Little Known Black History Facts
Grammy Award Winner Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten (born Elizabeth Nevills) was a black American blues guitarist who invented “cotten picking.” She picked the guitar strings with the instrument upside down, and kept the sound in perfect pitch. Born in 1892, the North Carolina native began playing her guitar, which she knick-named Stella, at age 11. She […]
John Horse, also known as Juan Caballo, Juan Cavallo, John Cowaya or “Gopher John,” was a black Seminole warrior and military advisor to Osceola. His aliases were the products of different slave owners in Spanish Florida. Born of African and Indian descent, Gopher John was said to be the most successful black freedom fighter of […]
Harold “Buddy” Hudson was the first black basketball player at the University of Oklahoma. Johnson passed away last week at age 75. Hudson transferred to U of O in 1958, six years before the Civil Rights Movement. On December 3rd of that same year, he made history by walking onto the basketball court of the […]
Edisto Island in South Carolina is home to two of the nation’s oldest slave cabins. Cabins found on the island date back to the 1850’s. At the Point of Pines Plantation, there were cabins of 75 black slaves who lived in the two-room homes before and after Emancipation. The Point of Pines village held residents […]
The Cemetery on Red Bank Avenue in Woodsbury, New Jersey was founded in 1832. The land was the final resting place for 47 blacks before and after Emancipation. Eleven Civil War veterans and a prominent AME bishop were buried there, which is now a hospital parking garage. In 1962, those buried were transferred to the […]
John Blanke, a Black trumpeter, was a regular musician at the courts of both Henry VII and Henry VIII. His name was found in the Treasurer of the Chamber, the ledger that noted the payments of the court musicians. Several payments were recorded to quote “John Blanke, the black trumpeter.” John Blanke was paid $8 […]
At 33RD street and Wabash Avenue in Chicago lived the first black amusement park called Joyland. Joyland Park was established in 1923 by W.C.S. & S Amusement Company. Joyland was designed to entertain the growing number of African Americans in the Bronzeville neighborhood of south side Chicago. It was “come one, come all” for free […]
Benjamin Holmes was a slave and a tailor’s apprentice born around 1846. Throughout his life, he would serve many different owners. The South Carolina native was purchased by a hotel owner and moved to Tennessee. Through illegal curiosity, Holmes would teach himself to read and write by reading the signs and words on the doors […]
In the midst of the 50th anniversary of the Birmingham civil rights movement comes an honor for the four little victims that died in 1963. On Thursday, May 9th, the Senate approved to posthumously award the Congressional Gold Medal to Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley and Denise McNair. The 420-0 vote is now […]
Claretta Simpson was born in 1901 in Smedes, Miss. Her tireless work in civil rights with Dr. TRM Howard (a former professor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.) and the SCLC’s Operation Breadbasket, earned her the name “Mother Freedom.” A deep civil rights activist, Simpson moved to Milwaukee, Wis. to serve the poverty-stricken community and […]
John William Boone was born on a federal camp in Miami, Missouri to Rachel Boone Hendricks, a runaway slave, who was owned by descendants of Daniel Boone. Once his mother moved to Warrensburg, Missouri, John was diagnosed with “brain fever” (which was later called cerebral meningitis). The only way his mother could save his life […]
On August 15,1969 black folk music singer Richie Havens opened the legendary Woodstock festival in Bethel, New York. Woodstock Music & Arts Festival was considered by many as the most pivotal point in mainstream music history. Havens was supposed to be the fifth act of the show, but due to a technical issue, he kicked […]
