Lyric soprano soloist Alyne Dumas Lee was born on March 22, 1903, in Knoxville, Tennessee, to Joseph and Clora Dumas. She spent her childhood in Cincinnati, Ohio and Chicago, Illinois developing her musical abilities. At age eight, Lee was her local church’s organist, and by thirteen she had obtained a musical diploma … Read MoreAlyne Dumas Lee (1903-1970)
Barry C. Black is a retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral. On June 27, 2003, he became the first African American Chaplain of the United States Senate. Black was born on November 1, 1948, in Baltimore, Maryland. At an early age, his parents—his father Lester and especially his mother Pearline—insisted on … Read MoreBarry C. Black (1948- )
Singer Joyce Bryant was born Ione Emily Bryant in Oakland, California on October 14, 1928. She was the third of eight children. Her parents were Whitfield Bryant, a railroad chef and devout Seventh-Day Adventist, and Dorothy Green Withers. She was raised in San Francisco, California but at 14 … Read MoreJoyce Bryant (1928- )
Hoping for a much better life outside the racially oppressive South and Alexandria, Louisiana where Arnaud Wendell Bontemps was born on October 13, 1902, the middle-class Bontemps family moved to the Watts community just south of Los Angeles. They soon abandoned Catholicism and became devout … Read MoreArna Bontemps (1902-1973)
