* Today in Black History - May 4 *
1864 - Ulysses S. Grant crosses the Rapidan and begins his duel with
Robert E. Lee. At the same time Ben Butler's Army of the
James moves on Lee's forces. An African American division in
Grant's army did not play a prominent role in the Wilderness
Campaign, but Ben Butler gave his African American infantrymen
and his eighteen hundred African American cavalrymen important
assignments. African American troops of the Army of the James
were the first Union Soldiers to take possession of James River
(at Wilson's Wharf Landing, Fort Powhatan and City Point).
1937 - Sculptor Melvin Edwards is born in Houston, Texas. He will
have one-man exhibits at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art,
the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and the Whitney Museum
of American Art in New York City. His work will be represented
in private collections as well as that of the Museum of
Modern Art, the Schomburg Collection of the New York Public
Library, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, among
others.
1942 - Nickolas Ashford is born in Fairfield, South Carolina. He
will become a songwriter who, with his partner and wife
Valerie Simpson, will write such hits as "Reach out and
Touch (Somebody's Hand)," "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing,"
and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." Becoming a solo act in
1973, Ashford and Simpson will have a string of successful
albums including "Send It," "Solid," and "Real Love." He and
wife Valerie will perform at Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday
celebration in London in 1988, sing for President Clinton at
the 52nd Presidential Inauguration in 1992, perform at the
White House for the CISAC 39th World Congress, and in April
of 1996 they will be awarded ASCAP's highest honor: The
Founder's Award, at the Motown Cafe in New York.
1943 - William Tubman is elected president of Liberia.
1961 - Thirteen CORE-sponsored Freedom Riders begin a bus trip
throughout the south to force desegregation of terminals.
Ten days later, the bus will be bombed and its passengers
attacked by white segregationists near Anniston, Alabama.
1965 - Willie Mays' 512th home run breaks Mel Ott's 511th National
League home run record.
1969 - "No Place to Be Somebody" opens at the Public Theatre in New
York City. Charles Gordone's powerful play will earn its
author the 1970 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
1985 - The famed Apollo Theatre, once the showcase for the nation's
top African American performers, reopens after a renovation
that cost $10.4 million. The landmark building on West 125th
Street in New York was the first place The Beatles wanted to
see on their initial visit to the United States. Ed Sullivan
used to frequent the Apollo in search of new talent for his
CBS show.
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The source for these facts are "Encyclopedia Britannica,
"InfoBeat," "I, Too, Sing America - The African American
Book of Days," and independent research by the
Information Man.
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