Caesar Carpenter Antoine (1836-1921)

Caesar Carpenter “C.C.” Antoine is best known as a leading African American politician in Louisiana during Reconstruction (1863-1877). Antoine was born in New Orleans to a Black father who fought the British as an American soldier at the Battle of New Orleans (1815), and to … Read MoreCaesar Carpenter Antoine (1836-1921)

Black Composers and Musicians in Classical Music History

Utilizing the research of Professor Dominique-René de Lerma of Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, historian William J. Zick in the article below provides vignettes which comprise an overview of various composers and musicians of African ancestry who performed in Europe, North America, and Latin America … Read MoreBlack Composers and Musicians in Classical Music History

Working the Quincy Mill: African American Lumber Mill Workers in Northern California, 1926-1955

Economic opportunity motivated millions of early 20th Century African Americans to leave the segregated South.  Most of the people of the Great Migration found better jobs and better pay in northern factories in World War I and western defense industries in World War II.  However, … Read MoreWorking the Quincy Mill: African American Lumber Mill Workers in Northern California, 1926-1955