September 12

James Cleveland (Jesse) Owens (September 12, 1913 - March 31, 1980) set three world records (200 meters, long jump, and 4x100 meter relay and tied a fourth (100 mmeters) while competing for Ohio State University at a Big Ten meet on May 25, 1935. The next year he won four gold medals in these events at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, thwarting Hitler's hopes that the games would be a showcase for German athletes. He immediately took advantage of promotional offers but in doing so lost his amateur status and was unable to compete in track events. Without further wins, his popularity and earnings declined. A former competitor from the University of Michigan, Willis Ward, then hired him to work at Ford Motor Company as Assistant Personnel Director, later Director, where he worked until 1946.

Birthdays

Samuel Joseph May (September 12, 1797 – July 1, 1871) was a prominent Unitarian pastor and activist primarily serving in Concord MA, Brooklyn CT (where he was the only Unitarian minister in the state), and Syracuse NY. After meeting William Lloyd Garrison in 1830 he became a fervent abolitionist, often taking up collections from his congregations for escaped slaves and helping them out of the country through the Underground Railroad. He left his collected works of over 10,000 documents relating to anti-slavery to the Cornell Library. Rev. May was also the uncle of author Louisa May Alcott.

Mary Jane Patterson (September 12, 1840 - September 24, 1894) is believed to be the first African American woman to earn a bachelor's degree. She graduated from Oberlin College in 1862 and went on to teach in Philadelphia and Washington DC where she was the first African American principal of the school that later became Dunbar High School.

Alger "Texas" Alexander (September 12, 1900 – April 18, 1954) started his career performing on the streets and at parties and picnics in the Brazos River bottomlands, where he sometimes worked with Blind Lemon Jefferson. In 1927 he began a recording career that continued into the 1930s, recording sides for Okeh Records and Vocalion Records in New York, San Antonio, and Fort Worth. He did not play an instrument himself, and because of the free rhythm of his songs only skilled musicians such as Jefferson, Lonnie Johnson, and Lightnin' Hopkins were able to accompany him.

Kim Hamilton (born Dorothy Mae Aiken, September 12, 1932 - September 16, 2013) began her acting career on the sitcom Amos 'n' Andy as the girlfriend of Andy (Spencer Williams) for several episodes. She was one of the first African American actors to appear on the soap opera Days of Our Lives and was the only one to ever appear in a speaking role on Leave It to Beaver. Her last television appearance was in 2008 on the ABC series Private Practice. She also appeared in eight films, including an uncredited role in To Kill a Mockingbird as Helen Robinson, the wife of Tom Robinson.

Richard Hunt (born September 12, 1935)has completed more public sculptures than any other artist in the country. He was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson as one of the first artists to serve on the governing board of the National Endowment for the Arts and he also served on boards of the Smithsonian Institution. Hunt is the recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees. Hunt continues to experiment throughout his successful career, employing a wide range of sculptural techniques.

Barry White (born Barry Eugene Carter; September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003) was a three-time Grammy Award–winner known for his distinctive bass-baritone voice and romantic image, White's greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with the Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits, "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" and "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe". During the course of his career in the music business, White achieved 106 gold albums worldwide, 41 of which also attained platinum status. White had 20 gold and 10 platinum singles, with worldwide record sales in excess of 100 million.

Events

Fashion designer Ann Cole Lowe (1898 - 1981) is best known for creating the dress that Jacqueline Bouvier wore for her September 12, 1953 wedding to John F. Kennedy, Jr. It had fifty yards of tucked and pleated silk taffeta and is the most photographed wedding dress in history. Lowe was a third-generation society seamstress in Montgomery, Alabama, relocating to New York in 1917 to study design and soon opening her own exclusive salon. She was later quoted as saying,  "I love my clothes and I'm particular about who wears them. I am not interested in sewing for cafe society or social climbers. I do not cater to Mary and Sue. I sew for the families of the Social Register."

A year after the Little Rock Nine integrated Central High School 9n 1957, the US Supreme Court ruled on September 12, 1958 that Little Rock continue school desegregation which had begun the previous year with enforcement by the National Guard. Gov. Faubus responded the same day by closing all Little Rock high schools for the 1958-59 school year.

White students in Birmingham, Alabama, drag an African American effigy past West End High School, on September 12, 1963. Two African American girls attended the desegregated school and a majority of the white students were staying away from classes. Police stopped this car in a segregationist caravan in front of the school to caution them about fast driving and blowing auto horns in front of a school. (AP Photo)

On September 12, 1974 opposition to court-ordered school busing in Boston turned violent on the opening day of classes. School buses carrying African American children were pelted with eggs, bricks, and bottles, and police in combat gear fought to control angry white protesters besieging the schools.

On September 12, 1977 South African activist Stephen Biko died of injuries from beatings by the police after he had been arrested two weeks earlier. Biko, 30, was leader of the Black Consciousness Movement and had been "banned" (not allowed to speak in public) in 1973 but was still instrumental in planning the Soweto Uprising of 1976 which led to closer police scrutiny. The movie Cry Freedom depicts his life and is based on books by his friend, journalist Donald Woods.

On September 12, 1992 Mae Jemison became the first African American woman in space as part of the Endeavor crew. On the flight she took a poster from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Company representing the creativity of both science and dance, several small art objects from West African countries to symbolize that space belongs to all nations, and a photograph of early African American aviator Bessie Coleman.



Photo Gallery

John Ware (c. 1845 – 12 September 1905) was an African-American cowboy best
remembered for his ability to ride and train horses and for bringing the first cattle
to southern Alberta in 1882, helping to create that province's important ranching industry.

Family gathering, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, September 12, 1928.

 On September 12, 1956,  Black students entered Clay, Ky., elementary school under
National Guard protection. They were barred from the school on September 17.

Stevie Wonder and his first wife, the brilliant singer and songwriter Syreeta Wright
 (1946-2004) as they celebrate their wedding day on September 12, 1970.
(Photo: Bettman/Corbis)

Police and anti-apartheid demonstrators face off, Marlborough Street, Auckland,
New Zealand. September 12, 1981. Photo: Terry O’Connor, courtesy
of Have You Heard From Johannesburg

On September 12,1984, Michael Jordan signed a seven-year
contract to play basketball with the Chicago Bulls.

Listening to President Obama - Las Vegas, September 12, 2012

Publications

Duke Ellington and Martin Luther King, Jr - Jet Magazine, September 12, 1963

Coretta King Life Magazine- September 12, 1969

Jermaine Jackson with his wife, Hazel,
 on the cover of Jet magazine, September 1974

JET Magazine single issue September 12, 2011

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