*                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.

1893 - Bessie Coleman was born in Altanta, Texas, the twelfth of
        thirteen children.  She will grow up to become the first
        African American female pilot and the first woman to obtain
        an international flying license.

1928 - Eartha Mae Kitt is born in North, South Carolina.  She will start
        her career as a professional dancer with the Katherine Dunham
        Dance Troupe, which will take her to Paris, where she will tour
        as a nightclub singer.  She will eventually return to the United
        States and roles on Broadway and in films.

1932 - George H. Clements is born.  He will become a priest in the
        Washington, DC area nationally known for his anti-drug
        activitism and involvement in the group "One Church, One Addict."

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.  He will become a Rhythm and Blues
        pianist and will be best known for his recording of "Having a
        Good Time."

1940 - 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.

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.

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.

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