Little Know Black History Fact

Dr. Daniel Hale Williams was born in Pennsylvania and attended medical school in Chicago, where he received his M.D. in 1883. He founded the Provident Hospital in Chicago in 1891, the oldest free-standing Black-owned hospital in the United States. Dr. Williams was also the only African-American in a group of 100 charter members of the American College of Surgeons in 1913.

Black History

On Feb 15 1848 Sarah Roberts a five-year-old Negro girl, knocked timidly at the door of a Boston public school and asked admission as a student. Her request was denied; the school was for whites, and her skin was black. This incident precipitated what was probably the first segregation case ever to reach a United States court. Her father, Benjamin Roberts, filed the first school integration suit on her behalf. 

Little Know Black History Fact

    Betty Boop is one of the most iconic cartoon characters of all time, a virtual sex symbol created during a time where bold women were often frowned upon. The character’s signature vocals stood out, but she wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for a Black woman in Harlem who inspired the style. Esther Jones was a singer in Harlem who performed regularly in the Cotton Club jazz establishment. Jones, also known as “Baby Esther,” coined a vocal style using “boops” and other childlike scat sounds during her act. Actress Helen Kane caught a Baby Esther performance in the late 1920s, and began using the “boops” in her songs as well. Kane found fame early on with songs such as “I Wanna Be Loved By You” and incorporated the “Boop A Doop” scat, often called the “baby style,” into her music. In 1930, cartoonist Max Fleischer introduced the Betty Boop character via Paramount Studios’ Talkatoon series. Some historians point to Kane as the inspiration, a fact backed up during an episode of television history talk series, Stu’s Show.Animation historian Ray Pointer and Fleischer’s nephew, Bernie Fleischer, spoke at length about Betty Boop and her background. Another white starlet at the time, Clara Bow, may also have been an early inspiration for the cartoon.

     Kane sued Fleischer and Paramount in 1932, stating they were using her image and style. The courts ruled against Kane after Fleischer produced video evidence of Baby Esther performing in a nightclub. The courts decided that Kane did not have exclusive rights to the “booping” style nor her image, all based on Fleischer’s testimony. Columbia University scholar has referred to Baby Esther as “Betty Boop’s Black Grandmother” in recent discussions of the character. There have been recent photos surfacing of a darker-skinned woman styled as Betty Boop that has been erroneously credited as Baby Esther. Those photos were actually taken in 2008 by Russian photographer, Retro Atelier, according to Sinous Magazine. Baby Esther’s “baby” style of singing didn’t bring her much in the way of mainstream fame. She died in relative obscurity, presumably in 1934.

Tina Hicks

A staple in local media and a fixture in your 5:00 and 6:00 daily schedule. Tina Hicks began working for 13 WMAZ in 1972 and produced a 27 year career during which time she became the first African American (man or woman) in WMAZ-TV to take on the role of news anchor. Tina Hicks left WMAZ in 1999 due to Heath reasons and returned to Middle Ga news in 2001 as News Anchor for WGXA, a role she performed until 2002. Tina Hicks' accomplishments in News and Media played a heavy role in the success of 13WMAZ, helping to make it the #1 local news outlet in Middle Ga for over 40 yrs and paving the way for other African Americans to successfully pursue careers in News and Media. Tina Hicks is Black History Too!

Aaron Douglas

Aaron Douglas is recognized as the best well known painter of the Harlem Renaissance. He was born in Kansas, received a bachelor of fine arts degree from the University of Kansas, and taught in Kansas City high schools for two years. In 1924 Aaron Douglas came to Harlem where he met the German artist Winold Reiss, a white artist, who encouraged young black artists to look at African art for its elements of design. Douglas explored African art in his painting, which brought him into contact with Alain Locke and W.E.B. DuBois. Locke and DuBois, both committed to the exploration of African aesthetics, gave Aaron Douglas numerous opportunities to further his career in art.

Douglas illustrations were often found in The Crisis magazine, as well as in numerous other publications such as: Opportunity, Theater Arts Monthly and Vanity Fair. Alain Locke used Douglas illustrations between the chapters of his famous anthology of black writers, The New Negro, in 1925. Locke who wanted a Negro School of Art in Harlem called Douglas a pioneering Africanist.

His fame and reputation spread to Nashville (Fisk University) and Chicago where Douglas painted historical murals and paintings that related pride in black history. Douglas created a series of paintings for James Weldon Johnson's book of poetry: God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse. Each of his paintings was done in a flat, hard-edge style that used themes from Negro spirituals, the Bible and African and black American customs. Rectangles, squares, triangles and circles were the dominant shapes he used in his paintings, as they are found in African art and Cubism of European artists. All of Douglas' paintings utilize the black American figure almost as a silhouetted form which can be seen in the mural he painted for the 135th Street branch of The New York Public Library (Schomburg Center). The mural is known as Aspects of Negro Life.

Aaron Douglas joined the faculty of Fisk University in the late 1930's where he stayed until his death in 1979. Aaron Douglas is remembered most for having been the leader in the use of African inspired themes during the Harlem Renaissance.⁸

Little Known Black History Fact

The Friendship Nine, a group of young activists who who jailed and charged for trespassing after a nonviolent protest of segregation, can now rest knowing their names have been cleared. In a long road to justice, the Friendship Nine’s convictions were thrown out of court by a South Carolina judge, cementing the legacy of the brave men. The Friendship Nine – John Gaines, Thomas Gaither, Clarence Henry Graham, W.T. “Dub” Massey, Robert McCullough, Willie McCleod, James Wells, David Williamson, Jr., and Mack Workman – were named thus because eight of the men attended Friendship College in the town of Rock Hill. Gaither did not attend the school and was a field organizer of the CORE organization. On January 30, 1961, the Nine traveled as a group to the Whites-only McCrory’s establishment and staged a sit-in at a lunch counter that caused quite the stir. Inspired by other sit-in protests in North Carolina, the group had been planning the sit-in for months, The men walked into the variety store and were promptly arrested for trespassing after word of their plans got out to police.

Ernest Finney, a young civil rights attorney, represented the Nine in their court case. The group was found guilty and offered a choice of paying a fine of $100 or going to jail for 30 days of hard labor. The group opted for the labor, which galvanized protesters nationwide and gave the Southern Christian Leadership Committee (SCLC) the necessary boost needed to ramp up protests. The Nine only served 28 days. They were let go early because prison officials didn't want the national press to cover their story on the grounds of the prison farm where they were held. On Wednesday, Circuit Court Judge John C. Hayes III cleared the surviving members of the Nine. Hayes is the nephew of the man who convicted the nine in 1961. Author Kimberly Johnson wrote a children’s book about the men titled No Fear For Freedom, a huge part of how the Nine’s case was reopened. She met the Nine in 2011 and was inspired by their story. The only member of the Friendship Nine not to witness Wednesday’s news was Mr. McCullough, who passed away in 2006. The Friendship Nine are all retired from public work, and went on to have stellar careers in a variety of fields including business, education, science, and law. Finney, now a retired Supreme Court Justice, entered the motion to have the sentences thrown out. According to CNN reports, the 83-year-old Finney required help to stand as he delivered his opening remarks.

Did you know?

Claude Mckay, Langston Hughes, and Countee Cullen were three of the leading black poets during this time. Mckay was best known for his poems of social protest. Hughes produced poems about black life that experts now say are among the greatest American poems ever written.

Arturo Alfonso Schomburg

A Puerto Rican historian, writer, and activist in the United States who researched and raised awareness of the great contributions that Afro-Latin Americans and Afro-Americans have made to society. Aurthur was known as the “Sherlock Holmes” of Black History, and he was an important intellectual figure in the Harlem Renaissance.

Mel Blount

A prototype cornerback of his era and a major reason why the Steelers were the dominant team of the National Football League in the 1970s. A third-round draft choice of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1970, he had ideal size, speed, and quickness, plus the toughness and mental ability to adjust his coverage tactics to rule changes that favored receivers. A Pro Scouts All-America as both a safety and cornerback at Southern University, Blount became a starter in the Steelers secondary beginning in 1972. That season, he didn’t allow a single touchdown. A fixture at right cornerback, Mel was equally effective playing either zone or man-to-man defense. Known for his rugged but clean style of play, his specialty was the “bump-and-run” pass defense. Because of his size and speed, he literally overpowered pass receivers. Midway through his career, however, the rules were changed making such harassment of a receiver illegal. Blount, a native of Vidalia, Georgia, wound up his career with 57 interceptions which he returned for 736 yards and two touchdowns. He intercepted at least one pass in all 14 NFL seasons and led the league in interceptions with 11 in 1975. Blount also was used as a kickoff returner early in his career. He wound up with 36 returns for 911 yards and a 25.3-yard average. He also recovered 13 opponents' fumbles, two of which he returned for touchdowns. Blount, who was named the NFL's most valuable defensive player in 1975 by the Associated Press, earned all-pro acclaim in 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1981. He also was a four-time All-AFC selection and played in five Pro Bowls. His fumble recovery in the 1979 AFC Championship Game led to the Steelers' winning touchdown in a 27-13 victory over the Houston Oilers. A season earlier in Super Bowl XIII, Blount's interception ignited a Pittsburgh drive that resulted in a go-ahead touchdown in a 35-31 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. He started in four Steelers' Super Bowl victories (IX, X, XIII, and XIV).

Who was the 1st African-American to earn a PH.D and to head a primarily white university?

Patrick Francis Healy (02/27/1830/1834 - 01/10/1910), as he was known, was born into slavery in Macon, Georgia, to the Irish-American plantation owner Michael Healy and his bi-racial slave Mary Eliza. Because of the law of slavery that children took the status of the mother, Patrick and his siblings were legally considered slaves, although their father was free and they were three-quarters or more European in ancestry.
Patrick was the third son of Mary Eliza and Michael Morris Healy, who had joined in a common-law marriage in 1829. After Patrick's father Michael bought his mother Mary Eliza, he fell in love with her and made her his common-law wife. Discriminatory laws in Georgia prohibited the education of slaves and required legislative approval for each act of manumission, so Michael Healy arranged for all his children to leave Georgia and move to the North to obtain their educations and have opportunities in their lives. They were raised as Irish Catholics.
Micheal Healy sent his older sons first to a Quaker school in Flushing, New York. Patrick Healy became ordained as a Jesuit priest, and taught at Holy Cross for a time before traveling abroad for further study. In 1865 Healy received a PH.D from the University of Luvain in Belgium and joined the faculty of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.. In 1873 he was named the 29th President of Georgetown University. He was the 1st African-American to head a primarily white university. Healy was buried on the school's campus after his death in 1910.

Side Note: His brother James Augustine Healy became the country's 1st African-American Catholic bishop.