Soprano lyricist June Deniece Chandler Williams was born on June 3, 1951, in Gary, Indiana. She was the first of four children born to Lee Chandler, a security guard, and Alma Chandler, a licensed practical nurse, Williams sang as a child in the choir at … Read MoreDeniece Williams (1951- )
Legendary saxophonist, composer Clarence Clemons, a towering 6-foot-6, was born Clarence Anicholas Clemons Jr. on January 11, 1942, in Norfolk, Virginia, in the segregated Norfolk Community Hospital, to Clarence Anicholas “Nick” Clemons Jr., Sr., owner of The Clemons’ Seafood Market” on Liberty Street in the … Read MoreClarence Clemons Jr. (1942-2011)
John Hanson was a Liberian senator during the mid-19th century who has been erroneously claimed as the first Black president of the United States. Not much is known about Hanson’s early life. He was born into slavery in Baltimore, Maryland, around 1791. According to some … Read MoreJohn Hanson (1791-1860)
Nestor Alexander Haddaway is a Eurodance artist, best known for his 1993 smash hit “What Is Love?” Haddaway was born in Trinidad and Tobago on January 9, 1965. His mother was a nurse, and his father was a marine biologist. Following the separation of his … Read MoreNestor Alexander Haddaway (1965- )
Carmen Arlene Balthrop-Delaney, soprano and arts advocate, was born May 14, 1948, in Washington, D.C., to John W. Balthrop, who was employed by the U.S. Department of Justice in the Printing Office, and Clementine E. Jordan Balthrop, a homemaker. Carmen was the youngest and only … Read MoreCarmen Balthrop (1948-2021)
Shep and the Limelites were a doo-wop group of the early 1960s. Doo-wop groups became popular among Black singers in major urban areas like New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Baltimore because many young singers at the time didn’t have access to instruments or music lessons. They … Read MoreShep and The Limelites (1961- )
In 1961 the Royalettes, an all-female doo-woo quartet, was formed in Baltimore, Maryland. The group’s original members were sisters Sheila Ross Burnett, 17, lead singer, and Anita Ross Burnett, 16, from the Mount Holly Street neighborhood in West Baltimore, where both girls had been singing … Read MoreThe Royalettes (1961-1969)
The academic historian and university administrator Julius Franklin Nimmons Jr. was born on September 11, 1939, in Danville, Virginia, to Julius Franklin Nimmons Sr. from Scotia, South Carolina, and Mozella Flannagan of Danville. He has two sisters. Nimmons graduated from Langston High School in the … Read MoreJulius Franklin Nimmons Jr. (1939- )
Audrey Smedley, one of the nation’s first African American women anthropologists, was born in Detroit in 1930, the eldest daughter of Ulysses and Mattie Smedley. While raising six children, her mother maintained a career as a beautician; her father owned and operated a gas station … Read MoreAudrey Smedley (1930-2020)
The Intruders, an R&B ensemble, was established in 1960 as a doo-wop group influenced by gospel music. Its first members were Sam “Little Sonny” Brown, born June 21, 1941; Phillip “Phil” Terry, born November 1, 1943; Robert “Big Sonny” Edwards, born on February 22, 1942, … Read MoreThe Intruders (1960–1994)
