* Today in Black History - July 9 *
1863 - Union troops enter Port Hudson. With the fall of Vicksburg (on July
4) and Port Hudson, Union troops control the Mississippi River and
The Confederacy is cut into two sections. Eight African American
regiments play important roles in the siege of Port Hudson.
1868 - Francis L. Cardozo is installed as secretary of the state of South
Carolina and becomes the first African American cabinet officer on
the state level.
1893 - Dr. Daniel Hale Williams performs the world's first open-heart
surgery at Chicago's Provident Hospital (which he founded in 1891)
on James Cornish, who had been stabbed in the chest and was dying
from blood accumulation around the heart. Dr. Williams brought Mr.
Cornish to surgery, where he proceeded to open his chest, drain the
blood and successfully sutured the pericardium.
1901 - Jester Hairston is born in Belew's Creek, North Carolina, and will
move at a very early age to the Homestead section of Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, where he will grow up. He will attend the
Massachusetts Agriculture College (now University of
Massachusetts), dropping out in the 1920s due to lack of money.
After impressing a benefactor with his singing, he will be
sponsored at Tufts University, graduating in 1929. He will move to
New York and will meet Hall Johnson, who will teach him to respect
Negro spirituals. He will begin his Hollywood career in 1935
when Warner Brothers purchases the show, "Green Pastures." His
early acting roles, will include long-running parts on the radio
and television versions of "Amos 'n' Andy" as well as bit parts in
Tarzan films. Although many of his early acting jobs will portray
less than flattering images of Blacks, he will never apologize for
playing racial stereotypes. "We had a hard time then fighting for
dignity," he will say years later. "We had no power. We had to take
it, and because we took it the young people today have
opportunities." In addition to his roles in television's "Amos 'n'
Andy" and "Amen," Hairston will excel as a musician, first with the
Eva Jessye Choir and later as assistant conductor of the Hall
Johnson Choir. He will also arrange choral music for more than 40
film soundtracks. He will also become the first African American
to direct The Mormon Tabernacle Choir. His films credits will
include "The Alamo," "To Kill a Mockingbird," "In the Heat of the
Night," "Lady Sings the Blues," "The Last Tycoon" and "Lilies of
the Valley," for which he will compose the song "Amen." That song,
which he dubbed for Sidney Poitier in the movie, will reflect
Hairston's lifelong dedication to preserving old Negro spirituals.
He will be a sought-after choral director who will organize
Hollywood's first integrated choir and compose more than 300
spirituals. In his later years, when working with students at
college workshops, Hairston will tell them, "You can't sing legato
when the master's beatin' you across your back." He will join the
ancestors in Los Angeles, California on January 18, 2000.
1927 - Attorney William T. Francis is named minister to Liberia.
1936 - June Jordan is born in the Harlem, New York City. She will become a
poet and author of books for children and young adults and will be
nominated for the National Book Award in 1972 for "His Own Where."
1947 - O.J. (Orenthal James) Simpson is born in San Francisco, California.
He will become a professional football player after winning the
Heisman Trophy - USC - in 1968. He will be elected to the Pro
Football Hall of Fame after playing for the Buffalo Bills and San
Francisco 49ers. He will then become an actor and be known for his
roles in the Naked Gun series, The Towering Inferno, Roots, and
Capricorn One. He will be charged with, and acquitted of the
murder of ex-wife, Nicole and Ron Goldman in 1995.
1951 - Dave Parker is born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He will become a
professional baseball player and will replace Roberto Clemente as
the right fielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates, after Clemente's
death. In 1978, he will become the first Pirate to become Most
Valuable Player since Clemente. He will win three Gold Glove
awards. His career will diminish after he suffers from weight and
knee problems, eventually leading to drug problems. He will be
traded to Cincinnati and then to the Athletics, where he will
contribute to their 1988 and 1989 pennants as a Designated
Hitter and team leader.
1955 - E. Frederick Morrow is appointed an administrative aide to President
Dwight D. Eisenhower. He is the first African American to hold an
executive position on a White House staff.
1971 - Clergyman and activist Leon H. Sullivan is awarded the NAACP's
Spingarn Medal for his achievements in transmitting "the social
gospel into economic progress for his people."
1978 - Larry Holmes wins a decision over Ken Norton for the WBC crown.
1979 - Dr. Walter Massey is named director of the Argonne National
Laboratory.
1987 - Percy E. Sutton, former New York State legislator, president of the
Borough of Manhattan, founder of Inner City Broadcasting and owner
of the Apollo Theatre, receives the NAACP's Spingarn Medal.
______________________________________________________________
Munirah Chronicle is edited by Brother Mosi Hoj
"The TRUTH shall make you free"
E-mail: <[log in to unmask]>
Archives: <http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/Munirah.html>
_____________________________________________________________
To SUBSCRIBE send E-mail to: <[log in to unmask]>
In the E-mail body place: Subscribe Munirah Your FULL Name
______________________________________________________________
Munirah(TM) is a trademark of Information Man. Copyright 2003,
All Rights Reserved by the Information Man in association with
CODE One Communications.
|
