dunbar, both natives of Kentucky who had escaped from slavery, Dunbar had a love of learning and history instilled in him from his mother. Matilda and Joshua had two children before separating in 1874. Matilda supported her children by working in Dayton as a washerwoman. One of the families she worked for included that of Orville and Wilbur Wright. Having heard poems read by the family she worked for when she was a slave, Matilda loved poetry and encouraged her children to read. Dunbar was inspired by his mother, and he began reciting and writing poetry as early as age 6.
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Thursday, December 11, 2008 |
SISTER ROSETTA THARPE (1915-1973) was one of gospel music’s first superstars, the first gospel performer to record for a major record label and an early crossover from gospel to secular music.
Tharpe became known as the “original soul sister” of recorded music and has been cited as an influence by Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Johnny Cash and Little Richard.
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Thursday, December 4, 2008 |
ODETTA (1930-2008) was a singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter and a human rights activist. She is often referred to as “The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement”.
Called one of the great treasures of American music, she has influenced such artists as Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin and Maya Angelou. Since her ‘54 debut album, she’s toured the world telling stories of America’s southern experience in her songs. Odetta sang at the March on Washington in ‘63, marched with Dr. King in Selma and protested against U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
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