During the summer of 1930 street vendor Wallace D. Fard appeared in Detroit, Michigan‘s Paradise Valley community, proclaiming himself to be the leader of the Nation of Islam (NOI) and proselytizing among his customers according to his Islamic beliefs. Fard’s doctrine revolved around the claim … Read MoreNation of Islam (1930– )
Selma Hortense Burke was a nurse, a teacher, and an influential American artist. Born in Mooresville, North Carolina, she was one of ten children born to Neal Burke, a Methodist minister and chef, and Mary Jackson Burke, a homemaker and teacher. She attended high school … Read MoreSelma Hortense Burke (1900 -1995)
Born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tyron, North Carolina in 1933, Nina Simone began playing the family piano at the age of three. Her mother Mary Kate Waymon, a minister and choir director at a Methodist church in Tyron, interpreted her daughter’s gift as a God-given … Read MoreNina Simone (1933-2003)
On October 14, 1889, Clarence Edouard Muse was born to Alexander and Mary Muse in Baltimore, Maryland. Muse had intended to become an attorney and earned a degree in International Law from The Dickerson School of Law in Pennsylvania in 1911. Because of poor opportunities … Read MoreClarence Muse (1889-1979)
Sarah Louise Vaughan was born in 1924 in Newark, New Jersey. Both of her parents were amateur musicians and they provided their daughter piano lessons as a child as well as a solid background in vocals, as a member of her mother’s church choir. By … Read MoreSarah Vaughan (1924-1990)
Coleman Randolph Hawkins was born November 21, 1904, in Saint Joseph, Missouri. He began his musical education early with lessons on both the piano and cello. Despite parental encouragement towards more classic instruments, Hawkins focused on the saxophone after he received a “C melody” tenor … Read MoreColeman Hawkins (1904-1969)
On July 10, 1889, the musician and lyricist, Noble Sissle, was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. His father, a minister and organist, shared his passion for music with his son. In 1906, the family moved to Cleveland where young Sissle sang on a vaudeville circuit. In … Read MoreNoble Sissle (1889-1975)
Eubie Blake was born James Hubert Blake in Baltimore, Maryland, on February 7, 1883. He died one hundred years later on February 12, 1983, having become one of the most important figures in early 20th-century African American music and a major contributor to ragtime and … Read MoreEubie Blake (1883-1983)
Born Chloe Anthony Wofford on February 18, 1931, in Lorain, Ohio to parents George and Ella Ramah Wofford, novelist Toni Morrison grew up in a working-class family. She received a B.A. from Howard University after majoring in English and minoring in the classics. Wofford earned … Read MoreChloe Anthony Wofford “Toni” Morrison (1931-2019)
A definitive jazz multi-instrumentalist, Eric Dolphy established deeply original voices on his three primary instruments– the bass clarinet, alto saxophone, and flute. Dolphy pioneered the use of the bass clarinet as a solo improvising instrument, and, with Coleman Hawkins and Sonny Rollins, he is one … Read MoreEric Dolphy (1928-1964)
