Actor Humphrey Bogart immortalized author Raymond Chandler’s character Phillip Marlowe in the 1946 film, The Big Sleep. Now, there’s chatter that Chandler might have been inspired to create the tough private eye based on the life of Samuel Marlowe, a Black detective who reportedly worked in Los Angeles in the ’30’s. Humphrey Bogart and Lauren […]
The overwhelming success of the film Hidden Figures, starring Taraji P. Henson, highlighted three African-American women who were instrumental in propelling the U.S. space program. The state of Arkansas has a hidden figure of its own in Raye Montague, who is the first person to design a U.S. Navy ship using a computer. Montague was […]
Oscar Holmes broke three color barriers in his lifetime, although he never set out to become a pioneer. Holmes was not only the first Black air traffic controller, he was also the U.S. Navy’s first Black commissioned officer and the military branch’s first Black pilot. Holmes was born January 31, 1916 in Dunbar. W. Va. […]
On this day in 1978, NASA graduated its first group of Space Shuttle astronauts which signaled a new day for the space program. Among the group of 35, three Black men went on to leave their mark on history as explorers of space. Maj. Frederick D. Gregory of Washington, Col. Guion Bluford of Pennsylvania, and […]
The case of Sipuel v. The Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma laid the early groundwork for other “separate but equal” cases such as the landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling. Ada Louis Sipuel’s racial discrimination case against the school was decided on this day in 1948, making it possible for her […]
The German Coast slave uprising of 1811 is regarded by some historians as the largest revolt of its sort in American history. While that claim has been disputed, recent examinations of the period reveal that the revolt was a significant one. It took place in New Orleans in a region east of the Mississippi River […]
Ohio has long been considered a haven for some of the world’s best funk musicians, and now an upcoming venue will be erected in the city of Dayton to honor pioneers of the genre. This March, the city will welcome the opening of the Funk Music Hall Of Fame and Exhibit Center, an effort that […]
Today marks the founding date of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., better known among Black Letter Greek Organizations as the “Nupes.” In 1911, 10 students gathered on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington and began a tradition that has expanded to a membership 150,000 members strong worldwide. The fraternity was founded as […]
On this day in 1990, the city of Selma, Ala. once again became the epicenter of racial tensions after a city-wide school boycott. Students were angered at the firing of the city’s first Black school superintendent, Dr. Norwand Rousell, who lost his job after dismantling what he felt was a discriminatory policy. In 1987, Dr. […]
The Birmingham Bus Boycotts in Alabama took place on this day in 1956, led by the efforts of late minister and civil rights figure Dr. Fred Shuttlesworth. The boycott lasted until 1958 and while it wasn’t as effective as other such protests across the Deep South, the movement laid plenty of necessary groundwork and bolstered the […]
