Calendar

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - the progenitor of rock-n-roll. Tharpe is known for her signature musical style which fused the worlds of gospel and secular music with a sprinkling of her electric guitar.

Lieutenant General Nadja West (ret.) was the 44th Surgeon General of the United States Army.

Franklin (1942-2018) was a singer, songwriter, and pianist whose distinctive vocals and fusion of gospel, soul, and R&B earned her recognition as the "Queen of Soul." She amassed extraordinary commercial and critical successes, selling more than 85 million records worldwide and earning 18 Grammy Awards and 44 nominations. Her achievements continued throughout her career, and in 1987, she made history as the first woman performer inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Rolling Stone magazine twice named her the greatest singer of all time.

Hayden (1927-1967) was a chemist who specialized in spectrophotometry and chromatography. She's believed to be the first Black scientist to work for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). ⁣ She graduated from South Carolina State College (an HBCU) and earned a Master's degree in Chemistry from Howard University (an HBCU).⁣ In the 1950s she joined the National Institutes of Health, and in 1956 she joined the FDA as an analytical chemist. In 1963, she was named director of the Spectrophotometer Research Branch in the Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry.⁣

Head coach of Temple University's fencing team and the first Black woman to represent the United States in fencing in the Olympic games. In 2017, she was inducted into the USA Fencing Hall of Fame. She has also been inducted into the Temple University Hall of Fame and the United States Fencing Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Annie Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri on April 4, 1928. She and her older brother, Bailey Jr, who nicknamed her Maya, were born to Bailey Johnson, a doorman and navy dietitian, and Vivian (Baxter) Johnson, a nurse and card dealer. She was a poet, author, civil rights activist, and director.

Collins (1895 - 1988) chronicled life in Black New Orleans through her photography. She was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on January 20, 1895, and raised in a Creole Catholic family as the eldest of six children. At 14, she had to earn wages to supplement the family income and she started working in photography. When she began her career, she passed as white, allowing her to work as an assistant to white photographers and develop her skills.

Entrepreneur in fashion, journalism, and beauty. Founder of Ebony Fashion Fair Tour, Fashion Fair Cosmetics, and Ebony and Jet Magazine and The Negro Digest.

It is widely accepted that Mary Dee (1912-1964) was the first Black woman Disc Jockey. She was also one of the first black women admitted to the Association of American Women in Radio and Television.

Jackson (1921-2005) was a Mathematician and NASA's first Black woman engineer.

Irene Morgan v Commonwealth of Virginia, 328 U.S. 373 (1946) Morgan (1917 - 2007) worked for a defense contractor on the production line for B-26 Marauders in Baltimore, MD, supporting the World War II effort. She had been recuperating with her mother in Gloucester County, VA, after suffering a miscarriage. She wanted to return to work and needed to visit her doctor, so she boarded a Greyhound Bus bound for Baltimore, MD, on July 16, 1944. There were no Black or White seat designations on the bus, but a Black person could not sit next to or across from a White person. A White couple boarded the bus at the Middlesex County, VA, stop. The bus driver ordered Morgan and her seatmate to move. Morgan's seatmate moved, but Morgan refused. The driver got off the bus and summoned the sheriff. The sheriff presented Morgan with an arrest warrant. She tore it up and threw it out of the window. When the sheriff grabbed her to remove her, she kicked him in the groin. That sheriff left and another came on the bus. Morgan said she was going to bite him, but he looked dirty, so she clawed him instead. The sheriff said he would use his nightstick on her, and Morgan said, "We'll whip each other."

Bolin (1908-2007) was an attorney and judge. She was the first Black woman to graduate from Yale Law School. In 1939, when she was appointed to serve as a judge on the New York City Domestic Relations Court (later renamed Family Court), she became the first Black woman judge in the United States.

Directed by Debbie Allen and set in 1930's Harlem, 'Stompin' at the Savoy' follows the lives of four friends as they navigate the complexities of love, friendship, and following their dreams in the vibrant world of jazz and swing dancing amidst the backdrop of World War II and the limitations imposed by class, gender, and racial prejudices.

Larsen (1891-1964) was a nurse, librarian, novelist, key figure in the Harlem Renaissance, and the first black woman to graduate from the New York Public Library's Library School. She is best known for her two novels, "Quicksand" (1928) and "Passing" (1929), which explored complex themes of racial identity, mixed-race heritage, and the struggle for acceptance in both black and white communities. She also made history as the first Black woman to win a Guggenheim Fellowship for creative writing (1930).

Sklarek (1926-2012) was the first African American woman to be licensed as an architect in the state of New York in 1954, and later, she became the first Black woman licensed as an architect in California in 1962. She was also the first Black woman member of the prestigious American Institute of Architects (AIA). These milestones shattered racial and gender barriers, blazing a trail for others to follow in the field of architecture.

“I have always wanted my art to service my people—to reflect us, to relate to us, to stimulate us, to make us aware of our potential.”