Day 15 of Black History Month and I’m honoring Gordon Parks. He was an American photographer, musician, writer and film director, who became prominent in U.S. documentary photojournalism in the 1940s through 1970s particularly in issues of civil rights, poverty and African-Americans, and in glamour photography.
On January 28, 1856, Margaret Garner, her husband Robert, their four children, and approximately 11 other enslaved people crossed the frozen Ohio River. The Garners sought shelter in Margaret’s uncle’s home along Mill Creek. While in hiding, Margaret’s uncle, worried about how to keep the family safe, left his home to consult with Cincinnati abolitionist Levi Coffin.
Before his return home, U.S. Marshals and slave catchers surrounded and ultimately stormed the home. Faced with seeing her children returned to slavery, Margaret ended her two year old’s life just before being apprehended.
Margaret was held for trial in Cincinnati and abolitionists from across the country came to support her. Abolitionist Lucy Stone spoke at her trial stating, “If in her deep maternal love she felt the impulse to send her child back to God, to save it from coming woe, who shall say she had no right not to do so?”
Margaret was returned to slavery. When Ohio authorities got a warrant for Garner to try her for murder, they were unable to find her. She and her husband, Robert, died in 1858 of typhoid fever in Mississippi. Garner’s story inspired Nobel Prize-winner Toni Morrison’s novel “Beloved”.
The Cosmopolitan School of Music was the first Black owned and operated music school in the United States. Established in 1921, musicians Artie Matthews and his wife Anna Howard Matthews provided experience, training and education for hundreds of Black musicians seeking a career in music. The most notable musician to train at the Cosmopolitan School of Music was Frank Foster (1928-2011). Frank composed several pieces for orchestras and jazz ensembles all over the world and won 2 Grammy Awards for his musical arrangements.
Once located at 823 W Ninth Street in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, the Cosmopolitan School of Music provided a wide range of classes to help Black students develop their musical talent. The classes offered were Language, Expression, Public School Music, Theory, Violin, Voice, Piano, Organ, Band/Orchestra and Ensemble and Natural Dancing.
A quote from W.P. Dabney’s book “Cincinnati’s Colored Citizens” quotes the Cosmopolitan School of Music as “One of its most highly prized privileges is the opportunity to share in the perpetuation and advancement of Black music and art.”
To view W.P. Dabney’s book, CLICK HERE to read it on our Digital Library!
Aida Overton Walker was the foremost vaudeville and theater black star of her generation. She was nationally and even internationally famous in her brief life. Was born in 1880 in New York City. And was hailed as a singer, dancer, actress, comedian and choreographer. In 1898 she joined the legendary Bert Williams and George Walker and was a key member of that super famous vaudeville act and was known as “The Queen of The Cakewalk.” She worked to free young black performers of the early 20th century from degrading hamstrings and stereotypes. She died at the young age of 34 in 1914.
She was born into slavery and “given” as a wedding gift to a Mormon couple in Mississippi named Robert and Rebecca Smith. In 1847 at age 32, Biddy Mason was forced to walk from Mississippi to Utah tending to the cattle behind her master’s 300-wagon caravan. She “walked” from Mississippi to Utah. That’s 1, 618.9 miles!
After four years in Salt Lake City, Smith took the group to a new Mormon settlement in San Bernardino, California in search of gold. Biddy Mason soon discovered that the California State Constitution made slavery illegal, and that her master’s had a plan to move them all to Texas to avoid freeing them.
With the help of some freed Blacks she had befriended, she and the other Slaves attempted to run away to Los Angeles, but they were intercepted by Smith and brought back. However, when he tried to leave the state with his family and Slaves, a local posse prevented them from leaving.
Biddy had Robert Smith brought into court on a writ of habeas corpus. She, her daughters, and the ten other Slaves were held in jail for their own safety to protect them from an angry and violent pro-slavery mob until the Judge heard the case and granted their freedom.
Now free, Mason and her three daughters moved to Los Angeles where they worked and saved enough money to buy a house at 331 Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles. Biddy was employed as a Nurse, Midwife, and Domestic Servant. She was one of the first Black women to own land in the city of Los Angeles.
She had the intelligence and boldness to use part of her land as a temporary resting place for horses and carriages, and people visiting town paid money in exchange for the space. That particular area was considered the first “parking lot” in Los Angeles.
Knowing what it meant to be oppressed and friendless, Biddy Mason immediately began a philanthropic career by opening her home to the poor, hungry, and homeless. Through hard work, saving, and investing carefully, she was able to purchase large amounts of real estate including a commercial building, which provided her with enough income to help build schools, hospitals, and churches.
Her financial fortunes continued to increase until she accumulated a fortune of almost $300,000. In today’s money, that would be $6M. Her most noted accomplishment is the founding of the First AME Church in California. In her tireless work she was known for saying “If you hold your hand closed, nothing good can come in. The open hand gives in abundance; even as it receives.”
Biddy Bridget Mason died on January 15, 1891 at the age of 76. On March 27, 1988, ninety one years after her death, a special occasion event was given in her honor by members of the church she helped founded. Mayor Tom Bradley was among the dignitaries in attendance. Black women are legendary.
One of the most decorated sports legends in American history, he has quite the list of accomplishments; this includes winning 11 NBA championships, a record for the most championships won by an athlete in a North American Sports league. He also broke barriers when he became coach of the Boston Celtics, being the first Black coach in major U.S. professional sports (and NBA). Oh yea, and Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011.
Born 1934, Monroe, Louisiana. Ironically though he would eventually become one of basketball’s greatest players, as a child, Russell’s skills as a basketball player did not come naturally. But, through hard work, practice, and encouragement from his coaches, he would earn a scholarship to the University of San Francisco. While dealing with racial discrimination off the court, he found nothing but success on it. Russell led his team to 56 consecutive victories and 2 NCAA championships in 1955 and 1956.
While Russell would be drafted to the Boston Celtics in ‘56 and earn NBA Rookie of the Year, he didn’t join until late December because he was too busy winning the gold for the U.S. Olympics basketball team that year. From 1961-1963, Russell was voted MVP 3 times in a row (over Wilt Chamberlain, his longtime rival). He would become a MVP 5 times and a 12-time All-Star over the course of his career. In 1968, Celtics coach Red Auerbach retired, and offered the job to Russell, who became the first African American head coach in NBA history as a result.
In the late 60s, Russell retired as a player and left the Celtics, which stirred a bit of controversy. Through the 70s and 80s, he took coaching gigs off and on with the Seattle SuperSonics and Sacramento Kings. In 1979, he even got a chance to host Saturday Night Live. In 1996, Russell was named one of the “50 Greatest Players in NBA History”.
Acknowledging his place in Civil Rights history, President Barack Obama awarded Russell with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011.
–Interesting note, Russell was credited with convincing Shaquille O'neal and Kobe Bryant to end their “beef” in 2006. That’s a thing that happened.
