Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
College graduate (B.A.): Alexander Lucius Twilight, 1823, Middlebury College; first black woman
to receive a B.A. degree: Mary Jane Patterson, 1862, Oberlin College.
physicist, chemist
Born: 1852
Birthplace: New Haven, Conn.
Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Bouchet was the first African American to graduate (1874) from
Yale College. In 1876, upon receiving his Ph.D. in physics from Yale, he became the first African
American to earn a doctorate. Bouchet spent his career teaching college chemistry and physics.
Died: 1918
Alain Locke
writer, educator
Born: 1886
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pa.
In addition to his long list of academic honors, Locke is credited with helping to initiate and propel
the Harlem Renaissance. Locke graduated from Harvard University in 1907 and became the first
black Rhodes scholar. He studied at Oxford from 1907 to 1910 and the University of Berlin from
1910 to 1911, then went on to receive a Ph.D. in philosophy from Harvard in 1918. Locke
developed a strong interest in African culture and began encouraging black artists and musicians
in America to explore their African roots through their work. Through his efforts, the Harlem
Renaissance movement gained national attention. He edited and wrote numerous magazines,
anthologies, and books about black life and culture. Locke taught at Howard University in
Washington, D.C., for nearly 40 years.
Died: 1954
Simmons, Ruth
Simmons, Ruth, 1945–, American educator and college president, b. Grapeland, Tex., grad.
Dillard Univ. (B.A., 1967) and Harvard (A.M., 1970; Ph.D., 1973). As a scholar she was primarily
concerned with the francophone literature of Africa and the Caribbean. On the faculty and in the
administration at Princeton Univ. from 1983 to 1990, she was associate dean of the faculty
(1986–90). From 1990 to 1991, she was provost of Spelman College. She returned to Princeton
in 1992, serving as vice provost. In 1995 she was named president of Smith College, becoming
the first African-American woman to head a top-ranked college or university. While there she
established the first women's college engineering program and founded Meridians, a journal
addressing the concerns of minority women. Simmons left Smith in 2001 to become president of
Brown Univ.
Wheatley, Phillis
Wheatley, Phillis, 1753?–1784, American poet, considered the first important black writer in the
United States. Brought from Africa in 1761, she became a house slave for the Boston merchant
John Wheatley and his wife Susanna, who, recognizing her intelligence and wit, educated her
and encouraged her talent. Her work, which was derivative, was published in the collection
Poems on Various Subjects (1773) and in various magazines. A second volume existed in
manuscript, but it was not published and was subsequently lost. Although Wheatley traveled to
England, where she was much admired, and soon thereafter obtained her freedom, she
eventually died in poverty.
Morrison, Toni
Morrison, Toni, 1931–, American writer, b. Lorain, Ohio, as Chloe Ardelia (later Anthony)
Wofford; grad. Howard Univ. (B.A., 1953), Cornell Univ. (M.F.A., 1955). Her fiction is noted for its
poetic language, lush detail, emotional intensity, and sensitive observation of American life as
viewed from a variety of African-American perspectives. Her first novel, The Bluest Eye (1970),
is the story of a girl ruined by a racist society and its violence. Song of Solomon (1977; National
Book Award) established her as one of America's leading novelists. It concerns a middle-class
man who achieves self-knowledge through the discovery of his rural black heritage. Her later
fiction includes Beloved (1987; Pulitzer Prize), a powerful account of mother love, murder, and
the legacy of slavery; and Jazz (1992), a tale of love and murder set in Harlem in the 1920s. Her
other novels are Sula (1973), Tar Baby (1981), Paradise (1997), and Love (2003).
Among Morrison's other works are the essay collections Race-ing Justice, En-Gendering Power
and Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination (both: 1992); several children's
books, including The Big Box (2000), written with her son, Slade; a play, Dreaming Emmett
(1986); a song cycle, Honey and Me (1992), written with André Previn; and an opera, Margaret
Garner (2003). Awarded the 1993 Nobel Prize in Literature, she is the first African American to
win the coveted prize. Morrison, who was an influential editor at Random House for nearly two
decades, has been a professor at Princeton Univ. since 1989 and is the founder (1994) of the
Princeton Atelier, a writers' and performers' workshop.
Hayden, Robert
Hayden, Robert (hā'dun) [key], 1913–80, American poet, b. Detroit. After earning his M.A. at the
Univ. of Michigan, he taught there and at Fisk Univ. Although the tone of his poems is quiet and
often loving, he has a considerable gift for irony and his insights can be shattering. His Ballad of
Remembrance (1962) was awarded a prize at the World Festival of Negro Arts in Dakar,
Senegal, in 1966.
Dove, Rita
Dove, Rita, 1952–, American poet, b. Akron, Ohio. Her first poetry collection, Ten Poems, was
published in 1977. Her verse is at once concise, precise, and evocative. History as seen from an
African-American perspective is perhaps her most important theme: the history of her country, as
in the slavery poem sequence of The Yellow House on the Corner (1980), and the history of her
own family, as in the Pulitzer Prize–winning volume Thomas and Beulah (1986), her
grandparents' life story in verse. In her many collections, Dove also writes compellingly of
mother-daughter relations, e.g., Mother Love (1995), everyday life, travel, and the aesthetic
experience itself. From 1993 to 1995 she was U.S. poet laureate, the first African American to
hold the post. An English professor at the Univ. of Virginia, Dove has also written short stories, a
play, and a novel.
Todd Duncan
Age: 95
baritone who was the first black singer to join the New York City Opera. He created the role of
Porgy in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess.
Anderson, Marian
Anderson, Marian, 1897–1993, American contralto, b. Philadelphia. She was the first African
American to be named a permanent member of the Metropolitan Opera Company, as well as the
first to perform at the White House. Anderson first sang in Philadelphia church choirs, then
studied with Giuseppe Boghetti. She began her concert career in 1924 and achieved her first
great successes in Europe. Her rich, wide-ranged voice was superbly suited to opera, lieder, and
the spirituals that she included in her concerts and recordings. In 1939, when the Daughters of
the American Revolution (DAR) refused to allow her to perform at Constitution Hall in
Washington, D.C., Eleanor Roosevelt resigned her DAR membership in protest and sponsored
Anderson's concert at the Lincoln Memorial. In 1955 Anderson made her debut with the
Metropolitan Opera. She was appointed an alternate delegate to the United Nations in 1958 and
in 1963 was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Count Basie
Pianist / Bandleader / Jazz Musician
William "Count" Basie started out playing piano and organ for theater and vaudeville in the 1920s.
Influenced by Fats Waller, Basie formed his own big band, playing swing jazz and emphasizing
hot soloists like saxophonist Lester Young. During the 1940s and '50s, Basie and his orchestra
were one of the most popular big bands in the U.S., with hits like "One O'Clock Jump" and
"Jumpin' at the Woodside." Even after the bop era of jazz had overwhelmed swing, Basie had
success with smaller bands, continuing to perform and record up to his death in 1984.
Extra credit: The story goes that an emcee or radio announcer dubbed him "Count," figuring
there was already a King (of swing, Benny Goodman), a Duke (Ellington) and an Earl (Hines)...
The popular 1966 live album Sinatra at the Sands featured Basie and his orchestra (conducted by
Quincy Jones) with Frank Sinatra in Las Vegas.
Ella Fitzgerald
Jazz Singer
Mitchell, Arthur
Mitchell, Arthur, 1934–, American dancer, b. New York City. Mitchell studied in New York City
and appeared on Broadway and with various companies at home and abroad. He joined the New
York City Ballet in 1956, becoming a soloist in 1959. The first black principal dancer of a major
company in history, he remained with the company for 20 years. His performance as Puck in A
Midsummer Night's Dream (1964) was especially acclaimed. He also performed with distinction
in Western Symphony, Agon, Afternoon of a Faun, and Ebony Concerto. In 1968, Mitchell
founded a ballet school in Harlem, New York City, in order to provide classical academic training
to black students. By 1970 under his direction the school developed into the Dance Theatre of
Harlem, the first black classical ballet company. His works include Rhythmetron (1968) and Ode
to Otis (1969).
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