* Today in Black History - April 3 *
1865 - The Fifth Massachusetts Colored Cavalry and units of the
Twenty-fifth Corps are in the vanguard of Union troops
entering Richmond. The Second Division of the Twenty-Fifth
Corps help to chase Robert E. Lee's army from Petersburg to
Appomattox Court House, April 3-10. The African American
division and white Union soldiers are advancing on General
Lee's trapped army with fixed bayonets when the Confederate
troops surrender.
1889 - The Savings Bank of the Order of True Reformers opens in
Richmond, Virginia.
1924 - Richard Mayhew is born in Amityville, New York. A student
at the Art Students League, Brooklyn Museum Art School, and
Columbia University, as well as the Academia in Florence,
Italy, Mayhew will be one of the most respected and
revolutionary landscape artists of the 20th century. He
will also form "Spiral," a forum for artistic innovation
and exploration of African American artists' relationships
to the civil rights movement, with fellow artists Romare
Bearden, Charles Alston, Hale Woodruff, and others.
1936 - James Harrell McGriff is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
He will be surrounded by music as a child, with both parents
playing piano and cousins Benny Golson and Harold Melvin,
who were pursuing their own musical talents. He will be
influenced to play the organ by neighbor Richard "Groove"
Holmes, with whom he will study privately. He will also
study organ at Philadelphia's Combe College of Music and at
Julliard. In addition, he will study with Milt Buckner and
with classical organist Sonny Gatewood. His first hit will
be with his arrangement of "I Got A Woman", on the Sue
label, which made it to the top five on both Billboard's
Rhythm and Blues and Pop charts. There will be close to 100
albums with Jimmy McGriff's name at the top as leader. He
will record for Sue, Solid State, United Artists, Blue Note,
Groove Merchant, Milestone, Headfirst and Telarc. Over his
prolific career, he will record with George Benson, Kenny
Burrell, Frank Foster, J.J. Johnson and a two-organ jam
affair with the late "Groove" Holmes. He will join the
ancestors on May 24, 2008, succumbing to complications of
multiple sclerosis.
1944 - In Smith v. Allwright, the Supreme Court rules that a
"white primary" law that excludes African Americans from
voting is a violation of the 14th Amendment and thus
unconstitutional.
1950 - Carter G. Woodson, "the father of black history," joins the
ancestors in Washington, DC at the age of 74.
1961 - Edward "Eddie" Regan Murphy is born in Brooklyn, New York. He
will become a comedian, actor, writer, singer, and producer.
Box-office takes from his films will make him the 5th-highest
grossing actor in the United States. He will be a regular cast
member on Saturday Night Live from 1980 to 1984 and will work
as a stand-up comedian. He will be ranked #10 on Comedy Central's
list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time. He will receive
Golden Globe Award nominations for his performances in "48 Hrs.,"
the "Beverly Hills Cop" series, "Trading Places," and "The Nutty
Professor." In 2007, he will win the Golden Globe for Best
Supporting Actor and receive a nomination for the Academy Award
for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of soul singer James
"Thunder" Early in "Dreamgirls." His work as a voice actor will
include Thurgood Stubbs in "The PJs," Donkey in DreamWorks' "Shrek"
series and the Chinese dragon Mushu in Disney's "Mulan." In some
of his films, he will play multiple roles in addition to his main
character, intended as a tribute to one of his idols Peter Sellers,
who played multiple roles in "Dr. Strangelove" and elsewhere. He
will play multiple roles in "Coming to America," Wes Craven's
"Vampire in Brooklyn," the "Nutty Professor" films (where he plays
the title role in two incarnations, plus his character's father,
brother, mother, and grandmother), "Bowfinger," "The Adventures of
Pluto Nash," "Norbit," and "Meet Dave." As of 2014, his films will
gross over $3.8 billion in the United States and Canada box office,
and $6.6 billion worldwide. In 2015, he will be awarded the Mark
Twain Prize for American Humor by the John F. Kennedy Center for
the Performing Arts.
1963 - Led by Martin Luther King, Jr., the Birmingham anti-segregation
campaign begins. Before it is over, more than 2,000 demonstrators,
including King, will be arrested. The Birmingham Manifesto, issued
by Fred Shuttlesworth of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human
Rights the morning of the campaign, summarizes the frustration and
hopes of the protesters: "The patience of an oppressed people cannot
endure forever.... This is Birmingham's moment of truth in which
every citizen can play his part in her larger destiny."
1964 - Malcolm X speaks at a CORE-sponsored meeting on "The Negro Revolt
What Comes Next?" In his speech "The Ballot or Bullet," Malcolm X
warns of a growing black nationalism that will no longer tolerate
patronizing white political action.
1968 - Less than 24 hours before he is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee,
civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his famous
"mountaintop" speech to a rally of striking sanitation workers.
1990 - Jazz singer Sarah Vaughan joins the ancestors in suburban Los Angeles,
California, at the age of 66.
1996 - Ron Brown will join the ancestors when an Air Force jetliner carrying
the Commerce Secretary and American business executives crashes in
Croatia, killing all 35 people aboard.
2007 - Eddie Robinson, the longtime Grambling University coach who transformed
a small, Black college into a football power that sent hundreds of
players to the NFL, joins the ancestors at the age of 88. The soft-
spoken coach spent 57 years at Grambling State University, where he
set a standard for victories with 408 and nearly every season relished
seeing his top players drafted by NFL teams.
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