Little Known Black History Facts, Originals

St. Adalbert Church is known as the first and only African-American Catholic parish in Cleveland, Ohio. In 2009, St. Adalbert was among the 50 churches that were ordered to close due to a shortage of priests, funding and church members. Because of the parish’s rules on removing and selling artifacts, the valuable pieces inside St. […]

Little Known Black History Facts, Originals

84-year-old Nathaniel “Magnificent” Montague is a “chaser” of black history artifacts. Montague, a pioneer radio DJ, has collected 50 years of rare and one-of-a-kind documents, footage, recordings and papers in a private collection – 8,000 pieces in all. His collection is valued as being worth millions of dollars. His impressive collection started in 1956 with […]

Little Known Black History Facts

The city of Sanford, Florida is in the headlines as the place where Trayvon Martin was shot and killed. But the city is also haunted by racist memories of the past, dating back to the early days of baseball Hall of Famer, Jackie Robinson. After Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers, he was sent to train […]

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  In the early 1900s, the town of Idlewild in northeastern Michigan was a vacation resort for prominent African Americans. Jokingly called “the Black Eden” Idlewild was rumored to get its name from the idle men and wild women who lived there. During the summers, more than 25,000 people visited the area, some even built […]

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Jean-Michel Basquiat was one of the first black painters to become a world-renowned star in a new era called “neo-expressionist” in the 1980’s. Making a name for himself on the streets of New York City as a graffiti artist, Basquiat’s paintings now sell for millions in art auctions. Jean-Michel Basquiat’s signature of “samo,” (which stood […]

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The African Grove Theater was founded in lower Manhattan in 1821. Other black theaters were attempted, but the African Grove would become the most mainstream black theater in its time. William Henry Brown, a former ship steward, rented out a building on Bleeker Street and turned the second floor into a 300-seat theater. He had […]

Carmen DeLavallade was a remarkable figure of dance and choreography in African-American society. Her talent would become affiliated with names like Alvin Ailey, who, for one season, co-branded his company name with hers in his 1962 European and Asian tour. It was the DeLavallade-Ailey Dance Company Tour. DeLavallade found her gift through her cousin, Janet […]

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Jamaican-born DJ Clive Campbell, a.k.a. DJ Kool Herc, is considered the father of hip-hop music. His technique of isolating the instrumental part of a record, emphasizing the drum beat (or “break”) while simultaneously switching from one break to another, became legendary. He used the two-turntable setup and played two of the same records at the […]

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British archeologists analyzed the remains of an African woman said to be of high status in the Roman Empire. Her existence and burial were dated around the second half of the fourth century. This particular woman has been named The Ivory Bangle Lady. Part of the black Roman elite of ancient Britain, her remains were […]