W. C. Handy

BlackFacts Details

W. C. Handy

Born: 11/16/1873 Florence, Alabama

Died: 3/28/1958 New York City, New York

W. C. Handy was an American blues composer and musician. He was widely known as the "Father of the Blues"

Awards / Achievements:

The Blues Music Award, widely recognized as the most prestigious award for blues artists was known as the W. C. Handy Award until the name change in 2006.<br/>The W. C. Handy Music Festival is held annually in Florence, Alabama and the greater Shoals area.

Source: Blackfacts.com

Watson, Barbara Mae (1918-1983) - Birthday

Watson, businesswoman, lawyer, government executive, and diplomat, was born in New York City, New York on November 5, 1918.

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Source: Black Past

Nov

5

1918

James, Makila (1957- )

Makila James is currently serving as the U.S. Ambassador to Swaziland. James was nominated by President Barack Obama early in 2012. Following confirmation by the U.S. Senate on July 31, 2012, James arrived in Mbabane, the capital of Swaziland and presented her credentials to the King of Swaziland

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Source: Black Past

Dunbar-Nelson, Alice Ruth Moore (1875-1935)

Alice Ruth Moore, educator, author and social activist, was born on July 19, 1875 in New Orleans, Louisiana to Patricia (Wright) Moore and Monroe Moore. She attended public school in New Orleans and enrolled in the teacher training program at Straight University in that city in 1890. Two years

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Source: Black Past

Mar

6

1898

FoundedJanuary 9, 1914; 103 years ago

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Harry Belafonte

Harry Belafonte is an eminent African-American figure in the American entertainment industry. He is a notable singer, lyricist, actor and social activist. Belafonte came to international stardom as “King of Calypso” for his popular Caribbean musical style. He is famous for his

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Source: Black History Resources

Mar

1

1927

Murray, Pauli (1910-1985)

Pauli Murray was born on November 20, 1910 in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of Agnes and William Murray. Her father, a Howard University graduate, taught in the Baltimore public schools. Both of Murray’s parents died when she was a child. Her mother suffered from a brain hemorrhage and died

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Source: Black Past

Jul

1

1985

Jeter, Howard Franklin (1947- )

Howard Jeter, U.S. Ambassador to Botswana and later to Nigeria, was born in Maple Ridge, Union County, South Carolina on March 6, 1947 to James Walter Jeter, Jr. and Emma Mattocks Jeter. Howard Jeter first attended school in a one-room schoolhouse in Maple Ridge. The school had no

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Source: Black Past

Mar

6

1947

Waters, Muddy, 1915–83, African-American blues singer and guitarist, b. Rolling Fork, Miss., as McKinley Morganfield. As a teenager he began singing and playing traditional country blues on harmonica and guitar, and in 1941 he was recorded by Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress. Two years

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

A Guide to Hot Jazz

Also referred to as Dixieland music, hot jazz got its name from its blazing tempos and fiery improvisations. The popularity of Louis Armstrong’s early bands was instrumental in spreading hot jazz to Chicago and New York. Hot jazz remained popular until a surge in swing bands in the 1930s pushed hot

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Source: ThoughtCo

Ellis, William Henry (1864-1923)

William Henry Ellis, an African American businessman who challenged racial constructs in the United States by “passing” as Hispanic, was born a slave to Charles and Margaret Ellis on June 15, 1864. His parents had been brought by Joseph Weisiger from Kentucky to Texas in 1853. In 1870

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Source: Black Past

Sep

24

1923

The Slaughter House Cases (1873)

? SLAUGHTER-HOUSE CASES.; THE BUTCHERS BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION OF NEW ORLEANS v. THE CRESCENT CITY LIVE-STOCK LANDING AND SLAUGHTER-HOUSE COMPANY.; PAUL ESTEBEN, L. RUCH, J. P. ROUEDE, W. MAYLIE, S. FIRMBERG, B. BEAUBAY, WILLIAM FAGAN, J. D. BRODERICK, N. SEIBEL, M. LANNES, J. GITZINGER, J. P. A

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Source: Black Past

Apr

14

1873

Lunceford, Jimmie M. (1902-1947)

James Melvin “Jimmie” Lunceford, a popular band leader during the swing era, was born near Fulton, Mississippi, in Itawamba County to James Leonard and Beulah Idella Tucker Lunceford in June, 1902. His grandparents, Daniel and Gracie Lunceford, had arrived in Mississippi as slaves from

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Songs like Isnt She Lovely, Superstition and You Are the Sunshine of My Life won Stevie Wonder more than 20 Grammy Awards and made him one of the most popular rhythm and blues musicians of the 1960s and 1970s. Wonder grew up in Detroit, singing in church choirs and listening to early Motown

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

May

13

1950

African-American Musical Pioneers

Musician Scott Joplin is known as the King of Ragtime. Joplin perfected the musical artform and published songs such as The Maple Leaf Rag, The Entertainerand Please Say You Will. He also composed operas such as Guest of Honor and Treemonisha. Considered one of the greatest composers of the early

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Baquaqua, Mahommah Gardo (1824?-1857?)

Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua’s biography is the only known biography of a former slave from Brazil. Baquaqua was born around 1824 near Djougou in modern day Benin to a Muslim merchant family. Baquaqua was captured from Djougou in 1845 while acting as a messenger for a local king; he was taken to the

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Source: Black Past

Baltimore, Richard Lewis, III (1947- ) - Birthday

Ambassador Richard Lewis Baltimore III was born on December 31, 1947 in New York City, New York to Judge Richard Lewis Baltimore, Jr.

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Source: Black Past

Dec

31

1947

Name at birth: Quincy Delight

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Brown, Ruth (1928-2006)

Known as the Queen of R&B, Ruth Brown was a rhythm and blues singer and actress who crusaded for musicians’ rights. Brown was born Portsmouth, Virginia, on January 12, 1928. After a string of unfortunate events, Brown ended up in Washington, D.C. There, important people backed her such as

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Source: Black Past

Nov

17

2006

Bunche, Ralph J. (ca. 1903-1971)

RalphJohnson Bunche, American political scientist, renowned scholar, award winner,and diplomat, was one of the most prominent African Americans of his era. Bunche was born on August 7, 1903 or 1904(there is some disagreement about the year of his birth) in Detroit, Michigan. His father Fred was

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Source: Black Past

Dec

9

1971

Howlin' Wolf - Birthday

Howlin’ Wolf, a nickname for Chester Arthur Burnett, was an American Blues musician, born on June 10, 1910, in White Station, Mississippi.

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Jun

10

1910

Moose, George E. (1944 - ) - Birthday

George Moose was born in New York City, New York on June 23, 1944, to Robert and Ellen Amanda Lane.

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Source: Black Past

Jun

23

1944

Holloway, Anne Forrester (1941- 2006)

Anne Forrester Holloway was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Mali on November 6, 1979 by President Jimmy Carter. She was the first African American woman to hold that

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Source: Black Past

Nov

6

1979

Pinchback, Pinckney Benton Stewart (1837-1921)

Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback was born on May 10, 1837 to parents William Pinchback, a successful Virginia planter, and Eliza Stewart, his former slave. The younger Pinchback was born in Macon, Georgia during the family’s move from Virginia to their new home in Holmes County, Mississippi. In

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Source: Black Past

James Agee , (born November 27, 1909, Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.—died May 16, 1955, New York, New York), American poet, novelist, and writer for and about motion pictures. One of the most influential American film critics in the 1930s and ’40s, he applied rigorous intellectual and aesthetic

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Source: Brittanica

May

16

1955

Ellington, Duke

Ellington, Duke (Edward Kennedy Ellington), 1899–1974, American jazz musician and composer, b. Washington, D.C. Ellington made his first professional appearance as a jazz pianist in 1916. By 1918 he had formed a band, and after appearances in nightclubs in Harlem he became one of the most famous

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Rhythm and blues

R&B and RnB redirect here. For the modern style of music also called R&B, see Contemporary R&B. For the Japanese television station that uses the abbreviation RNB, see Nankai

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Source: ThoughtCo

Blues is a music genre [2] and musical form originated by African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the end of the 19th century. The genre developed from roots in African musical traditions, African-American work songs, spirituals, and European folk music.[1] Blues

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Charles, Ray (Ray Charles Robinson), 1930–2004, African-American musician and composer, b. Albany, Ga. Blinded at age seven, he was raised in Florida and at 16 began singing in a local hillbilly group. Two years later he moved to Seattle, where he formed his own trio. Charles rose to fame in the

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

(1952) Charlotta Bass, “Acceptance Speech for Vice Presidential Candidate of the Progressive Party”

Los Angeles newspaper owner and political activist Charlotta Bass began her career as a conservative Republican. By the 1940s, however, she moved to the political left. In 1948 she supported Progressive Party candidate Henry Wallace in his failed bid for the Presidency. Four years later she was

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Source: Black Past

List of landmark African-American legislation

Ordinance of 1787: The Northwest Territorial Government (Northwest

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Cuisine Facts

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