January 28

Indigo Rhythm by LaShun Beal (born January 28, 1962), a native of Detroit who now resides in the Houston area. He has no formal art training and considers himself to be a self-taught artist.

Richmond Barthé (January 28, 1901 – March 5, 1989) had his debut as a professional sculptor at The Negro in Art Week exhibition in 1927, while still a student of painting at the Art Institute of Chicago, which led to commissions such as busts of Henry O. Tanner (1928) and Toussaint L’Ouverture (1928). After leaving the Institute he relocated in New York City where he became one of the leading sculptors of the Harlem Renaissance, although he worked from a studio in Greenwich Village. He was the first African American artist to be represented, together with the painter Jacob Lawrence, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's permanent collection and in 1945 was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In his later years, Barthé lived in Haiti and Europe before settling in Pasadena, California, where he worked on his memoirs and most importantly, editioned many of his works with the financial assistance of the actor James Garner until his death in 1989. Garner copyrighted Barthé's artwork, hired a biographer to organize and document his work, and established the Richmond Barthé Trust.

Birthdays

Louise Cecelia (Lulu) Fleming (January 28, 1862 - June 20, 1899) was a graduate of Shaw University and taught near St. Augustine, Florida until she was sent by the Women’s Baptist Foreign Missionary Society as a missionary-teacher to the Congo in 1886. Illness forced her return to the United States in 1991, and because of the limited health care available in the Congo she enrolled at The Women’s Medical College in Philadelphia, becoming its first African American graduate in 1995. She returned to the Congo where she was the provided medical care and training for women until hear death from sleeping sickness at the age of 37.

Sam McDaniel (January 28, 1886 – September 24, 1962) appeared in over 210 television shows and films between 1929 and 1950. He was the only African American to ever appear in I Love Lucy playing "Sam the Porter" in a 1955 episode called "The Great Train Robbery", and he played Doc in the 1937 film Captains Courageous. He was the older brother of actresses Hattie McDaniel and Etta McDaniel. Their father, Henry McDaniel, fought in the Civil War with the 122nd USCT and their mother, Susan Holbert, was a singer of religious music.

William Walker (January 28, 1917 - January 4, 1992) appeared in over 100 films and television shows, and is best known for his role as Rev. Sikes in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), He was elected to the Screen Actors Guild Board of Directors in 1952, and used his position to lobby studio executives for more and better roles for African American actors. He also worked with the NAACP to negotiate for the SAG’s Theatrical Agreement to include a non-discrimination clause.

LaShun Beal (born January 28, 1962) is a native of Detroit and now resides in the Houston area. He has no formal art training and considers himself to be a self-taught artist. LaShun's subject matter mostly revolves around female characters and his style depicts the many differences of African American women. Over the last few years he  has developed his signature Universal Women character which has come to be associated with his name.

Events

On January 28, 1856, Margaret Garner and her family escaped across the frozen Ohio River from Kentucy to Cincinnati. When they were captured by slave catchers she killed her daughter rather than to return her to slavery. Her story is the basis of Toni Morrison's novel Beloved. (Painting by Thomas Satterwhite Noble.)

On January 28, 1958,  Roy Campanella was involved in an automobile accident that ended his  baseball career and left him paralyzed. After a year's rehabilitation, the Brooklyn Dodgers named him assistant supervisor of scouting for the eastern part of the United States and special coach at the team's annual spring training camp in Vero Beach, Florida, serving each year as a mentor and coach to young catchers.  He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969.

On January 28, 1963  Harvey Gantt enrolled in Clemson University, making him the first African-American student to attend a formerly all-white school (of any grade level) in South Carolina. His application had been turned down three times. He was finally admitted as the result of a suit he filed against the college with the help of NAACP lawyer Matthew J. Perry.

On January 28, 1986, Ron McNair was killed when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded after launch from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Dr. McNair held a PhD in physics from M.I.T. and had flown one mission before losing his life in the Challenger disaster. He was an amateur saxophonist and had worked with the composer Jean Michel Jarre on a piece of music for Jarre's then-upcoming album Rendez-Vous. It was intended that he would record his saxophone solo on board the Challenger, which would have made McNair's solo the first original piece of music to have been recorded in space (although the song "Jingle Bells" had been played on a harmonica during an earlier Gemini 6 spaceflight).

Photo Gallery

Frederick Douglass addressing a crowd of about 200 Samaná Americans in Samaná, January 28, 1871. Most of the Samaná Americans are descendants of African American who, beginning in 1824, immigrated to Hispaniola—then under Haitian administration—benefiting from the favorable pro-Black immigration policy of president Jean Pierre Boyer.

Charles P. Bailey in the cockpit of his P-40. Bailey was one of the 99th's "Top Guns" scoring his first victory in a battle over the Anzio beachhead on January 28, 1944.

Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier, Philadelphia January 28, 1971

January 28, 1996 – Diana Ross performs as the featured halftime performer at Super Bowl XX in Tempe, Arizona

Benjamin O. Davis Sr. Issued: January 28, 1997 Benjamin O. Davis was the first African-American general in the U.S. Army and a driving force in the eventual integration of the U.S. armed forces.

President Barack Obama kisses First Lady Michelle Obama following his State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., January 28, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Publications

Alligator Bait. While actual incidents likely were rare, images and objects showing caricatured African American children as alligator bait were widespread. A January 28, 1900 Washington Times reflected on the "Phenomenal success of a photograph styled 'Alligator Bait'." It told how the photograph got its name, its popularity from "coast to coast", and reported that "sales from this one negative have reached nearly $5,000" 

Jet Magazine, January 28, 1954

The Death of Sweet Daddy Grace - Jet Magazine, January 28, 1960

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