*                 Today in Black History - January 27                *

1869 - William Mercer Cook (later Will Marion Cook), who will 
	become a noted composer and conductor, is born in 
	Washington, DC. Beginning study of the violin at age 13, 
	at 15 he will win a scholarship to study at the Oberlin 
	Conservatory. Among other accomplishments, he will 
	introduce syncopated ragtime to New York City 
	theatergoers in his operetta "Clorinda." In 1890, he 
	will become director of a chamber orchestra touring the 
	East Coast. He will prepare Scenes from the Opera of 
	Uncle Tom's Cabin for performance. The performance, which 
	is to take place at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, is 
	cancelled. "Clorindy; or, The Origin of the Cakewalk" — 
	a musical sketch comedy in collaboration with Paul 
	Laurence Dunbar — is the next piece he will compose, in 
	1898. It will be the first all-Black show to play in a 
	prestigious Broadway house, Casino Theatre's Roof Garden. 
	After this period, he will be composer-in-chief and 
	musical director for the George Walker-Bert Williams 
	Company. As he continues to write, he will produce many 
	successful musicals. Best known for his songs, he will 
	use folk elements in an original and distinct manner. 
	Many of these songs will first appear in his musicals. 
	The songs will be written for choral groups or for solo 
	singers. Some are published in "A Collection of Negro 
	Songs" (1912). Later in his career, he will be an active 
	choral and orchestral conductor. He will produce several 
	concerts and organize many choral societies in both New 
	York and in Washington, DC. The New York Syncopated 
	Orchestra, that he creates, will tour the United States 
	in 1918 and then go to England in 1919 for a command 
	performance for King George V. Among his company will be 
	assistant director Will Tyers, jazz clarinetist Sidney 
	Bechet, and Cook's wife, Abbie Mitchell. One of his last 
	shows will be "Swing Along" (1929), written with Will 
	Vodery. He will join the ancestors on July 19, 1944.

1894 - Frederick Douglass 'Fritz' Pollard is born in Chicago, 
	Illinois. He will become a football star at Brown 
	University in 1915 and lead them to the first Rose Bowl 
	game, played on January 1, 1916. This will make him the 
	first African American to play in the Rose Bowl. He will
	also become the first African American named an All-American.  
	After leaving Brown University, he will become one of the 
	first African Americans to play professional football and 
	will become the first African American quarterback and the
	first African American head coach, both with the NFL Akron 
	Indians. When the NFL bans African American players from 
	its ranks in 1933, Pollard will organize the first African 
	American professional football team, the Brown Bombers of 
	Harlem. After fifteen years in professional football, 
	Pollard will establish the first all African American 
	investment company in the country, and run New York City's 
	first African American tabloid newspaper. He will also be 
	involved in the production of some of America's first 
	all-African American movies. He will join the ancestors on 
	May 11, 1986.

1914 - The United States Marines disembark from the USS Montana in 
	Haiti. This occupation becomes official on July 28, 1915 on
	the authority of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and will 
	continue until 1934. Americans will serve as officials of 
	the Haitian government and control its finances, police 
	force, and public works. 

1930 - Robert Calvin Brooks (Bobby 'Blue' Bland) is born in Rosemark, 
	Tennessee. He will become a singer and start his career as 
	a member of The Beale Streeters with Johnny Ace. He will 
	become a solo artist with the Malaco label and record "That's 
	the Way Love Is," "Call on Me," "Turn on Your Love Light," 
	and "Ain't Nothin' You Can Do." Along with such artists as 
	Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, and Junior Parker, he will develope
	a sound that mixes gospel with the Blues and Rhythm & Blues.
	He will be inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1981, the 
	Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, and receive the Grammy 
	Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. He will join the 
	ancestors on June 23, 2013.

1942 - John Weatherspoon (later John Witherspoon) is born in Detroit, 
	Michigan. He will become an actor and comedian who will 
	perform in dozens of television shows and films. Best known 
	for his role as Willie Jones for the Friday series, he will
	also star in films such as Hollywood Shuffle (1987), 
	Boomerang (1992) and Vampire In Brooklyn (1995). He will 
	also make appearances on television shows such as The Wayans 
	Bros. (1995–99), The Tracy Morgan Show (2003), Barnaby Jones 
	(1973), The Boondocks (2005–present), The Five Heartbeats 
	(1991) and Black Jesus (2014). He will write a film, From 
	the Old School, in which he will play an elderly working 
	man who tries to prevent a neighborhood convenience store 
	from being developed into a strip club. He will join the
	ancestors on October 29, 2019 at the age of 77.

1952 - Ralph Ellison's powerful novel "Invisible Man" wins the 
	National Book Award.

1961 - Leontyne Price makes her debut at the Metropolitan Opera 
	House in New York City. She sings in the role of Leonora 
	in "Il Trovatore". Price is the seventh African American 
	singer to make a debut at the Met. Marian Anderson will be 
	the first in 1955.

1972 - Mahalia Jackson, gospel singer, joins the ancestors in 
	Evergreen Park, Illinois at the age of 60. Born in New 
	Orleans, Louisiana, she began her singing career with the 
	Salem Baptist Choir in Chicago, Illinois. She achieved 
	national fame with her recording of "Move on Up A Little 
	Higher," which sold over a million copies. Many considered 
	her rich contralto voice the best in gospel music.

1972 - In Columbia, South Carolina, the white and African American 
	United Methodist conferences of South Carolina -- separated 
	since the Civil War -- vote in their respective meetings to 
	adopt a plan of union. 

1984 - Carl Lewis betters his own two-year-old record by 9-1/4 
	inches when he sets a new, world, indoor-record with a long 
	jump mark of 28 feet, 10-1/4 inches in New York City. 

1984 - Singer Michael Jackson's hair catches on fire during the 
	filming of a Pepsi commercial in Los Angeles at the Shrine 
	Auditorium. Pyrotechnics did not operate on cue, injuring 
	the singer. Jackson is hospitalized for a few days and fans 
	from around the world send messages of concern.

2016 - Alyce Dixon, the oldest female veteran of World War II, joins
	the ancestors at the Washington DC Veteran Affairs Medical 
	Center at the age of 108. She served in the postal service 
	as part of the 6888th Battalion in Scotland, England and 
	France. After leaving the Army in 1946, she will work for 
	the Census Bureau and the Pentagon, where she served as a 
	purchasing agent. She will retire from government service in 
	1973.

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