November 10

Hubert Laws, Jr. (born November 10, 1939)  began playing flute in high school after volunteering to substitute for the school orchestra's regular flutist, and was also in the Houston-area jazz group the Swingsters, which eventually evolved into the Modern Jazz Sextet, the Night Hawks, and The Crusaders. After winning a scholarship to Julliard, he concentrated on classical music during the 1960s, performing with the New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. He continued in jazz as well, and and in 1964 began recording as a bandleader for Atlantic, and he released the albums The Laws of Jazz, Flute By-Laws, and Laws Cause. He has recorded with Paul Simon, Ashford and Simpson, Gil Scott-Heron, Paul McCartney, Morcheeba, and many others. In June 2010, he received a lifetime achievement award from the National Endowment for the Arts in the field of jazz and in 2011 was awarded the NEA Jazz Masters Award.

Birthdays

Granville Sharp (November 10, 1735 - July 6, 1813) was one of the first English campaigners for the abolition of the slave trade. He also involved himself in trying to correct other social injustices. Sharp formulated the plan to settle blacks in Sierra Leone, and founded the St. George's Bay Company, a forerunner of the Sierra Leone Company. His efforts led to both the founding of the Province of Freedom, and later on Freetown, Sierra Leone, and so he is considered to be one of the founding fathers of Sierra Leone. He was also a biblical scholar and classicist, and a talented musician who often signed notes to his friends as G#.

James LuValle (November 10, 1912 - January 30, 1993) graduated Phi Beta Kappa in chemistry from UCLA in 1936, and was also captain of the track team. He was bronze medalist in the 400 meters at the 1936 Olympics. Later that year he formed the Graduate Students Association at UCLA before leaving for Cal Tech to earn his doctorate under Linus Pauling. He taught at Fisk and worked in the private sector before joining Stanford as laboratory administrator in 1975,

Herbert Hosea Heywood (November 10, 1923 - May 8, 1982) was one of two Tuskegee Airmen, along with Henry E. Rohlsen, recruited from the Virgin Islands who graduated from the Tuskegee Flight School Class of 44-C-SC on March 12, 1944, as 2nd lieutenants. After serving his country, Heywood graduated from Columbia School of Law. He returned to his native St. Croix and worked at Christiansted High School for many years. He was elected to the last two St. Croix Municipal Councils from 1951 to 195454. He later emigrared to the United States where  he worked as supervisor of accounting at Harlem Hospital in New York City.

Clarence McClane Pendleton, Jr. (November 10, 1930 – June 5, 1988), was the politically conservative African American chairman of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, a position that he held from 1981 until his death during the administration of U.S. President Ronald W. Reagan. He claimed that minorities had become dependent on government social programs which create a cycle of dependence. African Americans, he said, should build strong relations with the private sector and end ties to liberal bureaucrats and philosophies.

Joan Cooper (November 10, 1931 – September 20, 2014),  known by her pen name, J. California Cooper, was an American playwright and author. She wrote 17 plays and was named Black Playwright of the Year in 1978 for her play Strangers. At the encouragement of Alice Walker, she began writing fiction, with two collections of short stories published before the release of her first novel, Family, in 1991. She wrote Funny Valentines, later turned into a 1999 TV movie starring Alfre Woodard and Loretta Devine. Awards Cooper won include the American Book Award (for her 1986 short-story collection Homemade Love), a James Baldwin Writing Award, and a Literary Lion Award from the American Library Association.

James Hood (November 10, 1942 - January 17, 2013), along with Vivian Malone, enrolled at the University of Alabama in June 1963, leading to Gov. George Wallace's "schoolhouse door" stand. After death threats, Hood left a year later to attend Wayne State where he graduated with a degree in criminal science. He was Deputy Police Chief of Detroit before returning to Alabama for a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies.

Alaina Reed Hall (November 10, 1946 – December 17, 2009) was best known for her roles as Olivia, Gordon`s younger sister, on the long-running children`s television series Sesame Street, and Rose Lee Holloway on the NBC sitcom 227. She began her professional career in Philadelphia and off-Broadway productions. She was among the original cast members in the 1974 off-Broadway production of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on the Road. Hall also appeared in productions of Hair (Chicago in 1970 and the 1977 revival), Chicago, and Eubie! 

Events

On November 10, 1898, two days after the local elections in Wilmington, North Carolina, the democratically elected and biracial government was overthrown by Democratic Party White Supremacists. Over 1,500 white men participated in an attack on the African American newspaper, burning down the building. They ran officials and community leaders out of the city, and killed many African Americans in widespread attacks. Although originally described as a race riot, it is now perceived as the only coup d'etat in US history.  It is considered a turning point in Post-Reconstruction North Carolina politics. marking an era of more severe racial segregation and effective disenfranchisement of African-Americans throughout the South.

On November 10, 1945, Frederick C. Branch was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. He went on to serve during the Korean War and attained the rank of Captain before leaving the Marine Corps in 1955. In May 1943, while attending Temple University, Branch received a draft notice from the Army, but he was ultimately selected to be a Marine. He went on to complete Basic Training at Montford Point, NC and was assigned to serve in the Pacific. His discipline, loyalty and character earned him the recommendation of his commanding officer to attend Officer Candidates School. In his honor, the Marine Corps offers the Frederick C. Branch Leadership scholarship for students attending or planning to attend Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

On November 10, 1960, Andrew J. Hatcher was named Associate Press Secretary to President-elect John F. Kennedy. He was the highest-ranking African American appointed to date in the executive branch, and the first African American Press Secretary. He had previously served as an officer in World War II, a speechwriter for Adlai Stevenson, and California Assistant Secretary of Labor.

Photo Gallery

On November 10,1891, Granville T. Woods was issued U.S. Patent 463,020 for a Electric Railway System.

Tank commander Sergeant Warren G. H. Crecy came to the aid of his men
 on 10 November 1944, and fought through enemy positions until his tank was destroyed.

"Torchy in Heartbeats," a comic by pioneering cartoonist Jackie Ormes (1911-1985) featuring
her most enduring character, Torchy Brown. This strip, from November 10, 1951, is from
Nancy Goldstein’s book, Jackie Ormes: The First African-American Woman Cartoonist.

Billie Holiday concert flier for November 10, 1956

“African Beauty Queens” 10 November 1967: Four contestants from Africa line up at their London hotel before the 1967 Miss World beauty contest. From left to right, they are Miss Tanzania (Teresa Shayo), Miss Uganda (Rosemary Salmon), Miss Nigeria (Rosalind Balogun) and Miss Ghana (Araba Vroon). (Photo by Leonard Burt/Central Press/Getty Images)

The first black woman Marine, Annie E. (Graham) Gilliard (foreground) and the first black woman Marine officer, Chief Warrant Officer Annie L. Grimes, are the guests of honor at the Montfort Point Marine Association (MPMA) Marine Corps birthday ball, November 10, 1984. Photo credit: Staff Sgt. Lavalle. Caption credit: Defense Imagery.

November 10,2007 Former chairwoman of Chicago State University’s English department and mother of
Kanye West, Donda West, passed away. She died of complications from a cosmetic surgical procedure. She was 58.

Separate and Unequaled: Black Baseball in the District of Columbia. November 10, 2008 - Indefinitely.
Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum: Washington, D.C.

Publications

Model Dorothea Towles cat-sitting for Eartha Kitt in NYC, taking care of Ms. Kitt’s four cats.
Jet Magazine, November 10, 1955 

Gloria Lockerman, Television's Million Dollar Baby - Jet Magazine, November 10, 1955

Nicholas Brothers Family Photo - Jet Magazine, November 10, 1955

The Black Book: 35th Anniversary Edition by Middleton A. Harris. $25.39. Publication:
November 10, 2009. Publisher: Random House; Anv edition (November 10, 2009). 224 pages.

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