*              Today in Black History - December 9            *

1867 - The Georgia constitutional convention, consisting of 33
	African American and 137 whites, opens in Atlanta, 
	Georgia.

1872 - P. B. S. Pinchback is sworn in as governor of Louisiana 
	after H.C. Warmoth is impeached "for high crimes and 
	misdemeanors." He becomes the first African American 
	governor of a state.

1919 - Roy Rudolph DeCarava is born in New York City. He will 
	become a leading photographer of the African American 
	experience. He will win a scholarship to study at the 
	Cooper Union School of Art (1938–40), but will leave 
	after two years to attend the more congenial Harlem 
	Community Art Center (1940–42), where he will have 
	access to such figures as the artists Romare Bearden 
	and Jacob Lawrence and the poet Langston Hughes. He 
	will then attend the George Washington Carver Art 
	School (1944–45), where he will study with the Social 
	Realist, Charles White. He will initially take up 
	photography to record images he would use in his 
	painting, but he will come to prefer the camera to the 
	brush. In the late 1940s he will begin a series of 
	scenes of his native Harlem, aiming for “a creative 
	expression, the kind of penetrating insight and 
	understanding of Negroes which I believe only a Negro 
	photographer can interpret.” Edward Steichen, then 
	curator of photography for the Museum of Modern Art in 
	New York City, will attend his first solo show in 1950 
	and purchase several prints for the museum’s collection. 
	In 1952, he will be awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, 
	the first African American photographer to receive the 
	grant. Many of the photos enabled by this award will be 
	compiled in the book, "The Sweet Flypaper of Life" (1955; 
	reissued 1988), with text written by Langston Hughes. In 
	1958, he will become a freelance photographer. His 
	interest in education will lead him to found "A 
	Photographer’s Gallery" (1955–57), which will attempt to 
	gain public recognition for photography as an art form, 
	and a workshop for African American photographers in 
	1963. He will also teach at the Cooper Union School of 
	Art from 1969 to 1972. In 1975, he will join the faculty 
	at Hunter College. He will be perhaps best known for his 
	portraits of jazz musicians, which capture the essence 
	of such legends as Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Duke 
	Ellington, and Billie Holiday in the midst of performances. 
	These portraits, which he will begin in 1956, will be 
	shown in 1983 in an exhibit at Harlem’s Studio Museum. 
	Many of his jazz portraits will be published in "The Sound 
	I Saw: Improvisation on a Jazz Theme" (2001). In 1996, the 
	Museum of Modern Art will organize a DeCarava retrospective 
	that will travel to several cities and introduce his work 
	to a new generation. He will receive a National Medal of 
	Arts in 2006, the highest award given to artists by the 
	United States Government. He will join the ancestors on 
	October 27, 2009.

1922 - Jon Elroy (Redd Foxx) Sanford, is born in St. Louis, 
	Missouri. He will become a comedian and actor, best remembered 
	for his explicit comedy records and his starring role on the 
	1970s sitcom Sanford and Son. He will gain notoriety with his 
	raunchy nightclub acts during the 1950s and 1960s. Known as the 
	"King of the Party Records", he will perform on more than 50 
	records in his lifetime. He will also star in "Sanford," "The 
	Redd Foxx Show" and "The Royal Family." His film roles will 
	include "All the Fine Young Cannibals" (1960) and "Harlem Nights"
	(1989). In 2004, Comedy Central Presents: 100 Greatest Stand-ups 
	of All Time will ranked him as the 24th best stand-up comedian.
	He will not only influence many comedians, but will often 
	portray in popular culture as well, mainly as a result of his 
	famous catchphrases, body language and facial expressions 
	exhibited on "Sanford and Son." He will suddenly join the 
	ancestors on October 11, 1991 after succumbing to a heart attack.
	He will be posthumously given a star on the St. Louis Walk of 
	Fame on May 17, 1992.

1938 - The first public service programming aired when Jack L. Cooper 
	launches the "Search for Missing Persons" show. In 1929, he 
	debuted "The All-Negro Hour on WSBC in Chicago. He is considered 
	to be the first African American disc jockey and radio announcer.

1944 - Famous African American singer, Lena Horne, entertains the airmen 
	at Tuskegee Army Air Field.
	
1953 - Lloyd B. Free is born in Brooklyn, New York. He will 
	become a professional basketball player and will later 
	change his name to World B. Free. He will be a NBA 
	guard with the Philadelphia 76ers, San Diego Clippers, 
	Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers, and the 
	Houston Rockets. He will leave the NBA in 1988 with 
	17,955 career points and a career scoring average of
	20.3 points per game.

1961 - Tanganyika gains independence from Great Britain and 
	takes the name Tanzania.

1961 - Wilt Chamberlain of the NBA Philadelphia Warriors scores 
	67 points vs. the New York Knicks.

1962 - Tanzania becomes a republic within the British 
	Commonwealth.

1963 - Zanzibar gains independence from Great Britain.

1971 - Dr. Ralph J. Bunche, Nobel Peace Prize winner and 
	Undersecretary of the United Nations from 1955 to his 
	retirement in October, 1971, joins the ancestors in New 
	York City at the age of 67.

1971 - Bill Pickett becomes the first African American elected 
	to the National Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame. He is the 
	cowboy that invented the bulldogging event famous in 
	today's rodeos.

1976 - Tony Dorsett is awarded the Heisman Trophy. Dorsett, a 
	running back for the University of Pittsburgh, amasses 
	a total of 6,082 total yards and will go on to play 
	with the Dallas Cowboys and help lead them to the Super 
	Bowl.

1984 - The Jackson's Victory Tour comes to a close at Dodger 
	Stadium in Los Angeles, after 55 performances in 19 
	cities. The production is reported to be the world's 
	greatest rock extravaganza and one of the most 
	problematic. The Jackson brothers receive about $50 
	million during the five-month tour of the United States 
	before some 2.5 million fans.

1984 - Walter Payton of the Chicago Bears records another first 
	as he runs six plays, as quarterback. He is intercepted 
	twice, but runs the ball himself on four carries. The 
	Green Bay Packers still win 20-14.  Payton says after 
	the game, "It was OK, but I wouldn't want to do it for a 
	living." 

1984 - Eric Dickerson, of the Los Angeles Rams, becomes only the 
	second pro football player to run for more than 2,000 
	yards (2,105) in a season. He passes O.J. Simpson's 
	record of 2,003 as the Rams beat the Houston Oilers 
	27-16. 

1989 - Craig Washington wins a special congressional election in 
	Texas' 18th District to fill the seat vacated by the 
	death of George "Mickey" Leland.

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