People, Locations, Episodes

Georgia Taylor, Jubilee Singer born

Georgia Gordon Taylor’s birth in 1855 is celebrated on this date. She was an African American vocalist.

From Nashville, Tennessee, she had a mulatto mother, Mercy Duke Gordon and a slave father, George Gordon. Mercy’s mother was white, and the law required that children of free mothers were free. Mercy had another child, Elwina, fathered by a white man (a “Doctor Warner”) before she married Gordon. Gordon was allowed to live in his free spouse’s household, hire out his own time, and pay part of his wages to his owner. Mercy and George had two children: Governor B. and Georgia.

Lucien Lambert Jr., Pianist and Composer, born

*Lucien Lambert, Jr. was born on this date in 1858. He was a Black pianist and composer of American Creole descent. Lucien-Leon Lambert was the son of New Orleans composer Charles Lucien Lambert, who married a French woman and emigrated from the U.S. in 1854. Lambert, Jr. studied music with his father, Theodore Dubois, and Jules Massenet. After […]

Mamie Hilyer, Classical Music Advocate born

*Mamie Hilyer was born on this date in 1863. She was a Black pianist and promoter of classical music.   Mamie Elizabeth Nichols was born in the District of Columbia. An accomplished pianist, she was an ‘active member of the city’s Black upper class. Hilyer became a devoted champion of ‘good music’ and its cultivation […]

Flora Batson, Concert Singer born

On this date in 1864, Flora Batson was born. She was an African American concert singer.

From Washington D.C., Batson’s youth was primarily spent in Providence, Rhode Island where she made her first public appearances. Batson sang in churches and a variety of programs promoting women’s temperance. She reached a summit with her career in 1885 with the Bergen Star Company as their lead singer. In 1896, another phase of her singing took place with Black bassist Gerard Miller. The two performed together as a feature duet with the South Before the War Company.

The ‘Celebration of Freedom by the Colored People in Washington D.C.’ Drawing is Created

*On this date in 1866, this sketch, “Celebration of the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia by the colored people in Washington D.C.,” was created.   The artist, Frederick Dielman. Served as a topographer and draughtsman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Fortress Monroe and Baltimore from 1866 to 1872. It was published in Harper’s Weekly […]

The Hyers Sisters Debut On Stage

*On this date in 1867, the Hyers Sisters performed their first stage show. They were Black Vaudeville Act singers and pioneers of Black musical theater.   The duo was Anna Madah and Emma Louise.  Their father, Samuel B. Hyers, came west to Sacramento, California, with their mother, Annie E. Hyers (née Cryer), after the Gold […]

Will Cook, Composer, and Arranger born

*On this date, Will Cook was born in 1869. He was an African American composer and arranger.

Born in Washington D.C., Will Marion Cook was the son of John Cook, the treasurer of Howard University. In 1882, he went to Oberlin College to study violin, returning three years later to give his first recitals. After studying in Berlin with the great Joseph Joachim, Cook returned to America and within five years was performing at Carnegie Hall.

Harriett Gibbs-Marshall, Pianist, and Educator born

*Harriett Gibbs Marshall was born on this date in 1869. She was an African American concert pianist, author, and educator.

Sissieretta Jones, Opera Singer born

*The birth of Sissieretta Jones is remembered on this date in 1869. She was an African American concert and spiritual singer.

Tom Lemonier, Actor, and Composer, born

*Tom Lemonier was born on this date in 1870. He was a Black actor and composer. Little is known about his childhood. He contributed to popular music during the ragtime era, mainly active in Black Vaudeville. His work has been featured in various musicals. The Gotham-Attucks Music Publishing Company published some of his work. Numerous recordings […]

Estelle Ricketts, Composer born

*This date in 1871 celebrates the birth of Estelle Ricketts, a Black composer who lived in Darby, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. She lived with her mother, her younger brother, and her father, who operated a boarding stable. She was the only one in her family who could read and write.           Career            Estelle Ricketts’s […]

Isaac Hathaway, Sculptor, and Teacher born

*The birth of Isaac Hathaway in 1872 is marked on this date. He was an African- merican Sculptor, Ceramicist, Illustrator, and Teacher.

John W. Cooper, Ventriloquist born

*John W. Cooper was born on this date in 1873.  He was a Black ventriloquist and singer.   From Brooklyn, New York, he lost both of his parents very young.  Cooper received his education at Professor Dorsey’s Institute in Brooklyn.  While at Dorsey, he developed into a promising entertainer and took a special interest in ventriloquism, […]

William A. Harper, Artist born

William A. Harper was born on this date in 1873. He was an African American artist.

He was born in Canada, studied in Paris, and was considered one of the most gifted Black artists at the turn of the 20th century. At age 8, Harper and his family moved to Illinois and settled on a farm where he developed his love for nature and art. He attended a small college in Jacksonville, Illinois, and later went to Chicago and enrolled at the Chicago Institute School of the Art, where in 1900, he graduated with honors.

Ned Waybrun, Choreographer born

*Ned Wayburn was born on this date in 1874. He was a Black choreographer. Edward Claudius Weyburn was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Elbert Delos Weyburn and Harriet Landon Beach. Chauncey Weyburn was his paternal grandfather. Ned Wayburn spent much of his childhood in Chicago, where he was introduced to theater and studied classical piano. […]