* Today in Black History - January 26 *
1863 - The War Department authorizes the governor of Massachusetts
to enlist African American troops to fight in the Civil
War. The 54th and 55th Volunteer Infantry are the result.
1897 - At the Battle at Bida, British troops defeat Nupe's army.
1893 - Bessie Coleman was born in Altanta, Texas, the tenth of
thirteen children. She will grow up to become the first
African American female pilot (June 15, 1921) and the first
woman to obtain an international flying license (from the
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale). She will join the
ancestors on April 30, 1926, after being thrown from her
airplane in Jacksonville, Florida.
1932 - George H. Clements is born in Chicago, Illinois. He will
become a priest in the Washington, DC area nationally known
for his anti-drug activism and involvement in the group "One
Church, One Addict." In 1981, he will gain public attention
when he becomes the first Roman Catholic priest to adopt a
child. The same year, he will found the "One Church,
One Child" Program in Chicago at the Holy Angels Church, a
predominantly black Catholic church. His goal will be to
recruit black adoptive parents through local churches. Rev.
Clements will be named to the National Committee for
Adoption's Hall of Fame in 1989 for his outstanding
leadership and the great interest he generated in black
adoptions. The One Church, One Child program will become a
national recruiting effort in 1988, and 32 states will use
all or portions of the program. Its originally envisioned
mission is to combine the resources of the church and the
state to the end of recruiting black adoptive parents to
provide permanent homes for Black children awaiting adoption.
1934 - The Apollo Theatre opens in New York City as a 'Negro
vaudeville theatre'. It will become the showplace for many
of the great African American entertainers, singers, groups
and instrumentalists in the country. The saying will
become common "If you made it... you played it..." at the
Apollo Theatre.
1934 - Huey "Piano" Smith is born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He will
become a Rhythm and Blues pianist and will be best known for
his recording of "Having a Good Time." His piano playing
will incorporate the boogie styles of Pete Johnson, Meade Lux
Lewis, and Albert Ammons, the jazz style of Jelly Roll Morton
and the rhythm-and-blues style of Fats Domino. AllMusic
journalist Steve Huey will note that "At the peak of his game,
Smith epitomized New Orleans R&B at its most infectious and
rollicking, as showcased on his classic signature tune, 'Don't
You Just Know It.'" In 2000, he will be honored with a Pioneer
Award by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation.
1943 - Sherian Grace Cadoria is born in Marksville, Louisiana. She
will make her career in the United States Army after
graduating from Southern University in Louisiana. In 1985,
she will be promoted to brigadier general, making her the
highest ranking African American woman in the U.S. military.
She will be the first woman elevated to that rank in the
Provost Marshal Corps. She will eventually become Director
of Manpower and Personnel for the Organization of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff. General Cadoria will say that she has
"gotten more pressure from being a woman in a man's world
than from being black." She will accomplish many firsts:
she will be the first woman to command a battalion; the
first woman to command a criminal investigation brigade; the
first African American woman director for the Joint Chiefs
of Staff; and the first woman to attend the Army’s top
colleges, Command and General Staff College and the U.S.
Army War College. She will be the senior African American
female general in the U.S. Armed Forces upon her retirement
in November 1990 after serving 29 years. Following
retirement, General Cadoria will found her own business,
Cadoria Speaker and Consultancy Service. On November 11,
2002, she will become the first woman and the first African
American inducted into the Louisiana Military Veterans Hall
of Honor.
1944 - Angela Yvonne Davis is born in Birmingham, Alabama. Active
in civil rights demonstrations and in the Student Non-
Violent Coordinating Committee, she will be fired twice
from the University of California at Los Angeles because of
her Communist Party affiliation and she will successfully
sue for reinstatement. A philosopher and author, she will
flee the law after being implicated in the 1970 Soledad
Brothers shooting. After sixteen months in jail, she will
be acquitted of all charges.
1958 - Anita Baker is born in Toledo, Ohio. A singer of ballads
and jazz-inspired Rhythm and Blues, her 1986 album "Rapture"
will sell five million copies and earn her a 1987 Grammy.
She will win two more in 1989.
1970 - Kirk Franklin is born in Ft. Worth, Texas. He will become a
Grammy Award winning, platinum-selling musician who will
blend gospel, hip hop, and Rhythm & Blues in the 1990s. He
will release his first gospel album, "Kirk Franklin &
Family," in 1993, and will be known as the leader of
contemporary gospel choirs such as Kirk Franklin & the
Family, Kirk Franklin's Nu Nation, God's Property and Kirk
Franklin Presents 1NC. He will integrate hip hop styles
with gospel themes in albums such as "The Nu Nation Project
and God's Property, which will achieve success on the
Billboard Pop Album, Rhythm & Blues and gospel charts. He
will collaborate with the biggest names in gospel music,
including Mary Mary, Tonex, Donnie McClurkin, Richard
Smallwood, Crystal Lewis, Pastor Shirley Caesar, tobyMac,
Jaci Valesquez, and Willie Neal Johnson. He will also
display a willingness to collaborate with artists from the
secular realm, including Bono, Mary J. Blige, and R. Kelly
on the hit single from his album Nu Nation Project, "Lean
on Me."
1990 - Elaine Weddington Steward is named assistant general manager
of the Boston Red Sox. She becomes the first African
American female executive of a professional baseball
organization.
2003 - Serena Williams defeats Venus Williams (7-6, 3-6, 6-4) at the
91st Women's Australian Open.
2005 - Dr. Condoleezza Rice is confirmed by the U.S. Senate as
Secretary of State. She becomes the first African American
woman to hold this post.
2010 - Paul R. Jones, a collector of African American art who donated
thousands of works to universities in Delaware and Alabama,
joins the ancestors in Atlanta, Georgia, at the age of 81.
"My goal has been to incorporate African American art into
American art," he told The Tuscaloosa News in 2008 when he
made his donation to the University of Alabama with a plan for
it to be part of the curriculum. He embraced the school even
though he was turned down by the University of Alabama Law
School in 1949 after it discovered he was Black.
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