Rhythm & Blues musician Robert Parker, Jr. was born on October 14, 1930, in Mobile, Alabama, to Robert Parker, Sr., and Leana Parker. However, he was reared on Melpomene (now Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard) in New Orleans, Louisiana. He played in the Booker T. … Read MoreRobert Parker, Jr. (1930-2020)
The history of West Indian immigration can be traced back to the 17th century when enslaved Africans from Barbados, Jamaica, and Antigua were brought to the British North American colonies to work on plantations. The Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) sparked another wave of immigration with thousands … Read MoreWest Indian Immigration to the United States (1900- )
The first African American players in the National Basketball Association in the twentieth century all came into the league in 1950. They were Earl Francis Lloyd (Washington Capitols), Charles Henry Cooper (Boston Celtics), and Nathaniel Clifton (New York Knicks). They all began their college careers … Read MoreThe First Black Players in the NBA (1950)
R&B/ funk singer Jean Caliste was born on January 26, 1943, in New Orleans, Louisiana, and adopted the professional name of “Jean Knight.” Her parents were Louis Joseph Caliste and Florence Edwards. She began singing as a teenager in her cousin’s Crescent City bar called … Read MoreJean Knight (1943- )
An Act to authorize the people of the Missouri territory to form a constitution and state government, and for the admission of such state into the Union on an equal footing with the original states, and to prohibit slavery in certain territories. Be it enacted … Read More(1820) The Missouri Compromise
Composer, Blues pianist, and singer Clarence “Frogman” Henry was born Clarence Henry II on March 19, 1937, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Clarence Henry, an L&N railroad porter, and Ernestine Henry. They had six children and reared them in the Algiers neighborhood on the West … Read MoreClarence “Frogman” Henry (1937- 2024)
The R&B balladeers known as the Whispers formed in the Watts section of Los Angeles, California, in 1963 although they began harmonizing on the street corners in Watts as “the Eden trio.” The group comprised the identical twins Wallace and Walter Scott were born on … Read MoreThe Whispers (1963- )
Theo Shaw is the E. Barrett Prettyman Fellow at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. Shaw obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Louisiana at Monroe in 2012. He attended the University of Washington School of Law beginning in … Read MoreTheo Shaw (1989- )
Composer, conductor, trumpeter Terence Oliver Blanchard, Sr. was born on March 13, 1962, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Joseph O. Blanchard, an insurance company manager, and an opera singer, and Wilhelmina Blanchard. At the age of five, Terence began piano studies, and by eight, he … Read MoreTerence Blanchard (1962- )
Composer, lyricist, producer Frankie Beverly was born Howard Beverly on December 6, 1946, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and reared in the East Germantown section of the city. He began singing gospel music in a local church and was showcased as a soloist as a child. In … Read MoreFrankie Beverly (1946- )
