* Today in Black History - October 13 * 1831 - Jo Anderson, a slave, helps invent the grain harvester reaper. 1876 - Meharry Medical College, formally opens at Central Tennessee College. 1901 - Edith Spurlock (later Sampson) is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She will graduate from the John Marshall Law School in Chicago in 1925 with a Bachelor of Laws degree. In 1927, she will become the first African American woman to receive a Masters of Laws degree from Loyola University. She will become a member of the Illinois bar in 1927, and be admitted to practice before the Supreme Court in 1934. She will become the first African American woman to be named a delegate to the United Nations. She will serve from 1950 to 1953, first as an appointee of President Harry S. Truman and later during a portion of the Eisenhower Administration. She will join the ancestors in 1979. 1902 - Arna Bontemps is born in Alexandria, Louisiana. He will become a prolific poet, librarian, and author of historical and juvenile fiction. Among his best-known works will be "God Sends Sunday" and "Black Thunder", the juvenile books "We Have Tomorrow" and "The Story of the Negro", and "American Negro Poetry", which he edited. In 1943, after graduating from the University of Chicago with a masters degree in library science, Bontemps was appointed librarian at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. He will hold that position for 22 years and will develop important collections and archives of African American literature and culture. Through his librarianship and bibliographic work, he will become a leading figure in establishing African American literature as a legitimate object of study and preservation. He will join the ancestors on June 4, 1973. 1906 - J. Saunders Redding is born in Wilmington, Delaware. He will become a literary and social critic and author of non-fiction works on the African American experience. He will earn an advanced degree in English at Brown University (1932) and will be a professor at various colleges and universities, including Morehouse, Hampton, and Cornell. In 1949, his stint as a visiting professor at Brown will make him the first African American to hold a faculty position at an Ivy League university. He will write many books and articles on African American culture and other topics, including "To Make a Poet Black" (1939), a landmark history of African American literature; "No Day of Triumph" (1942), an autobiographical account of a journey through southern black communities; and "Stranger and Alone" (1950), a novel, as well as several more general historical and sociological works. He will also edit with Arthur P. Davis, an important anthology, "Cavalcade: Negro American Writing from 1760 to the Present" (1971). He will join the ancestors in 1988. 1914 - Garrett Augustus Morgan, the son of former slaves, receives a patent for an invention he calls the "Safety Hood and Smoke Protector," which came to be known as a gas mask. 1925 - Garland Anderson's "Appearances" opens at the Frolic Theatre on Broadway. It is the first full-length Broadway play by an African American. 1946 - Demond Wilson is born in Valdosta, Georgia. He will become an actor and will be best known as Lamont Sanford on the long-running television show, "Sanford & Son." 1962 - Jerry Lee Rice is born in Crawford, Mississippi. He will become a professional football player, selected as the 16th pick overall in the first round of the NFL draft by the San Francisco 49ers in 1985. He will be considered to be the greatest NFL receiver of all time. He will retire as the leader in a number of statistics. His 1,549 receptions were 448 receptions ahead of the second place record held by Cris Carter. His 22,895 receiving yards were 7,961 yards ahead of the second place spot held by his Raiders teammate Tim Brown. His 197 touchdown receptions were 67 scores more than Carter's 130, and his 207 total touchdowns were 32 scores ahead of Emmitt Smith's second place spot of 175. He will retire from the NFL on August 24, 2006. 1979 - Clarence Muse joins the ancestors in Perris, California at the age of 90. He was a pioneer film and stage actor who appeared in 219 films. His first film was the second talking movie ever made. 2000 - Isiah Thomas and Bob McAdoo are enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. ______________________________________________________________ Munirah Chronicle is edited by Rene' A. 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