New Orleans, Louisiana trumpeter Lionel Charles Ferbos was born in in the city’s Creole 7th Ward on July 17, 1911. His father was Louis Ferbos, a tinsmith, and his mother was Rosita Ferbos. Lionel had two siblings. As a child, he had asthma and was … Read MoreLionel Charles Ferbos (1911-2014)
Philip Reid’s Lantern of the Dome of the United States Capitol, Washington D.C. “Image Ownership: Andreas Praefcke” Craftsman Philip Reid is best known as the enslaved African who worked on the casting of the Statue of Freedom which sits atop the Capitol building housing the … Read MorePhilip Reid (1820-1892)
In the following article longtime BlackPast.org contributor and San Diego State University Librarian Robert Fikes discusses African American emigrants to and visitors in Italy. Since the 1850s, African Americans have gone to Italy as tourists, students, soldiers, writers, musicians, opera singers, social activists, and actors. … Read MoreThe African American Experience in Italy, 1852 to 2013
Alvin J. Boutte Sr., co-founder and past chairman and CEO of Independence Bank (at one time America’s largest black-owned bank), was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana on October 10, 1929. He was the youngest of 10 children. His mother Adorea Darensbourg Boutte was a seamstress, and his … Read MoreAlvin J. Boutte Sr. (1929-2012)
In the following article historians Bruce Glasrud and Cary Wintz discuss their new book, The Harlem Renaissance in the American West which argues that the literary and artistic outpouring by African Americans during the third decade of the 20th Century was a national phenomenon which … Read MoreThe Harlem Renaissance in the American West
Solomon Northup was a free black man who was illegally held in bondage for twelve years before he regained his freedom. Northup was born to free parents in Minerva, New York in 1808. Little is known of his mother other than she was born a … Read MoreSolomon Northup (1808-?)
During the first two decades of the 19th Century, escaped American slaves formed a military cadre called Britain’s Royal Navy Corps of Colonial Marines. After the War of 1812 these former soldiers established Trinidad’s “Merikin” communities. These black marines in the British Navy were first organized in 1808 to … Read MoreBritish Corps of Colonial Marines (1808-1810, 1814-1816)
Image Ownership: Public Domain Jazz trumpeter Thomas “Tommy” Ladnier was born in Florenville/Mandeville, Louisiana on May 28, 1900. His father was Alfred Ladnier and his mother Willie Williams Ladnier. He played in local bands beginning in 1914 and one of his teachers was trumpeter Bunk … Read MoreThomas James Ladnier (1900–1939)
Alexis Herman, US Secretary of Labor, political activist, civic leader, social worker, and entrepreneur, was born on July 16, 1947 in Mobile, Alabama to politician Alex Herman and educator Gloria Caponis. Herman graduated from Heart of Mary High School in Mobile in 1965 and enrolled … Read MoreAlexis Margaret Herman (1947- )
Tone Johnson, medical doctor, Vietnam hero, and civic leader was born on November 9, 1944 to Lyzer (Elizabeth) Marks Johnson and sawmill worker and farmer Henry Johnson in Plain Dealing, Louisiana. After graduating from Carrie Martin High School in Plain Dealing in 1963, he went … Read MoreTone Johnson Jr. (1944– )
