* Today in Black History - October 12 *
1904 - William Montague Cobb is born in Washington, DC. He will
become the only Black physical anthropologist with a
Ph.D. before the Korean War, He will hold the only Black
perspective on physical anthropology for many years.
He will serve as the chairman of the Anthropology
Section of the American Association for Advancement of
Science and be the first African American President of
the American Association of Physical Anthropologists.
He will be not only a famous physical anthropologist
because of his race, but also because of the great
contributions he made to the field of anthropology. He
grew up pondering the question of race, which ultimately
led him to his studies of anthropology. After graduating
from Dunbar High School, he will continue his studies at
Amherst College, where he will study a wide variety of
subjects and graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
After his graduation from Amherst, he will research
embryology at the prestigious Woods Hole Marine Biology
Laboratory in Massachusetts. He will then attend Howard
University Medical School, where he will earn an Masters
Degree in 1929 and will later spend much of his
professional career. The next few years, he will spend
his time at Case Western Reserve University, where he will
earn a Ph.D. and work on the Hamann-Todd Skeletal
Collection. He will return to Howard University in 1932
and begin working on a laboratory of his own to conduct
skeletal research. He will also continue his research on
human cranio-facial union at the Hamann-Todd Collection
and the Smithsonian Institute during the summers. In his
mind, his two best papers on this subject were "The
Cranio-Facial Union and the Maxillary Tuber in Mammals"
(1943), and "Cranio-Facial Union in Man" (1940). These
publications will establish him as a functional anatomist.
He will also make significant contributions in the issue
of race in athletics, where he will claim race was
insignificant to athletics and also profile the biology
and demography of the African American race during the
1930's. He will leave his legacy of skeletal research with
the Laboratory of Anatomy and Physical Anthropology at
Howard University. This collection of over 600 skeletons
will be considered one of the premiere collections of its
kind. He will also be the editor of the Journal of the
National Medical Association from 1949 to 1977. He will
join the ancestors on November 20, 1990.
1908 - Ann Lane Petry is born in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. She will
become the first black woman writer with book sales topping
a million copies for her novel "The Street." She will also
write the novels "The Country Place, "The Narrows," "Tituba of
Salem Village", "Legends of the Saints," and "Harriet Tubman:
Conductor of the Underground Railroad." She will join the
ancestors on April 28, 1997.
1925 - Xavier University, America's only African American Catholic
college, becomes a reality, when the College of Liberal Arts
and Sciences is established. The first degrees will be awarded
three years later. (The Normal School was founded in 1915.)
1925 - Robert Lewis Jones is born in Decatur, Georgia. He will become
a blues singer and guitar musician known professionally as
Guitar Gabriel. His unique style of guitar playing, which he
will refer to as "Toot Blues", combined Piedmont, Chicago, and
Texas blues, as well as gospel, and will be influenced by
artists such as Blind Boy Fuller and Reverend Gary Davis. After
hearing of Guitar Gabriel from the late Greensboro, North
Carolina blues guitarist and pianist, James "Guitar Slim"
Stephens, musician and folklorist Tim Duffy located and
befriended Gabriel, who will be the inspiration for the creation
of the Music Maker Relief Foundation. He will wear a trademark
white sheepskin hat, which he will acquire while traveling and
performing with Medicine Shows during his late 20s. He will join
the ancestors on April 2, 1996.
1929 - Napoleon Brown Goodson Culp is born in Charlotte, North
Carolina. He will become a blues singer better known as
"Nappy" Brown. He will begin his career as the lead singer
for the gospel group, The Heavenly Lights, recording for
Savoy Records. In 1954, Savoy will convince Brown to
cross over to secular music. For the next few years,
he will ride the first wave of rock and roll until his
records stop selling. After years away from the
limelight, he will resurface in 1984 with an album for
Landslide Records. He will then regularly perform and
record for the New Moon Blues independent label. He will
join the ancestors on September 20, 2008.
1932 - Richard Claxton Gregory is born in St. Louis, Missouri.
He will be better known as "Dick" Gregory and in the
1960's will become a comedic pioneer, bringing a new
perspective to comedy and opening many doors for Black
entertainers. Once he achieves success in the
entertainment world, he will shift gears and use his
talents to help causes in which he believes. He will
serve the community for over forty years as a comedian,
civil and human rights activist and health/nutrition
advocate. On October 9, 2000, his friends and
supporters will honor him at a Kennedy Center gala,
showing him their "appreciation for his uncommon
character, unconditional love, and generous service."
He will join the ancestors on August 19, 2017 in
Washington, DC.
1935 - Samuel David Moore is born in Winchester, Georgia. He
will become a rhythm and blues singer and one half of
the group: Sam & Dave (Dave Prater). The two singers
will be brought together onstage at Miami's King of Hearts
nightclub during an amateur night venue. Sam and Dave
will record for the Alston and Roulette labels before
being discovered by Atlantic Records' Jerry Wexler,
who caught their act at the King of Hearts in 1964 and
then sent them to Memphis-based Stax to record the
next year. They will be best know for their hits,
"Hold On! I'm a Comin'", "Soul Man", "I Thank You",
and "You Got Me Hummin'". Sam and Dave will finally
call it quits after a performance in San Francisco on
New Year's Eve in 1981. He will live to see the induction
of Sam and Dave into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in
1992 (Dave Prater will join the ancestors succumbing to
injuries from an automobile accident on April 9, 1988).
1935 - William Raspberry is born in Okolona, Mississippi. He will
become a syndicated public affairs columnist. He will also
be the Knight Professor of the Practice of Communications
and Journalism at the Sanford Institute of Public Policy
at Duke University. He will frequently write on racial
issues. In 1999, he will receive the Elijah Parish Lovejoy
Award as well as an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from
Colby College. After earning a B.S. in history at the
University of Indianapolis in 1958, he will continue to
work at the local weekly Indianapolis Recorder where he had
begun in 1956, rising to associate managing editor. He will
be drafted and serve as a U.S. Army public information
officer from 1960-1962. The Washington Post will hire him as
a teletypist in 1962. He will quickly rise in the ranks of
the paper, becoming a columnist in 1966. He will be a
finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1982, and win the Pulitzer
Prize for Commentary in 1994. He will support gay rights,
writing at least one column condemning gay-bashing. He will
argue against certain torts and complaints from the disabled.
Ragged Edge, a disabled-rights publication, will publish
complaints from letters to the editor that the Post did not
print. He will retire in December 2005. He will provide the
Washington Post a guest column on November 11, 2008,
commenting on the election of Barack Obama as president of
the United States. As of 2008, he will be president of "Baby
Steps", a parent training and empowerment program based in
Okolona, Mississippi. Raspberry was an alumnus of Okolona
College. He will be the author of "Looking Backward at Us,"
a collection of his columns from the 1980s. He will join the
ancestors succumbing to prostate cancer on July 17, 2012, at
the age of 76.
1942 - David Melvin English is born in Montgomery, Alabama. He will
become a Rhythm & Blues bass singer better known as Melvin
Franklin. He will be best known for his role as a founding
member of Motown singing group The Temptations from 1960 to
1994. He and Otis Williams were the only founding Temptations
who never left the group. One of the most famous bass singers
in music over his long career, his deep vocals will become
one of the group's signature trademarks. He will sing a handful
of featured leads with the group as well, including the songs
"I Truly, Truly Believe" (The Temptations Wish It Would Rain,
1968), "Silent Night" (Give Love At Christmas, 1980), "The
Prophet" (A Song for You, 1975), and his signature live
performance number, "Ol' Man River". He will be usually called
upon to deliver ad-libs, harmony vocals, and, during the
psychedelic soul era, notable sections of the main verses. His
line from The Temptations' 1970 #3 hit "Ball of Confusion
(That's What the World Is Today)", "and the band played on",
will become his trademark. In 1989, he will be inducted into
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Temptations.
He will join the ancestors on February 23, 1995. On August 17,
2013, in Cleveland, Ohio, he will be inducted into the Official
Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame along with The Temptations.
On February 9, 2013, his wife will receive the lifetime
achievement award on his behalf.
1961 - Eugene James "Jacques" Bullard, the first African American
combat aviator (World War I flying for France), joins the
ancestors in Harlem, New York, New York. He had received
fifteen decorations from the government of France for his
service. He was made a knight of the Legion of Honor,
France's most coveted award. He also was awarded the
Medaille militaire, another high military distinction. In
1972, his exploits as a pilot were retold in a biography,
"The Black Swallow of Death." He is also the subject of the
nonfiction young adult memoir "Eugene Bullard: World's First
Black Fighter Pilot" by Larry Greenly. On August 23, 1994,
thirty-three years after his transition, and seventy-seven
years to the day after the physical that should have allowed
him to fly for his own country, he was posthumously
commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air
Force. He was interred with military honors in the French War
Veterans' section of Flushing Cemetery in the New York City
borough of Queens.
1968 - Equatorial Guinea gains independence from Spain.
1968 - Leon Lett, Jr. is born in Mobile, Alabama. He will become a
professional football defensive tackle and coach. He will play
in the NFL for 11 seasons and spend the majority of his career
with the Cowboys, who will draft him in 1991. In his final
season in 2001, he will play for the Denver Broncos. A two-time
Pro Bowler, he will be a member of the Cowboys teams that win
three Super Bowls during the 1990s. He will also be remembered
for two botched plays: a fumble just before he would have scored
a touchdown in Super Bowl XXVII and a failed recovery after a
blocked field goal in a Thanksgiving game, though his team would
ultimately end up going on to win the Super Bowl in both cases.
After retiring, he will begin a career in coaching and rejoin the
Cowboys as an assistant defensive line coach in 2011.
1970 - Charlie Ward, Jr. is born in Tallahassee, Florida. He will become
a college football Heisman Trophy winner and Davey O'Brien Award
winner, as well as a professional basketball player in the National
Basketball Association (NBA). He will play for nine years with the
New York Knicks and start in the 1999 NBA Finals. He will later
have short spells with the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets,
before retiring in 2005. He will be inducted into the College
Football Hall of Fame in 2006.
1970 - Herman Joseph Arvie is born in Opelousas, Louisiana. He will become
a professional football player and will play four seasons in the
National Football League as an offensive tackle with the Cleveland
Browns and Baltimore Ravens. He will be drafted by the Browns out
of Grambling State University in the fifth round of the 1993 NFL
Draft. He will play three seasons with the Browns before the
franchise moves to Baltimore and become the Baltimore Ravens. With
the Ravens in 1996, he will score his only touchdown, scoring on a
one-yard reception. After the 1996 season, he will retire from
football.
1972 - Singor Mobley is born in Tacoma, Washington. He will become a professional
football safety and linebacker in the National Football League and the
Canadian Football League, for the Dallas Cowboys and Edmonton Eskimos. He
will play college football at Washington State University in Pullman.
Unselected in the 1995 NFL Draft, he will sign with the Edmonton Eskimos
of the Canadian Football League. He will have 58 tackles (3 for loss), 3
fumble recoveries and one sack. In 1996, he will post 72 tackles (3 for
loss), 5 sacks, one interception and one fumble recovery. On February 12,
1997, he will be signed as an undrafted free agent by the Dallas Cowboys,
reuniting with former Cougars defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, who will
be the team's defensive backs coach. He will be one of thirteen rookies
to make the team. He will be declared inactive in four of the first 5
games. He will finished seventh on the team with 11 special teams tackles.
In 1998, he will be sixth on the team with 10 special teams tackles. He will
spend three seasons with the Cowboys as a backup safety and special teams
player. He wasn't re-signed at the end of the 1999 season. On May 23, 2000,
he will be signed by the Edmonton Eskimos and be switched to linebacker.
He will lead the team in tackles in 2004 (75) and 2005 (74). In 2006, he will
be second on the team with 59 tackles. He will be released after the season
and announce his retirement on May 24, 2007. In all, he will play 158 games
over nine seasons with the Eskimos, be a part of two Grey Cup championship
teams, register 602 tackles (21 for loss), 21 sacks, 24 passes defensed, 15
interceptions and 78 special teams tackles. In 1995, he will set a team
record with 129 yards in fumble recoveries. He will be considered to be one
of the greatest defensive players in franchise history.
1972 - Forty-six African American and white sailors are injured in a racially
motivated insurrection aboard the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk, off the
coast of North Vietnam.
1975 - Marion Lois Jones is born in Los Angeles, California. Also known as Marion Jones-
Thompson, she will become a world champion track and field athlete and a
professional basketball player for Tulsa Shock in the WNBA. She will win three
gold medals and two bronze medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney,
Australia, but will be later stripped of her medals after admitting to steroid
use. She will retain her 3 titles as world champion from 1997–1999. At the time
of her admission and subsequent guilty plea, she will be one of the most famous
athletes to be linked to the BALCO scandal. The case against BALCO will cover
more than 20 top level athletes, including her ex-husband, shot putter C.J.
Hunter, and 100 m sprinter Tim Montgomery,
1981 - Foluwashola Ameobi is born in Zaria, Nigeria. He will become a professional
footballer who will last play as a striker for English club Notts County.
He will spend 14 years at Newcastle United, making 397 official appearances
and scoring 79 goals, and receive a winner's medal when they win the
Championship in 2010. He will have the second most appearances as a substitute
in the Premier League. On leaving Newcastle in 2014, he will briefly represent
Gaziantep BB in Turkey, before brief spells at Crystal Palace, Bolton Wanderers,
and Fleetwood Town. He will join Notts County in 2017. Born in Nigeria but
raised in England, he will be capped by the England under-21 team before making
his Nigeria debut in 2012 and representing them at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
1986 - Marcus T. Paulk is born in Los Angeles, California. He will become an actor, rapper
and dancer best known for his role as Myles Mitchell in the UPN sitcom "Moesha,"
which will air from 1996 through 2001. Being a proponent of good causes and a
frequent participant in fund raisers, he will be the 1997 national spokesperson
for the "Kids Are Paramount" campaign, which seeks to empower children with
courage and confidence to overcome obstacles. He will also appear with Bow Wow in
the 2005 film "Roll Bounce, Another Cinderella Story" as Dustin, and with Antonio
Banderas in the 2006 film "Take the Lead." He will later work on a studio album.
He will also make appearances in Season 4 of "The Bad Girls Club." In 2012, he will
star in the George Lucas film "Red Tails." He will also star in the 2015 feature
film, "Sister Code" with Amber Rose.
1989 - George Beavers, Jr., the last surviving founder of Golden State Life Insurance
Company of Los Angeles, California, joins the ancestors. He co-founded this
company in 1925, which is the third largest African American life insurance
company, with $120 million in assets and $5 billion of insurance in force.
1989 - Herschel Walker is traded from the Dallas Cowboys to the Minnesota Vikings for
12 players. The trade will turn out a lot better for Dallas than for Minnesota.
1999 - Wilt Chamberlain joins the ancestors. He succumbs to a heart attack at the age
of 63 in his Bel Air home in Los Angeles, California. Chamberlain was a center
so big, agile and dominant that he forced basketball to change its rules and
is the only player to score 100 points in an NBA game.
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