The Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco Image Courtesy: total13 (CC BY-SA 2.0) Although Third Baptist Church, the first black church of San Francisco, was established in 1852 in the Fillmore District, located west of downtown San Francisco, this historic area has been the home to a … Read MoreFillmore District, San Francisco
Automobile racer Rajo Jack DeSoto was born Dewey Gatson on July 28, 1905 in Tyler, Texas. (Previously published biographies have incorrectly listed his racing name as Rojo Jack.) Rajo Jack was barred from racing in many organized venues because of his African American heritage, but … Read MoreDewey Gatson (AKA Rajo Jack DeSoto) (1905-1956)
On October 21, 1945, Madame Eugénie Tell Eboué, the widow of Félix Eboué, former Governor General of French Equatorial Africa, became the first woman of African descent to be elected to the French National Assembly in Paris. Born Eugénie Tell on November 23, 1891 in … Read MoreMadame Eugénie Tell Eboué (1891-1972)
On May 17, 1838, abolitionist Sara T. Smith addresses the second Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women which was originally scheduled to be held in Pennsylvania Hall. The meeting however was moved when anti-abolitionist mobs, upon learning of the Convention, burned the hall to the ground. … Read More(1838) Sara T. Smith, “Loosening the Bonds of Prejudice”
Image Ownership: 5of7 (CC BY-SA 2.0) Danny Lebern Glover, actor, producer, and humanitarian was born in San Francisco, California on July 22, 1946 to Carrie (nee) Hunly and James Glover. His parents, United States postal workers, fought for equal rights as members of the National … Read MoreDanny Glover (1946- )
In the following account writer Irene Brown recalls through her father’s photo the visit of Ada Wright, mother to Roy and Andy Wright, two of the nine Scottsboro Boys accused of rape in 1931. Her account appears below. Memories. That’s all that’s left when someone … Read MoreDistant Whistles, Muted Flutes: Ada Wright in Glasgow, 1932
Forest Whitaker at the San Diego Comic-Con International, 2017 Image Ownership: Gage Skidmore (CC BY-SA 3.0) Forest Steven Whitaker, actor, producer, and director, was born in Longview, Texas, July 15, 1961, but was raised in South Central Los Angeles, where his parents moved when he … Read MoreForest Whitaker (1961 — )
Barry Bonds is one of the most controversial figures in modern sports. The former major league star holds the record for career home runs (762) but that record and his other accomplishments on the field have been marred by accusations that he took performance enhancing … Read MoreBarry Bonds (1964- )
During its brief and rocky tenure from 1918 to 1924, pianist Gertrude Harvey Wright was one of four women in Seattle’s first black musicians’ union, the American Federation of Musicians’ Local 458. Wright, Virginia Hughes, a “Mrs. Austin,” and (Edythe) “Turnham,” all worked with their … Read MoreRace, Gender, Jazz & Local 493: Black Women Musicians in Seattle: 1920-1955
An exceptional athlete and one of America’s leading sprinters of the 1930s, Matthew Mackenzie “Mack” Robinson, was born in Cairo, Georgia in 1912. Matthew grew up with three other siblings, including the famed Jackie Robinson. After their father left following the birth of the last … Read MoreMatthew MacKenzie “Mack” Robinson (1912-2000)
