November 24

 

November 24, 2012 -- U.S. President Barack Obama and his daughters Malia and Sasha (R) visit One More Page bookstore in Arlington, Virginia. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

Bessie Blount Griffin (November 24, 1914 - December 30, 2009) was working with disabled veterans after World War II when she devised a tube that would allow patients without use of their arms to feed themselves by biting on the tube, which then delivered a mouthful of food. She later created a simpler device that used a neck brace with built-in support for a food receptacle such as a bowl, cup, or dish. The Veteran's Administration wasn't interested in either device, and she sold the patent rights to France. In 1969 she began working in law enforcement, conducting forensic science research for police departments in New Jersey and Virginia, and in 1977 was sent to train and work at Scotland Yard. She did consulting work as well as operate a business, studying slave papers and Civil War documents as well as verifying the authenticity of documents containing Native American-U.S. treaties.

Birthdays

Edwin Bancroft Henderson (November 24, 1883 - February 3, 1977) introduced basketball to African Americans in Washington, D.C. in 1904, and was Washington's first male African American physical education teacher (and possibly the first in the country). From 1926 until his retirement in 1954, Henderson served as director of health and physical education for Washington D.C.'s black schools. He also helped organize the Fairfax County branch of the NAACP and twice served as President of the Virginia NAACP in the 1950s. He earned a bachelor's degree from Howard University, a master's degree from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in athletic training from Central Chiropractic College in Kansas City, Missouri.

Theodore Shaw (Teddy) Wilson (November 24, 1912 – July 31, 1986) was an American jazz pianist. Described by critic Scott Yanow as "the definitive swing pianist", Wilson's sophisticated and elegant style was featured on the records of many of the biggest names in jazz, including Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald. With Goodman, he was one of the first black musicians to appear prominently with white musicians. He taught at Juilliard in the 1950s and later was music director for the Dick Cavett Show.

Frankie Muse Freeman (born November 24, 1916) attended Hampton Institute and Howard Law School before beginning a law practice that focused on civil rights work. She served as general counsel for the St. Louis Housing Authority, and in 1964 was named to the United States Commission on Civil Rights where she served for 15 years before being appointed as Inspector General for the Community Services Administration. In 2015, at the age of 98, she was appointed to serve as a Member of the Commission on Presidential Scholars.

Robert Sengstecke Abbott (November 24, 1920 – December 26, 2009) attended Hampton Institute in Virginia and then went on to graduate from Kent Law School (now Chicago-Kent College of Law) in 1899. In May 1905 he started publishing the Chicago Defender. In the early years he personally sold subscriptions to the paper and advertising by going door to door. An early adherent of the Bahá'í religion in the United States, he founded the Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic in 1929, which has developed as a celebration in Chicago of African-American life.

Percy Ellis Sutton (November 24, 1920 – December 26, 2009) was a prominent black American political and business leader. A civil-rights activist and lawyer, he was also a Freedom Rider and the legal representative for Malcolm X. He was the highest-ranking African-American elected official in New York City when he was Manhattan borough president from 1966 to 1977, the longest tenure at that position. He later became an entrepreneur whose investments included the New York Amsterdam News and the Apollo Theater in Harlem.

Ronald Vernie "Ron" Dellums (born November 24, 1935) served as Oakland's forty-fifth (and third African American) mayor. From 1971 to 1998, he was elected to thirteen terms as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Northern California's 9th Congressional District, after which he worked as a lobbyist in Washington D.C. He was born into a family of labor organizers, and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps before serving on the Berkeley, California, City Council. Dellums was the first African American elected to Congress from Northern California and the first openly socialist successful non-incumbent Congressional candidate since World War II.

Oscar Robertson (born November 24, 1938), nicknamed "The Big O", is a retired National Basketball Association player who played for the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks. He played at point guard and was a 12-time All-Star, 11-time member of the All-NBA Team, and one-time winner of the MVP award in 14 professional seasons. He is the only player in NBA history to average a triple-double for a season. and was a key player on the team which brought the Bucks their only NBA title in the 1970–71 NBA season. He is a two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, having been inducted in 1980 for his individual career, and in 2010 as a member of the 1960 United States men's Olympic basketball team.

Events

On November 24, 1866, Rust College was founded in Holly Springs Mississippi, by  the Methodist Episcopal Church through the Freedmen’s Aid Society, an interdenominational mission organization. It  is the oldest of the 11 historically black colleges and universities associated with The United Methodist Church, the second oldest private college in Mississippi, and one of the five historically black colleges that were founded before 1867.

Photo Gallery

Mae Walker married Gordon Jackson on November 24, 1923~Photo Credit: A’Lelia Bundles/Madam Walker Family Archives

Bob Wood photo -- original AP caption -- "A Negro woman watches as robed Ku Klux Klansmen walk in downtown Montgomery, Alabama prior to a cross burning rally that night, November 24, 1956. Circulars advertising Klan meeting said, "We believe in white supremacy, we need you -- you need us." Negroes have boycotted city buses for nearly a year in protest against segregation."

A South African policeman grabs a black student during rioting in Guguletu, near Cape Town, November 24, 1976. 

Singer Etta James and actress Beyonce Knowles arrive on the red carpet of the Los Angeles Premiere of Cadillac Records at The Egyptian Theater on November 24, 2008 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jeff Vespa/WireImage)

Publications

Jet Magazine, November 24 1955

Emmett Till Kidnapers and Murderers Go Scot-Free
 Jet Magazine, November 24, 1955

How the Emmett Till Case Changed Five Lives
 Jet Magazine, November 24, 1955

Chubby Checker, Originator of the Twist, dancing at the Crescendo Night Club. This image from the archives of LIFE magazine first appeared on November 24, 1961.

SOUL - November 24, 1975 - Lola Falana

Sojourner Truth's Step-Stomp Stride by Andrea Pinkney. $11.55. Publisher: Hyperion Book CH; First Edition edition (November 24, 2009). 32 pages. Reading level: Ages 5 and up

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