and Performers
James A. Bland (1854-1911)
James A. Bland was an entertainer and a prolific composer who wrote sentimental songs about the American South for use...
Harry Thacker Burleigh (1866-1949)
Harry Thacker Burleigh was the first and one of the most influential of the African American composers who emerged in...
Muddy Waters [aka McKinley Morganfield] (1913-1983)
Blues singer, songwriter and musician Muddy Waters was born McKinley Morganfield on April 4, 1913 in Issaquena County, Mississippi. Waters...
John W. Cooper (1873-1966)
John W. Cooper was an African American ventriloquist, born in Brooklyn, New York in 1873. After losing both of his...
Claude Albert Barnett (1889-1967)
Claude Albert Barnett, entrepreneur and founder of the Associated Negro Press, was born in Sanford, Florida on September 6, 1889....
Isaac Dickerson (1852-1900)
Fisk Jubilee Singer and preacher Isaac Dickerson was born enslaved in Wytheville, Virginia in 1852 and orphaned by the age...
Thomas Rutling (1854-1915)
Born a slave, Thomas Rutling was one of only four Fisk Jubilee Singers who remained with the company through all...
Douglas Turner Ward (1930- )
Douglas Turner Ward, an actor, director, and playwright, was considered a legend in African American theatre. Although he has achieved...
Woodie King, Jr. (1937- )
Theatre pioneer Woodie King Jr. is a director, actor, playwright, screen-writer, television scriptwriter, essayist, short-story writer, and consultant. Hailed as...
