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Jackson Ward
Jackson Ward is a historically African-American district in Richmond, Virginia with a long tradition of African-American businesses. It is located less than a mile from the Virginia State Capitol, sitting to the west of Court End and north of Broad Street. It was listed as a National Historic Landmark District in 1978. "Jackson Ward" was originally the name of the area's political district within the city, or ward, from 1871 to 1905, yet has remained in use long after losing its original meaning. History Center of black commerce, entertainment and religion After the American Civil War, previously free blacks joined freed slaves and their descendants and created a thriving African-American business community, and became known as the "Black Wall Street of America." Leaders included such influential people as John Mitchell, Jr., editor of the ''Richmond Planet'', an African American newspaper, and Maggie L. Walker. Ms. Walker was the first woman to charter and serve as president ...
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Richmond, Virginia
(Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Virginia##Location within the contiguous United States , pushpin_relief = yes , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivision_name1 = , established_date = 1742 , , named_for = Richmond, United Kingdom , government_type = , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Levar Stoney ( D) , total_type = City , area_magnitude = 1 E8 , area_total_sq_mi = 62.57 , area_land_sq_mi = 59.92 , area_water_sq_mi = 2.65 , elevation_m = 50.7 , elevation_ft = 166.45 ...
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Hippodrome Theater (Richmond, Virginia)
The Hippodrome Theater is located in Richmond, Virginia. It is situated in the historical African-American neighborhood of Jackson Ward, which was referred to as "The Harlem of the South" during the 1920s.The Hippodrome Theater. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.hippodromerichmond.com/about/history/ The Hippodrome Theater was originally opened as a vaudeville and movie theaterHippodrome Theater. (2009, February 25-March 3). The Richmond Voice, p. 12. and was a stop on the "Chitlin' Circuit" of places considered safe and acceptable for African American entertainers in the era of racial segregation in the United States. Today, The Hippodrome Theater has been restored to a fully functioning performance venue in hopes of reclaiming its prominent role in African-American cultural history. Early history The Hippodrome Theater was opened in 1914 by Charles A. Somma as a vaudeville and movie theater. The theater played a major role in the entertainment of Richmond's African-American c ...
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Randall Robinson
Randall Robinson (born July 6, 1941) is an African-American lawyer, author and activist, noted as the founder of TransAfrica. He is known particularly for his impassioned opposition to apartheid, and for his advocacy on behalf of Haitian immigrants and Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Due to his frustration with American society, Robinson emigrated to St. Kitts in 2001. Early life and education Robinson was born in Richmond, Virginia, to Maxie Cleveland Robinson and Doris Robinson Griffin, both teachers. The late ABC News anchorman, Max Robinson, was his elder brother. Randall Robinson graduated from Virginia Union University, and earned a J.D. degree at Harvard Law School. He also has an older sister, actress Jewel Robinson, and a younger sister, Pastor Jean Robinson. Both sisters live and work in the Washington, D.C. area. He and his former wife had a daughter, Anike Robinson, and a son, Jabari Robinson. He is married to Hazel Ross-Robinson and they have one da ...
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Max Robinson
Maxie Cleveland "Max" Robinson, Jr. (May 1, 1939 – December 20, 1988) was an American broadcast journalist, most notably serving as co-anchor on ''ABC World News Tonight'' alongside Frank Reynolds and Peter Jennings from 1978 until 1983. Robinson is noted as the first African-American broadcast network news anchor in the United States. Robinson was a founder of the National Association of Black Journalists. Biography Early life and education Robinson was born the second of four children (his siblings were his sister Jewell, who became a teacher; his brother Randall, a Harvard-educated lawyer; and his sister Jean, a publicist) to Maxie, a teacher and Doris Robinson in Richmond, Virginia. The schools in Richmond were still segregated when he attended them; after graduating from Armstrong High School, Robinson attended Oberlin College, where he was freshman class president; however, he stayed there for only a year and a half and did not graduate. Robinson briefly served in the U ...
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Francis McNeece Whittle
Francis McNeece Whittle (July 7, 1823 – June 20, 1902) was the fifth Episcopal bishop of Virginia. Early and family life Born at Millbank Plantation on the Meherrin River in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, Francis was the next-to-youngest of the nine sons of Irish immigrant Fortescue Whittle (1778-1858) and Mary Ann Davies (1788-1869) of Norfolk, Virginia, Francis Whittle attended the Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia and after teaching for a while, entered and graduated from the Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS)in 1847. The following year, on May 15, 1848, he married Emily Cary Fairfax, daughter of Wilson Cary Fairfax and Lucy A. Griffith. They had eight children, including three daughters and one son who predeceased their parents: Mary Anne at Petersburg, Virginia in 1862, Julia at her uncle's historic house ''Eldon'' in Pittsylvania County, Virginia (later known as the estate of Claude A. Swanson), Jane Eliza at Hopkinsville, Kentucky circa 1872 and Llewellyn F ...
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Chitlin' Circuit
The Chitlin' Circuit was a collection of performance venues throughout the eastern, southern, and upper Midwest areas of the United States that provided commercial and cultural acceptance for African American musicians, comedians, and other entertainers during the era of racial segregation in the United States through the 1960s. The Chitlin' Circuit was considered to be by, for, and about black people. There is debate as to when the Chitlin' Circuit peaked. Some say its peak was in the 1930s, some say it was after World War II, and others say it was the time of the blues. Etymology The name derives from the soul food dish chitterlings (boiled pig intestines). It is also a play on the term " Borscht Belt", which referred to particular resort venues (primarily in New York State's Catskill Mountains) that were popular with Jewish performers and audiences during the 1940s through the 1960s. Chitterlings are part of the culinary history of African Americans, who were often limited ...
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James Brown (musician)
James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honorific nicknames "the Hardest Working Man in Show Business", "Godfather of Soul", "Mr. Dynamite", and "Soul Brother No. 1". In a career that lasted more than 50 years, he influenced the development of several music genres. Brown was one of the first 10 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural induction in New York on January 23, 1986. Brown began his career as a gospel singer in Toccoa, Georgia. He first came to national public attention in the mid-1950s as the lead singer of the Famous Flames, a rhythm and blues vocal group founded by Bobby Byrd. With the hit ballads " Please, Please, Please" and " Try Me", Brown built a reputation as a dynamic live performer with the Famous Flames and his backing band, sometimes ...
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Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued for the remainder of his life. He found great popular success and recorded over 100 songs that became hits on the pop charts. His trio was the model for small jazz ensembles that followed. Cole also acted in films and on television and performed on Broadway. He was the first African-American man to host an American television series. He was the father of singer Natalie Cole (1950–2015). Biography Early life Nathaniel Adams Coles was born in Montgomery, Alabama, on March 17, 1919. He had three brothers: Eddie (1910–1970), Ike (1927–2001), and Freddy (1931–2020), and a half-sister, Joyce Coles. Each of the Coles brothers pursued careers in music. When Nat King Cole was four years old, the family moved to Chicago, Illinois, where ...
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Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. She was known for her vocal delivery and improvisational skills. After a turbulent childhood, Holiday began singing in nightclubs in Harlem, where she was heard by producer John Hammond, who liked her voice. She signed a recording contract with Brunswick in 1935. Collaborations with Teddy Wilson produced the hit "What a Little Moonlight Can Do", which became a jazz standard. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Holiday had mainstream success on labels such as Columbia and Decca. By the late 1940s, however, she was beset with legal troubles and drug abuse. After a short prison sentence, she performed at a sold-out c ...
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Cab Calloway
Cabell Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, conductor and dancer. He was associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he was a regular performer and became a popular vocalist of the swing era. His niche of mixing jazz and vaudeville won him acclaim during a career that spanned over 65 years. Calloway was a master of energetic scat singing and led one of the most popular dance bands in the United States from the early 1930s to the late 1940s. His band included trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie, Jonah Jones, and Adolphus "Doc" Cheatham, saxophonists Ben Webster and Leon "Chu" Berry, guitarist Danny Barker, bassist Milt Hinton, and drummer Cozy Cole. Calloway had several hit records in the 1930s and 1940s, becoming known as the "Hi-de-ho" man of jazz for his most famous song, " Minnie the Moocher", originally recorded in 1931. He reached the '' Billboard'' charts in five consecutive decades (1930s–1970s). ...
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Lena Horne
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years, appearing in film, television, and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood. Horne advocated for human rights and took part in the March on Washington in August 1963. Later she returned to her roots as a nightclub performer and continued to work on television while releasing well-received record albums. She announced her retirement in March 1980, but the next year starred in a one-woman show, '' Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music'', which ran for more than 300 performances on Broadway. She then toured the country in the show, earning numerous awards and accolades. Horne continued recording and performing sporadically into the 1990s, retreating from the public eye in 2000. Early life Lena Horne was born in Bedford� ...
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