The United States
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Father Divine
By 1934, branches had opened in Los Angeles, California, and Seattle, Washington, and gatherings occurred in France, Switzerland, Canada, and Australia, but the membership totals were drastically overstated in the press. Time Magazine estimated nearly two million followers, but the true figure of adherents was probably a few tens of thousands and a larger body of sympathizers who attended his gatherings. Nonetheless, Father Divine was increasingly called upon to offer political endorsements, which he initially did not grant. For example, New York mayoral candidates John P. O'Brien and Fiorello H. LaGuardia each sought his endorsement in 1933, but Father Divine was apparently uninterested.
An odd alliance between Father Divine and the Communist Party of America began in early 1934. Although Father Divine was outspokenly capitalist, he was impressed with the party's commitment to civil rights. The party relished the endorsement, although contemporary FBI records indicate some critics of the perceived huckster were expelled from the party for protesting the alliance.
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W. E. B. DuBois
*W. E. B. DuBois resigned from the NAACP, where he had edited the Crisis magazine, in a conflict over the value of voluntary segregation, which DuBois supported. Roy Wilkins, assistant secretary of the NAACP, became the new editor of the Crisis.
Du Bois did not have a good working relationship with Walter Francis White, president of the NAACP since 1931. That conflict, combined with the financial stresses of the Great Depression, precipitated a power struggle over The Crisis. Du Bois, concerned that his position as editor would be eliminated, resigned his job at The Crisis and accepted an academic position at Atlanta University in early 1933. The rift with the NAACP grew larger in 1934 when Du Bois reversed his stance on segregation, stating that "separate but equal" was an acceptable goal for African Americans. The NAACP leadership was stunned, and asked Du Bois to retract his statement, but he refused, and the dispute led to Du Bois' resignation from the NAACP.
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Academic Achievements
*Ruth Howard Beckham received a Ph.D. in child welfare and psychology from the University of Minnesota.
*Ralph J. Bunche received a Ph.D. in Political Science from Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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Academic Achievements
*Ruth Howard Beckham received a Ph.D. in child welfare and psychology from the University of Minnesota.
*Ralph J. Bunche received a Ph.D. in Political Science from Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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Arts
*Augusta (Fells) Savage (1892-1962), a sculptor and educator, became the first African American member of the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors. One of her major commissions was the creation of sculpture for New York World's Fair 1939-40, Lift Every Voice and Sing, a sculptural group symbolizing blacks' contribution to music, which became Savage's best known and most widely recognized work. Another of her most successful works was The Negro Urchin.
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Awards
*Augusta (Fells) Savage (1892-1962), a sculptor and educator, became the first African American member of the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors. One of her major commissions was the creation of sculpture for New York World's Fair 1939-40, Lift Every Voice and Sing, a sculptural group symbolizing blacks' contribution to music, which became Savage's best known and most widely recognized work. Another of her most successful works was The Negro Urchin.
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Awards
*William T. B. Williams, dean of Tuskegee Institute, received the Spingarn Medal for his achievements in education.
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Civil Rights
Civil Rights
*The Citizens' League for Fair Play organized a boycott against Blumstein's Department Store in Harlem (June).
The earliest activism by blacks to change the situation in Harlem itself grew out of the Great Depression, with the "Don't Buy Where You Can't Work" movement. This was the ultimately successful campaign to force retail shops on 125th Street to hire black employees. Boycotts were originally organized by the Citizens' League for Fair Play in June 1934 against Blumstein's Department Store on 125th Street. The store soon agreed to integrate its staff more fully. This success emboldened Harlem residents, and protests continued under other leadership, including that of preacher and later congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., seeking to change hiring practices at other stores, to effect the hiring of more black workers, or the hiring of members of particular protesting groups.
The Communist Party
*Probably not more than 2,500 of the 24,536 claimed members of the American Communist Party were African Americans.
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Educational Institutions
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*Alain Leroy Locke founded the Associated in Negro Folk Education.
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The Labor Movement
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*The American Federation of Labor rejected a resolution to end discrimination within its ranks and said that no discrimination existed.
A. Philip Randolph's resolution at the AFL National Convention to end union discrimination was rejected by the delegates. The AFL organization committee argued that no such discrimination existed, and supported the concept of separate unions for African Americans and European Americans. In 1935, after much debate the National Convention rejected a special investigation committe's suggestions to end discrimination.
The AFL and, in particular, the railroad brotherhoods discriminated against African Americans in the following ways: by constitutional, ritual and tacit agreement; through creation of segregated and auxiliary locals; by collusion with employers; by negotiating separate seniority and promotion agreements in contracts that kept African Americans in menial jobs; by controlling the craft licensing boards; by negotiating for African Americans without African American representation or votes on the final contracts; by excluding African Americans from union hiring halls when the halls represented the only job source.
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Law and Legislation
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*A lynch mob burned down a courthouse in Shelbyville, Tennessee, after learning that the young African-American man they wanted to hang had been transported to another county for his protection (December 19). National Guardsmen protecting the man killed 2 during a battle around the courthouse.
In 1934, the Bedford County Courthouse was destroyed when a lynch mob burned it down. Several days of violence preceded the act of arson. One hundred national guardsmen were called to the scene to protect a young African American man, E. K. Harris, who was accused of assault. Disguised as a guardsman, the accused man was removed from the jail and sent to Nashville for safekeeping. The mob burned the courthouse in retaliation for the removal of E. K. Harris.
*An anti-lynching bill failed in Congress due to lack of support from the Roosevelt administration.
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Literature
*Zora Neale Hurston's novel Jonah's Gourd Vine was published. In this novel, the author utilized rural African American folklore in a style modeled upon preacher of Holy Roller rhetoric to achieve a very original effect.
*The Ways of White Folks, an anthology of short stories by Langston Hughes, dealt with race relations in rural Southern towns. Miscegenation was the common theme of approximately half the stories.
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Movies
*The Hollywood movie Imitation of Life opened. It starred African American actress Louise Beavers and European American Claudette Colbert as two women who went into business together.
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Music
*William Levi Dawson's Negro Folk Symphony was performed at Carnegie Hall by the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra (November 14).
Symphony No. 1, Negro Folk Symphony, by William Levi Dawson (1899-1990), was the first symphony on black folk themes by an African American composer to be performed by a major orchestra. The symphony was substantially revised in 1952, after a visit to West Africa. Born in Anniston, Alabama, Dawson began to compose when he was sixteen years old. Under his leadership, the Tuskegee Choir became internationally renowned.
Symphony No. 1, Negro Folk Symphony, by William Levi Dawson (1899-1990), was the first symphony on black folk themes by an African American composer to be performed by a major orchestra. The symphony was substantially revised in 1952, after a visit to West Africa. Born in Anniston, Alabama, Dawson began to compose when he was sixteen years old. Under his leadership, the Tuskegee Choir became internationally renowned.
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The NAACP
*W. E. B. DuBois resigned from the NAACP, where he had edited the Crisis magazine, in a conflict over the value of voluntary segregation, which DuBois supported. DuBois would not return to the NAACP until 1944. Roy Wilkins, the assistant secretary of the NAACP, became the new editor of the Crisis.
*The NAACP began formulating a plan for a "systematic coordinated legal assault on discrimination in the schools."
*An anti-lynching bill written by Senator Costigan of Colorado and Senator Wagner of New York was proposed. The NAACP sponsored the bill and placed large banners outside its New York office every day a man was lynched. The NAACP was unsuccessful in its attempt to have President Roosevelt endorse the bill and it did not pass.
*The culmination of the NAACP's 14-year campaign for the liberation of Haiti occurred when President Roosevelt finally withdrew the United States troops from Haiti.
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The Nation of Islam
*By 1934, the Black Muslim leader, Fard, had about 8,000 adherents. Membership would decline after Fard's disappearance later in the year. Elijah Muhammad would then move his headquarters to Chicago. He would soon be called "The Prophet," and Fard was identified with Allah.
Elijah Muhammad succeeded W. D. Fard as leader of the Nation of Islam. Muhammad was born Elijah Poole in Sandersville, Georgia, in 1897. His father was a Baptist preacher, sawmill worker, and tenant farmer. Muhammad was a deeply religious and race conscious youth. While he was employed as a laborer in Georgia in 1923, a European American employer cursed him and he decided to move North. While living on relief in Detroit during the Depression, Muhammad came under the influence of W. D. Fard or Wallace Fard Muhammad, a mysterious silk peddler who had been teaching African Americans that they were members of a superior race, descendants of Muslims from Afro-Asia.
Fard claimed to be a messenger from Allah sent to reclaim his lost people, to save them from the inferior race of "white devils" who had made their lives so miserable. Christianity, Fard asserted, was a false religion used by European American people to keep African Americans in subjugation. Elijah Poole soon became Fard's closest associate and when Fard mysteriously disappeared in 1934, Poole, now known as Elijah Muhammad, took control of the group as "The Messenger of Allah to the Lost-Found Nation of Islam in the Wilderness of North America." Muhammad and his followers refused to bear arms for the United States during World War II. Muhammad himself was convicted of encouraging resistance to the draft and served three and a half years of a five-year sentence in a federal prison.
Elijah Muhammad was released from prison in 1946. During the time of his incarceration, membership in the Nation of Islam dropped from a high of about 8,000 under Fard's leadership leadership to 1,000 under the incarcerated Elijah Muhammad.
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The New Deal
*The Federal Emergency Relief Administration inaugurated a program to help the rural poor grow their own food. Between this year and 1941, $1,121,000,000 was allocated to this program, and $5.3 billion to the discriminatory AAA.
*The National Recovery Administration (NRA) proved unsatisfactory to most African Americans. They were rarely represented at code hearings, and cost-of-living differentials were discriminatory. Under the steel, laundry and tobacco codes, among others, African American workers received lower wages than European American workers.
*The minimum wage regulations of the National Recovery Act contributed to the number of African Americans on relief. The NRA increased competition for jobs and thus encouraged discrimination. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 setting minimum wages had a similar effect.
*Clark Foreman of the Interior Department and E. K. Jones of the Commerce Department, both African Americans, set up interdepartmental committees to consider the problems of African Americans under the NRA and the AAA. An NRA representative admitted that there was discrimination against African Americans in its operations. An AAA representative explained, "It may be said that the smaller the administrative unit, and the greater the degree of local control, the worse the conditions to which Negroes are subjected."
*John P. Davis criticized the NRA for putting African Americans out of work and for raising prices.
*African American enrollment in the CCC was only 5.3% of the total enrollment, although African Americans represented 10% of the population. Enrollment was done by local officials, which led to discrimination.
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Notable Births
*Baseball player Henry "Hank" Aaron, who would break Babe Ruth's career home-run record, was born in Mobile, Alabama (February 5).
Hank Aaron, byname of Henry Louis Aaron (b. February 5, 1934, Mobile, Alabama), American professional baseball player who, during 23 seasons in the major leagues (1954–76), surpassed batting records set by some of the greatest hitters in the game, including Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Stan Musial.
Aaron, a right-hander, began his professional career in 1952, playing shortstop for a few months with the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League. His contract was bought by the Boston Braves of the National League, who assigned him to minor league teams. In 1954 he moved up to the majors, playing mostly as an outfielder for the Braves (who had moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1953). In 1956, he won the league batting championship with an average of .328, and in 1957, having led his team to victory in the World Series, he was named the league’s Most Valuable Player. By the time the Braves moved to Atlanta, Georgia, at the end of 1965, Aaron had hit 398 home runs. In Atlanta on April 8, 1974, he hit his 715th, breaking Babe Ruth’s record, which had stood since 1935. After the 1974 season, Aaron was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers, who were at that time in the American League. Aaron retired after the 1976 season and rejoined the Braves as an executive. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on January 13, 1982. In 2010 the Hank Aaron Childhood Home and Museum opened on the grounds of Hank Aaron Stadium, the home of Mobile, Alabama’s minor league baseball team.
Aaron’s batting records include totals of 1,477 extra-base hits and 2,297 runs batted in. His home run record of 755 was broken by Barry Bonds in 2007. Aaron’s other notable career statistics include 2,174 runs scored (second to Ty Cobb) and 12,364 times at bat (second to Pete Rose). His hit total (3,771) was exceeded only by those of Cobb and Rose. Aaron’s lifetime batting average was .305.
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*Amiri Baraka, a poet and playwright who wrote the play Dutchman, was born in Newark, New Jersey (October 7). He would become a leader of the Black Arts Movement in the 1960s.
Amiri Baraka, also called Imamu Amiri Baraka, original name (until 1968) (Everett) LeRoi Jones (b. October 7, 1934, Newark, New Jersey — d. January 9, 2014, Newark, New Jersey), was an African American writer who presented the experiences and anger of black Americans with an affirmation of black life.
Jones graduated from Howard University (B.A., 1953) and served in the United States Air Force. After military duty, he joined the Beat movement, attended graduate school, and, in 1961, published his first major collection of poetry, Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note, a collection of Jones' early poetry with little regard to race.
Jones was the editor of Yugen, a prominent Beat poetry magazine, from 1960 to 1965. He organized and ran the Black Arts Theater in Harlem from 1964 to 1965 as part of HARYOUAct. In 1966, he moved to Newark, New Jersey, to run Spirit House, an African American workshop in the arts. In 1967, he was arrested in connection with the Newark riots in July of that year; convicted in a very controversial trial the following March, he was sentenced to two and half years. He later organized the United Brotherhood Party and became very active in local politics.
In 1963, Jones published The Moderns, an anthology of contemporary short stories edited by Jones. Also in 1963, Jones published Blues People, a long prose socio-historical study tracing the development of African American blues music and how it reflects the African American experience in the United States.
In 1964, his play Dutchman appeared off-Broadway to critical acclaim. In its depiction of an encounter between a European American woman and an African American intellectual, it exposes the suppressed anger and hostility of African Americans toward the dominant European American culture. Jones followed this with several other one-act plays. The Slave, The Toilet, The Baptism, all of which became increasingly vitriolic in their anti-white feelings. The Dead Lecturer, Jones' second collection of poems, was also published in 1964. The poetry of this volume and subsequent ones reflect the development of Jones' increasingly anti-white, anti-Semitic philosophy.
After the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965, Jones left his wife (who was Jewish) and their two children began to espouse black nationalism.
In 1965, Baraka founded the Black Arts Repertory Theatre in Harlem. He published much during this period, including Black Art (1966) and Black Magic (1969). In addition to poetry and drama, Baraka wrote several collections of essays, an autobiographical novel (The System of Dante’s Hell [1965]), and short stories.
In 1967, Baraka (still Leroi Jones) visited Maulana Karenga in Los Angeles and became an advocate of his philosophy of Kawaida, a multifaceted, categorized activist philosophy that produced the "Nguzo Saba," Kwanzaa, and an emphasis on African names. It was at this time that he adopted the name Imamu Amear Baraka. Imamu is a Swahili title for "spiritual leader", derived from the Arabic word Imam (إمام). Baraka later dropped the honorific Imamu and eventually changed Amear (which means "Prince") to Amiri. Baraka means "blessing, in the sense of divine favor."
In the mid-1970s Baraka became a Marxist, though his goals remained similar. “I [still] see art as a weapon and a weapon of revolution,” he said. “It’s just now that I define revolution in Marxist terms.” In addition to writing, Baraka taught at several American universities. The Autobiography of LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka was published in 1984.
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*Elgin Baylor, one of the 50 greatest players in the history of the National Basketball Association, was born in Washington, D. C.
Elgin Gay Baylor (b. September 16, 1934, Washington, D. C.) played 13 seasons as a forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers, appearing in eight NBA Championship Finals. Baylor was a gifted shooter, strong rebounder, and an accomplished passer. Renowned for his acrobatic maneuvers on the court, Baylor regularly dazzled Lakers fans with his trademark hanging jump shots. The No. 1 draft pick in 1958, NBA Rookie of the Year in 1959, and an 11-time NBA All-Star, he is regarded as one of the game's all-time greatest players. In 1977, Baylor was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Baylor also spent 22 years as general manager of the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers. He won the NBA Executive of the Year Award in 2006, before being relieved of his duties shortly before the 2008–09 season began.
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*Willie Brown, the 41st Mayor of San Francisco, California, was born in Mineola, Texas (March 19).
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*James Milton Campbell, Jr. (b. September 7, 1934, Inverness, Mississippi – d. August 4, 2005, Memphis, Tennessee), better known as Little Milton, a blues singer and guitarist, best known for his hit records "Grits Ain't Groceries," "Walking the Back Streets and Crying," and "We're Gonna Make It", was born in Inverness, Mississippi (September 7).
*Franklin Clarke, a football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland Browns and the Dallas Cowboys, was born in Beloit, Wisconsin (February 7).
*Hank Crawford, an R&B, hard bop, jazz-funk, soul jazz alto saxophonist who became the musical director for Ray Charles, was born in Memphis, Tennessee (December 21).
Bennie Ross "Hank" Crawford, Jr. (b. December 21, 1934, Memphis, Tennessee – d. January 29, 2009) was an R&B, hard bop, jazz-funk, soul jazz alto saxophonist, arranger and songwriter. Crawford was musical director for Ray Charles before embarking on a solo career releasing many well-regarded albums on Atlantic, CTI and Milestone.
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*Henry Dumas, author of Ark of Bones and Other Stories, was born in Sweet Home, Arkansas (July 20).
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*Bill Gunn, a film director known for directing the cult classic horror film Ganja and Hess, was born in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania (July 15).
Bill Gunn (b. William Harrison Gunn, July 15, 1934, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - d. April 5, 1989, Nyack, New York) was a playwright, novelist, actor and film director. His 1973 cult classic horror film Ganja and Hess was chosen as one of ten best American films of the decade at the Cannes Film Festival, 1973. His drama Johnnas won an Emmy award in 1972.
*Virginia Hamilton, author of juvenile fiction such as M. C. Higgins the Great and Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush, was born in Yellow Springs, Ohio (March 12).
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*Eddie Harris (b. October 20, 1934, Chicago, Illinois – d. November 5, 1996, Los Angeles, California), a jazz musician best known for playing tenor saxophone and for introducing the electrically amplified saxophone, was born in Chicago, Illinois. He was also fluent on the electric piano and organ. His best-known compositions are "Freedom Jazz Dance", recorded and popularized by Miles Davis in 1966, and "Listen Here."
*Marilyn Horne, a mezzo-soprano opera singer, was born in Bradford, Pennsylvania.
Marilyn Horne (b. January 16, 1934, Bradford, Pennsylvania), a mezzo-soprano opera singer who specialized in roles requiring a large sound, beauty of tone, excellent breath support, and the ability to execute difficult coloratura passages, was born in Bradford, Pennsylvania. She is a recipient of the National Medal of Arts (1992) and the Kennedy Center Honors (1995). She has won four Grammy Awards.
*Charles Jenkins, the 1956 Olympic 400 meter champion, was born in New York City, New York (January 7).
Charles Lamont "Charlie" Jenkins (b. January 7, 1934, New York City, New York), a winner of two gold medals at the 1956 Summer Olympics, was born in New York City, New York.
Charles Jenkins was a member of Villanova's track teams between 1955 and 1957. Coached by Jumbo Elliott, Jenkins won in the 1955 National Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) title in 440 yard but at the 1956 Olympics all eyes were on Jenkins' United States teammate, Lou Jones, who held the world record. Jones had won the United States Trials while Jenkins had placed a distant third. At Melbourne, Jenkins barely made it to the 400 meter Olympic final, finishing third in both his first and second-round heats. In the final, however, a strong finish earned him the gold medal. A few days later he won a second gold medal when the United States took the 4 x 400 meter relay.
Jenkins also competed indoors, winning the AAU 600 yard (549 m) title in 1955, 1957 and 1958. In 1956, he set a world indoor best for 500 yards (457 m). When Elliott died in 1981, Jenkins succeeded him as Villanova coach. One of his charges was his son, Chip, who placed third at the 1986 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) indoor championships. Like his father, Chip also became an Olympic gold medalist, running as a reserve on the United States 4 x 400 meter relay team at the 1992 Summer Olympics making it the first time in history that a father and a son won gold medals in the same event.
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*Track star Rafer Johnson was born in Hillsboro, Texas (August 18). he would win a gold medal in the decathlon at the 1960 Rome Olympics.
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*Bill Jones, one of the first black photographers to work the celebrity beat in Hollywood and a photographer who brought attention to Halle Berry, Denzel Washington and other black stars early in their careers, was born in Mansfield, Ohio (October 4).
William Benjamin Jones was born on October 4, 1934, in Mansfield, Ohio. He was given up for adoption by his birth parents and reared by Willy and Bertha Jones. After graduating from Mansfield Senior High School in 1954, he enrolled in Howard University in Washington, but he left during his freshman year to enlist in the Air Force.
He stayed in the Air Force for the next two decades, attaining the rank of sergeant. He was trained as an accountant but became fascinated by photography.
While stationed on Okinawa, he staged fashion shows on the base and took runway photographs. Later, when he was stationed in England, he took courses at the London School of Photography.
He took his first celebrity photo when Muhammad Ali came to London in 1966 for a return match with the English heavyweight Henry Cooper.
After leaving the Air Force, Mr. Jones moved to Los Angeles, where he earned a master’s degree in business from California State University, Los Angeles, in 1976. While making his early red-carpet forays — he started with a photograph of the comedian Redd Foxx leaving a restaurant on Venice Boulevard — he worked at the accounting firm Swinerton & Walberg.
The disc jockey and entrepreneur Hal Jackson hired Mr. Jones as the photographer for his Talented Teens International Competition.
Mr. Jones photographed the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when he visited Los Angeles in 1964, and in 1990 he traveled to South Africa, paying his own way, to photograph Nelson Mandela as he was released from prison. At the 2002 Academy Awards, he photographed Ms. Berry and Mr. Washington, winners of the best actress and best actor Oscars, holding their gold statuettes aloft. It was one of his favorite images.
In 1997, washing his car in front of his house in South Los Angeles, Mr. Jones was attacked by a neighbor with a baseball bat. No motive was ever determined. He lay in a coma for a month, with multiple skull fractures. Many of the celebrities he had photographed over the years raised money to help with his medical treatment.
After a long period of rehabilitation, he resumed his photographic work, using his left hand to take pictures. His most memorable images were collected in "Hollywood in Black: 40 Years of Photography by Bill Jones," published in 2006. That year the annual Hollywood Black Film Festival honored him with a retrospective.
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*Bill Jones, one of the first black photographers to work the celebrity beat in Hollywood and a photographer who brought attention to Halle Berry, Denzel Washington and other black stars early in their careers, was born in Mansfield, Ohio (October 4).
William Benjamin Jones was born on October 4, 1934, in Mansfield, Ohio. He was given up for adoption by his birth parents and reared by Willy and Bertha Jones. After graduating from Mansfield Senior High School in 1954, he enrolled in Howard University in Washington, but he left during his freshman year to enlist in the Air Force.
He stayed in the Air Force for the next two decades, attaining the rank of sergeant. He was trained as an accountant but became fascinated by photography.
While stationed on Okinawa, he staged fashion shows on the base and took runway photographs. Later, when he was stationed in England, he took courses at the London School of Photography.
He took his first celebrity photo when Muhammad Ali came to London in 1966 for a return match with the English heavyweight Henry Cooper.
After leaving the Air Force, Mr. Jones moved to Los Angeles, where he earned a master’s degree in business from California State University, Los Angeles, in 1976. While making his early red-carpet forays — he started with a photograph of the comedian Redd Foxx leaving a restaurant on Venice Boulevard — he worked at the accounting firm Swinerton & Walberg.
The disc jockey and entrepreneur Hal Jackson hired Mr. Jones as the photographer for his Talented Teens International Competition.
Mr. Jones photographed the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when he visited Los Angeles in 1964, and in 1990 he traveled to South Africa, paying his own way, to photograph Nelson Mandela as he was released from prison. At the 2002 Academy Awards, he photographed Ms. Berry and Mr. Washington, winners of the best actress and best actor Oscars, holding their gold statuettes aloft. It was one of his favorite images.
In 1997, washing his car in front of his house in South Los Angeles, Mr. Jones was attacked by a neighbor with a baseball bat. No motive was ever determined. He lay in a coma for a month, with multiple skull fractures. Many of the celebrities he had photographed over the years raised money to help with his medical treatment.
After a long period of rehabilitation, he resumed his photographic work, using his left hand to take pictures. His most memorable images were collected in "Hollywood in Black: 40 Years of Photography by Bill Jones," published in 2006. That year the annual Hollywood Black Film Festival honored him with a retrospective.
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*Earl King, a singer, guitarist and songwriter known for composiing the blues standard "I Hear You Knocking", was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Earl King (b. February 7, 1934, New Orleans, Louisiana – d. April 17, 2003, New Orleans, Louisiana) was a singer, guitarist, and songwriter, most active in blues music. A composer of blues standards such as "I Hear You Knocking" (recorded by Smiley Lewis, Gale Storm, Dave Edmunds and others), "One Night" (recorded by Smiley Lewis and Elvis Presley), "Come On" (covered by Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan) and Professor Longhair's "Big Chief", King is an important figure in New Orleans R&B music.
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*Poet and essayist Audre Lorde was born in New York City (February 18).
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*Barbara Jean McNair (b. March 4, 1934, Chicago, Illinois - d. February 4, 2007, Los Angeles, California ), a model and actress, was born in Chicago, Illinois (March 4).
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*Barbara Jean McNair (b. March 4, 1934, Chicago, Illinois - d. February 4, 2007, Los Angeles, California ), a model and actress, was born in Chicago, Illinois (March 4).
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*Arthur Mitchell, a dancer and choreographer who created a training school and the first African-American classical ballet company, Dance Theatre of Harlem, was born in Harlem, New York (March 27).
Arthur Mitchell, (b. March 27, 1934, New York, New York), American dancer, choreographer, and director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem.
Mitchell attended the High School for the Performing Arts in New York City and began performing in Broadway musicals and with the companies of Donald McKayle and John Butler. In 1956 Mitchell became the only black dancer in the New York City Ballet. He soon became a principal with the company, and George Balanchine created several roles for him, notably those in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1962) and Agon (1967).
Mitchell was sensitive to the prejudice against African Americans in the world of ballet and determined to form an all-black ballet company. In 1968 he and Karel Shook founded an integrated school, whose associated company made its debut in 1971 in New York City and at the Spoleto Festival in Italy. Mitchell choreographed a number of ballets for the Dance Theatre of Harlem.
*Actor Greg Morris was born in Cleveland, Ohio (September 27). He would have a role in the popular television series Mission Impossible.
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*Billy Paul, a singer known for the soul ballad "Me and Mrs. Jones", was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (December 1).
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*Billy Paul, a singer known for the soul ballad "Me and Mrs. Jones", was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (December 1).
Billy Paul (b. Paul Williams, December 1, 1934, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – d. April 24, 2016, Blackwood, New Jersey) was a Grammy Award-winning soul singer, known for his 1972 number-one single, "Me and Mrs. Jones", as well as the 1973 album and single "War of the Gods" which blends his more conventional pop, soul and funk styles with electronic and psychedelic influences.
Paul was one of the many artists associated with the Philadelphia soul sound created by Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, and Thom Bell. Paul was identified by his diverse vocal style which ranged from mellow and soulful to low and raspy.
Born Paul Williams in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on December 1, 1934, Paul's childhood was steeped in music and his naturally high voice and adaptable vocal range meant that he had a particular affinity for female soul and jazz singers.
Educated at the West Philadelphia Music School and the Granoff School of Music, by the time Paul was 16 he was performing at the ritzy West Philadelphia jazz hotspot Club Harlem, where he appeared on the same bill as Charlie Parker, a year before Parker’s death.
After changing his name to Billy Paul, he was soon being booked for regular club appearances and concert performances on the Philadelphia music scene. In 1952, he recorded his first single, "Why Am I", in New York, described by Billboard magazine as the “expressive warbling of a moody ballad, by the label’s new 16-year-old chanter”.
Paul recorded several more discs before being drafted, in 1957, into the United States Army, where he served alongside Elvis Presley in Germany and performed with the 7th Army Band. In 1959, after being discharged, he returned to the music scene and had a spell in the ever-changing line-up of Harold Melvin’s popular Philadelphia soul group, the Blue Notes. During this time, Paul met and befriended Marvin Gaye, who was also working as a jobbing singer with the emerging soul groups.
In the late 1960s, Paul and his wife (also his manager), Blanche Williams, were approached by Kenny Gamble, who, with his songwriting and producing partner, Leon Huff, would go on to create the Philadelphia soul sound for their label, Philadelphia International Records (PIR). Gamble signed Paul to his label and in 1968 he released his first album, Feelin’ Good at the Cadillac Club, although it was not a commercial success. With Gamble and Huff’s formation of PIR, however, Paul found himself joining a family of new acts who combined soul and jazz with funky dance grooves.
In 1972, he released the album 360 Degrees of Billy Paul, on which he had included "Me and Mrs. Jones". The yearning lyrics of the song – which was written by Gamble and Huff with Cary Gilbert, and was later covered by artists ranging from Michael Bublé to the actress Sandra Bernhard – were brought to life by Paul’s effortless and occasionally soaring vocals.
The song reached No. 1 in the US charts in 1972 and was a British Top 20 hit the following year. It sold two million copies and went on to win Paul a Grammy Award. It was also the first No. 1 for PIR, and it was expected that Paul would soon release another smoochy soul classic. It was, therefore, somewhat surprising to Paul (and the mainstream fans of "Me and Mrs. Jones") when he followed it up with "Am I Black Enough for You?"
The song, described by one critic as “a social message moved along by a perky bongo and clavinet-dominated beat, and well-spaced, brassy horn hits” failed to achieve the crossover success of "Me and Mrs. Jones" and was later adopted by the Black Power movement. Paul himself revealed that he had not wanted to release the single.
Commercially it proved difficult for Paul to recover from such an overtly political track, and although he continued to release a number of critically acclaimed and popular discs, he never achieved the recognition or mainstream fame of some of his contemporaries. His single, "Let’s Make a Baby" (1976), also attracted controversy, although this time because of lyrics which were regarded as too explicitly sexual. Some American radio stations tried to ban the song, while one chose to play it, but not announce its title.
In 1977, Paul recorded a version of Paul McCartney’s Wings song "Let ’Em In", changing the lyrics to include a list of civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. That same year he joined Lou Rawls, Archie Bell, Teddy Pendergrass, Dee Dee Sharp Gamble, Eddie Levert and Walter Williams as part of the Philadelphia International All-Stars singing the outrageously groovy "Let’s Clean Up the Ghetto".
Billy Paul continued to record in the late 1970s and 1980s and, despite announcing his retirement in 1989, was playing at small venues and festivals into his seventies. In 2009, he was the subject of a documentary, Am I Black Enough for You?, in which it was revealed that he had had a spell as a cocaine addict, before recovering with the help of his wife. The couple were described as coming across as “a jazzy Derby and Joan.”
Paul died on the afternoon of April 24, 2016, at his home in the Blackwood section of Gloucester Township, New Jersey, from pancreatic cancer at the age of 81.
Born Paul Williams in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on December 1, 1934, Paul's childhood was steeped in music and his naturally high voice and adaptable vocal range meant that he had a particular affinity for female soul and jazz singers.
Educated at the West Philadelphia Music School and the Granoff School of Music, by the time Paul was 16 he was performing at the ritzy West Philadelphia jazz hotspot Club Harlem, where he appeared on the same bill as Charlie Parker, a year before Parker’s death.
After changing his name to Billy Paul, he was soon being booked for regular club appearances and concert performances on the Philadelphia music scene. In 1952, he recorded his first single, "Why Am I", in New York, described by Billboard magazine as the “expressive warbling of a moody ballad, by the label’s new 16-year-old chanter”.
Paul recorded several more discs before being drafted, in 1957, into the United States Army, where he served alongside Elvis Presley in Germany and performed with the 7th Army Band. In 1959, after being discharged, he returned to the music scene and had a spell in the ever-changing line-up of Harold Melvin’s popular Philadelphia soul group, the Blue Notes. During this time, Paul met and befriended Marvin Gaye, who was also working as a jobbing singer with the emerging soul groups.
In the late 1960s, Paul and his wife (also his manager), Blanche Williams, were approached by Kenny Gamble, who, with his songwriting and producing partner, Leon Huff, would go on to create the Philadelphia soul sound for their label, Philadelphia International Records (PIR). Gamble signed Paul to his label and in 1968 he released his first album, Feelin’ Good at the Cadillac Club, although it was not a commercial success. With Gamble and Huff’s formation of PIR, however, Paul found himself joining a family of new acts who combined soul and jazz with funky dance grooves.
In 1972, he released the album 360 Degrees of Billy Paul, on which he had included "Me and Mrs. Jones". The yearning lyrics of the song – which was written by Gamble and Huff with Cary Gilbert, and was later covered by artists ranging from Michael Bublé to the actress Sandra Bernhard – were brought to life by Paul’s effortless and occasionally soaring vocals.
The song reached No. 1 in the US charts in 1972 and was a British Top 20 hit the following year. It sold two million copies and went on to win Paul a Grammy Award. It was also the first No. 1 for PIR, and it was expected that Paul would soon release another smoochy soul classic. It was, therefore, somewhat surprising to Paul (and the mainstream fans of "Me and Mrs. Jones") when he followed it up with "Am I Black Enough for You?"
The song, described by one critic as “a social message moved along by a perky bongo and clavinet-dominated beat, and well-spaced, brassy horn hits” failed to achieve the crossover success of "Me and Mrs. Jones" and was later adopted by the Black Power movement. Paul himself revealed that he had not wanted to release the single.
Commercially it proved difficult for Paul to recover from such an overtly political track, and although he continued to release a number of critically acclaimed and popular discs, he never achieved the recognition or mainstream fame of some of his contemporaries. His single, "Let’s Make a Baby" (1976), also attracted controversy, although this time because of lyrics which were regarded as too explicitly sexual. Some American radio stations tried to ban the song, while one chose to play it, but not announce its title.
In 1977, Paul recorded a version of Paul McCartney’s Wings song "Let ’Em In", changing the lyrics to include a list of civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. That same year he joined Lou Rawls, Archie Bell, Teddy Pendergrass, Dee Dee Sharp Gamble, Eddie Levert and Walter Williams as part of the Philadelphia International All-Stars singing the outrageously groovy "Let’s Clean Up the Ghetto".
Billy Paul continued to record in the late 1970s and 1980s and, despite announcing his retirement in 1989, was playing at small venues and festivals into his seventies. In 2009, he was the subject of a documentary, Am I Black Enough for You?, in which it was revealed that he had had a spell as a cocaine addict, before recovering with the help of his wife. The couple were described as coming across as “a jazzy Derby and Joan.”
Paul died on the afternoon of April 24, 2016, at his home in the Blackwood section of Gloucester Township, New Jersey, from pancreatic cancer at the age of 81.
*Donald Payne, the first African American elected to the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey, was born in Newark, New Jersey (July 16).
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*Basketball player and coach William Felton "Bill" Russell, who would be named Most Valuable Player of the Year five times, was born in Monroe, Louisiana (February 12).
Russell became in 1966 the first African American coach of a professional sports team, the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association. An All-American at the University of San Francisco, Russell led the Don to two NCAA titles (1955 and 1956) and also led the United States Olympic basketball team to the gold medal in 1956. Entering the NBA after the Olympics, Russell was five times named the Most Valuable Player. The Boston Celtics, with Russell as both player and player-coach, dominated the NBA, winning eleven championships during Russell's thirteen year career.
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*Sonia Sanchez, poet, playwright, and short-story writer, was born in Birmingham, Alabama (September 19).
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*Activist Betty Shabazz, the wife of Malcolm X, was born in Pinehurst, Georgia (May 28).
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*Wallace Henry Thurman (b. August 16, 1902, Salt Lake City, Utah – d. December 26, 1934, New York City, New York), a novelist active during the Harlem Renaissance, was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. In addition to novels, Thurman also wrote essays, worked as an editor, and was a publisher of short-lived newspapers and literary journals. He is best known for his novel The Blacker the Berry: A Novel of Negro Life (1929), which explores discrimination within the African American community based on skin color, with lighter skin being more highly valued.
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*Nolan Strong, a doo wop singer, was born in Scottsboro, Alabama (January 22).
Nolan Strong (b. January 22, 1934, Scottsboro, Alabama - d. February 21, 1977, Detroit, Michigan), moved to Detroit at a young age. He started singing soon after arriving in Detroit and formed his first Diablos group in 1950. Nolan Strong & the Diablos became a Detroit-based R&B and doo-wop vocal group best known for its hit songs "The Wind" and "Mind Over Matter." The group was one of the most popular pre-Motown R&B acts in Detroit during the mid-1950s, through the early 1960s. Its original members were Nolan Strong, Juan Gutierrez, Willie Hunter, Quentin Eubanks, and Bob Edwards. Nolan Strong was drafted into the United States Army in 1956 and was honorably discharged in 1958. Nolan Strong, as the lead vocalist, had an ethereally high tenor. Strong's smooth voice, influenced mainly by Clyde McPhatter was, in turn, a primary influence on a young Smokey Robinson.
*Wallace Henry Thurman (b. August 16, 1902, Salt Lake City, Utah – d. December 26, 1934, New York City, New York), a novelist active during the Harlem Renaissance, was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. In addition to novels, Thurman also wrote essays, worked as an editor, and was a publisher of short-lived newspapers and literary journals. He is best known for his novel The Blacker the Berry: A Novel of Negro Life (1929), which explores discrimination within the African American community based on skin color, with lighter skin being more highly valued.
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*Politician Edolphus Towns was born in Chadbourn, North Carolina (July 21). He would become Brooklyn borough president, United States representative from New York, and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.
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*Leon Wagner, a baseball left fielder who played for the San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Angels, Cleveland Indians, and Chicago White Sox, was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee (May 13).
*Cedar Walton, a hard bop jazz pianist, was born in Dallas, Texas (January 17).
Cedar Anthony Walton, Jr. (b. January 17, 1934, Dallas, Texas – d. August 19, 2013, Brooklyn, New York) was a hard bop jazz pianist. He came to prominence as a member of drummer Art Blakey's band before establishing a long career as a bandleader and composer. Several of his compositions have become jazz standards, including "Mosaic", "Bolivia", "Holy Land," "Mode for Joe" and "Ugetsu", also known as "Fantasy in D".
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*Junior Wells (b. Amos Wells Blakemore Jr., December 9, 1934, Memphis, Tennessee, or West Memphis, Arkansas - d. January 15, 1998, Chicago, Illinois), a Chicago blues vocalist, harmonica player, and recording artist, was born in either Memphis, Tennessee or West Memphis, Arkansas. Wells, who was best known for his performances and recordings with Muddy Waters, Earl Hooker, and Buddy Guy, also performed with Bonnie Raitt, the Rolling Stones, and Van Morrison.
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*Bill White, a baseball player who served as President of the National League from 1989 to 1994, was born in Lakewood, Florida (January 28).
William De Kova "Bill" White (b. January 28, 1934, Lakewood, Florida), a baseball player who played for the New York and San Francisco Giants (1956, 1958), the St. Louis Cardinals (1959–65, 1969) and the Philadelphia Phillies (1966–68), was born in Lakewood, Florida.
White became a full-time sportscaster after his playing career ended, serving for 18 years as a play-by-play man and color analyst for the New York Yankees television and radio broadcasts. In 1989, White was hired to be President of the National League to replace Bart Giamatti, who had been elected to succeed Peter Ueberroth as Commissioner. White served in that role until he retired in 1994.
*Robert Wilson, the first African American to pitch an American League no-hitter, was born in Ponchatoula, Louisiana (October 2).
Robert Earl Wilson (b. Earl Lawrence Wilson, October 2, 1934, Ponchatoula, Louisiana – d. April 23, 2005, Southfield, Michigan) was a professional baseball pitcher. He played all or part of eleven seasons in Major League Baseball with the Boston Red Sox (1959–60, 1962–66), Detroit Tigers (1966–70) and San Diego Padres (1970), primarily as a starting pitcher. Wilson batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Ponchatoula, Louisiana.
In an eleven-season career, Wilson posted a 121-109 record with 1,452 strikeouts and a 3.69 ERA in 2,051.2 innings pitched.
A 6-foot-3, 215-pound pitcher who relied on sliders and fastballs, Wilson made his major league debut with the Red Sox on July 28, 1959, as their first black pitcher. Infielder Pumpsie Green had become the first black player on the Red Sox, joining them earlier that season, when Boston was the last of the 16 major league clubs to break the color barrier.
On June 26, 1962, at Fenway Park, Wilson no-hit the Los Angeles Angels 2-0 and helped his own cause with a home run off Bo Belinsky -- himself a no-hit pitcher earlier that year, on May 5. Wilson also became the first black major leaguer to pitch an American League no-hitter.
In five-plus seasons, Wilson won 45 games for Boston with a high of 13 victories in 1963. He was traded to the Detroit Tigers in the 1966 mid-season, and finished with a combined 18-11 record, a career-high in strikeouts with 200, and a 3.07 ERA. His most productive season came in 1967, when he won a career-high 22 games, tying Jim Lonborg for the American League lead.
In the 1968 World Series, when the Tigers defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games, Wilson was part of a starting rotation that included 31-game winner Denny McLain and Mickey Lolich, who won three games in the Series.
Originally a catcher, Wilson switched to pitching in 1953. Wilson hit 35 home runs in his career: 33 while as a pitcher, two as a pinch hitter, two in one game (1965), and seven in a season twice, in 740 at-bats. Only Wes Ferrell (37 HRs), Bob Lemon and Warren Spahn (35 each) and Red Ruffing (34) hit more home runs as pitchers.
Wilson was sent to the San Diego Padres in 1970, and he finished his career at the end of the season. After retiring, he founded an automotive parts company. Wilson also held a position, in the 1980s, as a high school physical education teacher at Coral Springs High School in Coral Springs, Florida. Ironically, Wilson was not the baseball coach at the school but instead served as the school's basketball coach.
Wilson died from a heart attack at his home in Southfield, Michigan, on April 23, 2005.
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