Operatic soprano Camilla Williams was born October 18, 1919, in Danville, Virginia to Fannie Carey Williams and Cornelius Booker Williams. The youngest of four siblings, Williams began singing at a young age and was performing at her local church by age eight. At age 12, she began taking … Read MoreCamilla Williams (1919-2012)
Democratic Florida Congresswoman Frederica Wilson was born on November 5, 1942, in Miami, Florida, to Beulah Finley and Thirlee Smith. Wilson learned the importance of community activism at a young age. Her father was a small business owner and civil rights activist who worked to … Read MoreFrederica Wilson (1942- )
Image Ownership: Center for Black Music Research (Fair Use) Musician, composer, and conductor Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson was born on June 14, 1932, in Manhattan, New York City. Perkinson’s mother, a talented pianist, organist, and theater director in the Bronx, named her son after the Afro-British composer, … Read MoreColeridge-Taylor Perkinson (1932-2004)
Concert bass-baritone singer, actor, and teacher William Caesar Warfield was born on January 22, 1920, in West Helena, Arkansas, to a family of sharecroppers. When Warfield was a young child, his family moved to Rochester, New York, where his father served as a pastor for … Read MoreWilliam Warfield (1920-2002)
Broadway performer Anne Wiggins Brown was born August 9, 1912, in Baltimore, Maryland, to Dr. Harry F. Brown and Mary Wiggins Brown. Her father, the grandson of a slave, was a respected physician, and her mother was of black, Cherokee, and Scottish-Irish descent. Brown was … Read MoreAnne Wiggins Brown (1912-2009)
Image Ownership: Public Domain Zelma Watson George, philanthropist, opera singer, and political activist was born December 8, 1903 in Hearne, Texas to Samuel E.J. Watson and Lena Thomas Watson. George’s father was a Baptist minister, and because of the requirements of his profession, moved frequently. … Read MoreZelma George (1903-1994)
Idaho’s first African American State Senator, inspirational keynote speaker, trainer, and singer, Cherie Buckner-Webb, a fifth-generation Idahoan, was born October 20, 1951, in Boise. Buckner-Webb, her family, and other members of the small Black community in the state capital experienced multiple examples of racism. When … Read MoreCherie Buckner-Webb (1951- )
Image Ownership: Public Domain Thomas Calhoun Walker, teacher, lawyer, and government official, was born into slavery on June 16, 1862 in a small cabin at Spring Hill in Gloucester County, Virginia. On January 1, 1863, when Walker was just a few months old, President Abraham … Read MoreThomas Calhoun Walker (1862-1953)
Ada Beatrice Queen Victoria Louise Virginia Smith (“Bricktop”), vaudevillian actress, singer, nightclub owner, and international celebrity host, was born August 14, 1894 in Alderson, West Virginia, to Thomas and Hattie Thompson Smith. Her father passed away in 1898 and Mrs. Smith moved Ada and her … Read MoreAda “Bricktop” Smith (1894-1984)
Image Ownership: John Matthew Smith (CC BY-SA 2.0) Actress Phylicia Rashad was born June 19, 1948 in Houston, Texas to Andrew Allen, a dentist, and Vivian Ayers, a Pulitzer Prize nominated poet and playwright. Rashad’s siblings are also entertainers; her brother “Tex” Arthur Allen Jr. … Read MorePhylicia Rashad (1948- )
