Dee Sharp, is a popular American R&B singer, known for “Mashed Potatoes Time,” a number one hit in 1962. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 9, 1945, as Dione LaRue. LaRue has a musical background as a lead singer of group of gospel-singing … Read MoreDee Dee Sharp (1945- )
Arabella Fields was a singer and actress known as “The Black Nightingale” and had a storied career performing in Europe. She was born on January 31, 1879, as Sarah Arabella Middleton in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Early reports state she was performing at the young age of … Read MoreArabella Fields (1879-1933)
Educator Lulu Merle Johnson was born on September 14, 1907, in the town of Gravity, Iowa to Jeanette (Burton) and Richard Johnson. Her mother was the daughter of freed slaves, and her father, formerly enslaved, owned and operated his own barbershop. The family were the … Read MoreLulu Merle Johnson (1907-1995)
Robert Rihmeek Williams, also known as Meek Mill, is a rapper, songwriter, and activist. Williams was born on May 6, 1987 to Kathy Williams and an unnamed father in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Williams’s father died when he was five years old in a robbery attempt. Growing … Read MoreMeek Mill/ Robert Rihmeek Williams (1987- )
Frederick Stephen Humphries Sr., university president, professor, and HBCU advocate, was born December 26, 1935, in Apalachicola, Florida to Minnie Fry Henry, a domestic servant and teacher, and Thornton Govan Humphries Sr., a lumber mill worker and salter. A lifelong Catholic, Humphries was influenced by … Read MoreFrederick Humphries (1935-2021)
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are institutions established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to provide post-secondary (high school) education to Black people. In the immediate post-Civil War period when only two predominantly white colleges, Oberlin (Ohio) and Berea (Kentucky), accepted black students, … Read MoreHistorically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) (1837- )
Jessie Redmon Fauset, known as the “Midwife of the Harlem Renaissance,” was born in Fredericksville, Camden County, New Jersey on April 27, 1882 to Redmon and Annie Seamon Fauset. She was the seventh addition to an already large family. At a very early age Fauset … Read MoreJessie R. Fauset (1882-1961)
Vanessa N. Gamble is the first African American woman to teach as a professor of medical humanities, health policy, and American civilization at the George Washington University. Dr. Gamble additionally serves as a professor of bioethics at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Nursing, and Allied … Read MoreVanessa Northington Gamble (1953- )
On June 25, 1939, lyricist, arranger, and choreographer Harold Melvin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A self-taught pianist, as a teenager in 1953, Melvin began singing doo-wop with a vocal ensemble called the Charlemagnes. The following year, 1954, he established a quintet, the Blue Notes … Read MoreHarold Melvin & the Blue Notes (1954-1972)
Musician Theodore DeReese Pendergrass, known popularly as Teddy Pendergrass, was born on March 26, 1950, to Ida Geraldine (Epps) and Jesse Pendergrass in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father left the family when Pendergrass was young and was killed in 1962. Pendergrass began singing at the age … Read MoreTheodore “Teddy” Pendergrass (1950-2010)
