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Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston was an American singer, songwriter and actress and one of the best selling artists of all time. She was born on August 9, 1963 in New Jersey to two time Grammy Award winner Cissy Houston. The legendary queen of soul, Aretha Franklin, was her godmother. Whitney Houston
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Source: Black History Resources
Aug
9
1963
Ciara
Ciara Prince Harris is an American singer, songwriter, actress and model. She was born on October 25, 1985 to military parents and consequently traveled around a lot as a child. When her parents finally settled in Atlanta, Georgia, the young Ciara was already dreaming of becoming a singer. As
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Source: Black History Resources
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin is one of the most successful female recording artists of all time. She was born on March 25, 1942, in Memphis, Tennessee to C. L. and Barbara Franklin. C.L. was a famous Baptist preacher who later founded his own church and Barbara was an accomplished pianist and singer. Aretha was
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Source: Black History Resources
Mar
25
1942
Battle, Kathleen (1948- )
American soprano Kathleen Battle was born on August 13, 1948 in Portsmouth, Ohio. Battle’s father was a steelworker and her mother was an active participant in the gospel choir at the family’s local African Methodist Episcopal Church. Battle attended Portsmouth High School and upon graduation was
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Source: Black Past
Aug
13
1948
Cassandra Wilson
Cassandra Wilson (born. Dec 4, 1955) is a best known as an American songwriter, singer, jazz musician and music producer who hails from Jackson, Mississippi. Wilson, whose ancestry includes Welsh, Eastern European and West African blood is the third youngest child of jazz musician Herman Fowlkes
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Source: Black History Resources
Dec
4
1955
(1901) Congressman George H. White's Farewell Address To Congress
In January 1901, at the beginning of a new century, George H. White was ending his term as a Congressman from North Carolina’s Second Congressional District. Realizing that he was bringing to a close a thirty two year period when nearly forty Southern African Americans sat in Congress, White used
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Greater Boston Veterans Collaborative
Leontyne Price
Leontyne Price has received eighteen Grammy Awards.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1999
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis is renowned American musician, known for his trumpeting, composing and teaching abilities. Born on October 18, 1961 in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, Marsalis has won almost 9 Grammy Awards promoting the sanctity and depth of Jazz and Classical music to young
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Source: Black History Resources
Oct
18
1961
Curtis Mayfield, singer born
Curtis Mayfield was born on the 3rd of june 1942 in Chicago, Illinois, where he quickly
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
3
1942
Usher
American singer Usher is a teen sensation turned R&B icon who has several bestselling albums, numerous awards and his own recording label. He was born Usher Terry Raymond IV on October 14, 1978 in Tennessee. His father abandoned the family when Usher was only a year old. As a child, he
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Source: Black History Resources
Sponsored by Intellitech
Obama, Michelle Robinson (1964- )
On January 20, 2009, with the Presidential swearing in of her husband Barack Obama, Michelle Robinson Obama became the first person of African American descent to become First Lady of the United
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Pride Academy
Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson was one of the most iconic singers of his generation. Born on August 29, 1958, he was the eighth of ten children born to Joseph Walter and Katherine Esther. At the age of 5, he became the lead singer of his family band named “Jackson 5” which included him and his four
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Source: Black History Resources
Aug
29
1958
Shirley, George Irving (1934- )
George Shirley is an educator, lecturer, and internationally acclaimed tenor whose leading roles in 28 operas with the Metropolitan Opera (“Met”) for 11 seasons helped push open doors on operatic stages for many African American tenors. In 1956 Shirley became the first African American
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Source: Black Past
Jun
24
1956
Nikki Giovanni
Name at birth: Yolande Cornelia
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
Smokey Robinson
Smokey Robinson is a famous American singer and songwriter, who had a successful career both as part of the group “The Miracles” and as a solo artist. He was born as William  Robinson, Jr. on February 19, 1940 to a poor family in Detroit. His mother died when he was very young so he was
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Source: Black History Resources
Feb
19
1940
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Vaughan was a popular twentieth century African-American Jazz singer. She was recognized for her beautiful voice and often nicknamed ‘Sassy’, ‘Sailor’ and ‘The Divine One’ for her salty speech. Moreover, she won a Grammy Award and was awarded the “highest honor in jazz” by The
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Source: Black History Resources
Mar
27
1924
Vanessa Williams
Vanessa Lynn Williams is a Grammy nominated singer, former beauty queen and television and film actress. She was born on March 18, 1963 in Bronx, New York but soon moved to a more fashionable neighborhood. Her parents, Milton and Helen Williams, both worked as music teachers and so Williams and her
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Source: Black History Resources
Mar
18
1963
Hendrix, Jimi
Hendrix, Jimi (James Marshall Hendrix), 1942–70, African-American rock guitarist, b. Seattle, Wash. Hendrix, in his short musical career, was known for an innovative and extremely influential guitar style that involved the explosive, yet often sensitively nuanced, use of feedback, distortion, and
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
Brice, Carol (1918-1985)
Contralto singer Carol Brice was born in Sedalia, North Carolina on April 16, 1918 into a musical family.  Eventually she became one of the first African American classical singers with an extensive recording repertoire.  Brice trained at Palmer Memorial Institute in Sedalia and then enrolled in
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Source: Black Past
Feb
14
1985
Bonds, Margaret (1913-1972)
Margaret Bonds was a pianist and composer noted for her musical adaptations of Shakespeare and collaboration with Langston Hughes.  Bonds was the first African American soloist to appear with the Chicago Symphony and played an important role in the development of twentieth century classical and
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Source: Black Past
Apr
26
1972
Howlin' Wolf
Howlin’ Wolf, a nickname for Chester Arthur Burnett, was an American Blues musician, born on June 10, 1910, in White Station, Mississippi. Ranked at #51 by the Rolling Stone Magazine in the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and arguably deserving a better spot on the list, Wolf is without a doubt
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Source: Black History Resources
Jan
10
1976
Smith, Bessie (1894-1937)
Along with Ma Rainey and Mamie Smith, singer Bessie Smith helped pioneer the genre of blues music and propel it into popular culture. Her early death at the age of 43 cut short a career that influenced the direction of American music and contributed to the success of African Americans in the
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Association of Latino Professionals For America (ALPFA) Boston Professional Chapter
Sep
26
1937
Baldwin, James (1924-1987)
James Arthur Baldwin, fiction writer, essayist, dramatist, and poet, was born on August 2, 1924 in Harlem, New York during the Harlem Renaissance. After graduating from DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx in 1942, he began his formal career as a writer.  Baldwin was inspired by Richard
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Source: Black Past
Aug
2
1924
Lil’ Kim
Lil’ Kim shared a Grammy in 2002 with Christina Aguilera, Pink and Mya. The four re-recorded the classic 1970s single “Lady Marmalade” for the soundtrack to the 2001 movie Moulin Rouge… “G.O.A.T.” stands for Greatest Of All Time; the phrase has often been used by boxer
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
Sponsored by NSBE Boston
Hampton, Lionel
Hampton, Lionel, 1908?–2002, African-American vibraphonist and bandleader, b. Louisville, Ky. When his family moved to Chicago c.1916, the young Hampton began playing drums in a newsboys band. He moved to Los Angeles as a teenager and became a drummer in saxophonist Les Hites band. Encouraged by
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
Mathis, Johnny (1935 - )
John “Johnny” Royce Mathis, singer, was born in Gilmer, Texas on September 30, 1935, the fourth of seven children born to Clem, a chauffeur and handyman, and Mildred, a maid.  The Mathis family moved to San Francisco, Californias Fillmore District when Mathis was a young child.  When
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Source: Black Past
Sep
30
1935
Dionne Warwick, born
Dionne Warwick, singer, three time Grammy winner,born
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
12
1941
Trinity African Methodist Episcopal Church (1890- )
The Trinity African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church is the oldest continuously operating black church in Utah.  Trinity AME was organized in 1890 by Rev. T. Saunders when Salt Lake City was the capital of Utah Territory.  The early date of founding reflects the presence of black non-Mormon
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Eastern Bank
Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder is an internationally renowned singer, song writer and musician. He was born on May 13, 1950, in Saginaw, Michigan. His birth name was Steveland Hardaway Judkins and as a result of being born premature, he was kept in the incubator where an over exposure to oxygen caused him to lose
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Source: Black History Resources
Sponsored by BARBinc
May
13
1950
(1861) Alexander H. Stephens, “Cornerstone Speech”
On March 21, 1861, after seven states had seceded from the United States, two weeks after the inauguration of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, but three weeks before the firing on Fort Sumter, Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens delivered what would be called the Cornerstone Speech in
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAP) Boston Chapter
Mar
21
1861
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