Kentucky abolitionist and founder of Berea College, John Gregg Fee was born, 1816

The Color Purple is a musical with a book by Marsha Norman and music and lyrics by Stephen Bray, Brenda Russell, and Allee Willis. Based on the 1982 novel by Alice Walker, the show follows the journey of Celie, an African-American woman in the American South from the early to mid-20th century.

The original Broadway production ran from 2005 to 2008, earning eleven Tony Award nominations in 2006. An enthusiastically acclaimed Broadway revival opened in late 2015 and ran through early 2017, winning two 2016 Tony Awards—including Best Revival of a Musical.

The Color Purple was originally workshopped by the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, in the summer of 2004 following Scott Sanders optioning the work from Alice Walker in 1999 and auditioning various creative team members. The September 9, 2004, world premiere of the musical was produced by the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta by special arrangement with Creative Battery and Scott Sanders Productions.

For the Atlanta run, La Chanze starred as Celie, Felicia P. Fields as Sofia, Saycon Sengbloh as Nettie, Adriane Lenox as Shug and Kingsley Leggs as Mister. Gary Griffin staged the work, with scenic design by John Lee Beatty, lighting by Brian MacDevitt, costumes by Paul Tazewell and sound by Jon Weston.[1] [2]

The musical opened on Broadway at The Broadway Theatre on December 1, 2005. It was directed by Gary Griffin, produced by Scott Sanders, Quincy Jones and Oprah Winfrey, with choreography by Donald Byrd and musical direction by Linda Twine. The musical closed on February 24, 2008, after 30 previews and 910 regular performances. The Broadway production recouped its $11 million investment within its first year on Broadway, and had grossed over $103 million by the time it closed.[3]

The original Broadway production starred LaChanze as Celie, Brandon Victor Dixon as Harpo, Felicia P. Fields as Sofia, Renée Elise Goldsberry as Nettie, Kingsley Leggs as Mister, Krisha Marcano as Squeak, and Elisabeth Withers-Mendes as Shug Avery.

The First National tour began on

Singer and muscian, Billy Preston was born, 1946

Rev. F.L. Shuttlesworth mobbed when he attempted to enroll his daughters in white Birmingham school.

Slave revolt, Stono, South Carolina, led by rebel named Jemmy. Twenty-five whites were killed before the insurrection was put down.

John R Lynch was born, 1847

Vernon E. Jordan resigned as president of the National Urban League and announced plans to join a Washington law firm. He was succeeded by John E. Jacob, executive vice president of the league.

Robert Guillaume wins an Emmy for best actor in a comedy series for Soap

He was born on September 9, 1941 in Dawson, Georgia to Otis Redding, Sr.

The first civil rights bill to pass Congress since reconstruction was passed by President Eisenhower, 1957

Association for they Study of Negro Life and History organized at Chicago meeting. The name of the organization, the major organizing center for the dissemination of information on Black history, was changed in the sixties to the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History.

The father of Black history, Carter G Woodson, founds the Association for the Study of Negro Life and

History,

The first black to perform with an American opera company was Caterina Jarboro, who was featured in a Chicago Opera Company production of Aida at the New York Hippodrome on July 22, 1933. She also sang the title role of the opera in Milan, Italy, in May, 1930. La Julia Rhea sang the role of Aida in a major production of the Chicago Opera on December 26, 1937.

Black History Month is a month set aside to learn, honor, and celebrate the achievements of black men and women throughout history. Since its inception, Black History Month has always been celebrated in February. Find out how Black History Month originated, why February was chosen, and what the annual theme for Black History Month is for this year.

The origins of Black History Month can be traced back to a man named Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950).

Woodson, the son of former slaves, was an amazing man in his own right. Since his family was too poor to send him to school as a child, he taught himself the basics of a school education. At age 20, Woodson was finally able to attend high school, which he completed in just two years.

Woodson then went on to earn a bachelors and masters degree from the University of Chicago. In 1912, Woodson became only the second African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard University ( W.E.B. Du Bois was the first). Woodson used his hard-earned education to teach. He taught both in public schools and at Howard University.

Three years after earning his doctorate, Woodson made a trip that had a great impact on him. In 1915, he traveled to Chicago to participate in a three-week celebration of the 50th anniversary of the end of slavery. The excitement and enthusiasm generated by the events inspired Woodson to continue the study of black history year-round.

Before leaving Chicago, Woodson and four others created the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) on September 9, 1915. The following year, the ASNLH began publication of the Journal of Negro History.

Woodson realized that most textbooks at the time ignored the history and achievements of blacks.

Thus, in addition to the journal, he wanted to find a way to encourage interest and study of black history.

In 1926, Woodson promoted the idea of a Negro History Week, which was to be held during the second week of February. The idea caught on quickly and Negro History Week was soon celebrated around the United

Arthur Ashe became the first winner of the U.S. Open Tennis Championship, defeating Tom Okker of the Netherlands at Forest Hills Stadium, New York.

Two churches burned near Sasser, Georgia. Black leaders asked the president to stop the Nazi-like reign of terror in southwest Georgia.

Nashvilles new Hattie Cotton Elementary School with enrollment of 1 Black and 388 whites virtually destroyed by dynamite blast.

Janie Rogella Washington was the wife of James W. Washington, Jr. (1911-2000), an internationally known Northwest artist.  A  Seattle nurse, she shared and inspired the spirituality that shaped his art.  One of 12 children, Janie Rogella Miller was born near Henderson, Texas to Freeman Miller and Daisy Cameron Miller and educated in the states segregated schools, graduating from Emmett Scott High School in Tyler, Texas in 1926.  She studied nursing for several years at Butler College in that city and then in 1943, after a move to Little Rock, Arkansas, she met and married James W. Washington, Jr., a civilian electrician with the Navy.  

The Washingtons moved to Bremerton, Washington where they found employment during World War II in the Naval Shipyard.  In 1945, they moved to Seattle; he worked as a shoe repairer at Fort Lawton while she worked at Rhodes Department Store.  They bought a craftsman bungalow in the Central Area of  Seattle which was their home for the rest of their lives.  The basement studio of the home was for 20 years the place where James Washington created most of his major art work.  During those years Janie Washington was the sole financial support of the family. In 1992 the City of Seattle designated the home a historic landmark.  

Janie Washington was employed in the U.S. Public Health Hospital in Seattle as a hospital attendant on a 60-bed ward.  She also performed clerical and receptionist duties for the ward nursing-service staff.  After taking classes at Seattle Central Community College she was promoted to nursing assistant to give nursing care and nursing services to patients and assist in treatment and diagnostic procedures as directed by a professional nurse.  After more than 30 years of service she retired as a practical nurse.

Washington was a devout Christian who worshiped at Seattles Mount Zion Baptist Church, not far from the Washington home.  She served in a number of capacities, most notably as Superintendent of the Churchs Kindergarten and Pre-School.   She was also a

Abolitionist, Sarah Mapps Douglass was born

Bean was born on September 9, 1928, in Gary, Indiana.

The AME Zion Church is dedicated in New York City

Alexander Lucius Twilight, who was probably the first Black to graduate from an American college, received B.A. degree at Middlebury College.

Ertharin Cousin, a diplomat and leading advocate for ending global hunger, was born on May 12, 1957 in Chicago, Illinois to Anne Cousin, who worked in social services, and her husband Julius Cousin, who was a property owner and community development activist.

Cousin grew up on the West Side of Chicago. She received her B.A. (1979) from the University of Illinois at Chicago and her Juris Doctorate (1982) from the University of Georgia Law School, focusing on international law, and studying under former U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk.

Upon completion of her law degree, Cousin returned to Chicago, where from 1983 to 1993 she held several positions including Assistant Attorney General and Western Regional Office Director for the Illinois Attorney General’s Office; Deputy Director at the Chicago Board of Ethics; and Director of Government Affairs for AT & T.

In 1993 Cousin became Deputy Chief of Staff for the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the following year joined the Clinton Administration as White House Liaison at the State Department (1994-1996). She returned to Illinois to run the state Clinton-Gore Re-Election Campaign (1996).  In 1997 President Clinton appointed Cousin to the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development, which advises the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on agriculture issues pertinent to food insecurity in developing countries. She served in that capacity until 2000.

Simultaneously, Cousin worked in the private retail food sector serving as Vice President for Government and Community Affairs for Jewel Food Stores (1997-1999) and held the same position when the company was acquired by Albertson Foods in 1999. In 2001 she was promoted to Senior Vice President for Public Affairs at Albertsons, serving until 2004.  During this time, Cousin also served as the President of the company’s corporate foundation, responsible for its philanthropic activities which included feeding the poor and hungry.

In 2004 Cousin joined the nation’s largest domestic-based

In 1934, poet Sonia Sanchez was born Wilsonia Benita Driver in Birmingham, Alabama.

Sylvia Stanfield, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor, took up her post as U.S. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Brunei in November 1999. President William J. Clinton appointed Ambassador Stanfield to the post.  She began her assignment on September 9, 1999.

Brunei, officially the State of Brunei Darussalam, is a sultanate (pop. 295,000), in northwest Borneo, in two coastal enclaves surrounded by Malaysia. A British protectorate after 1888, Brunei was granted self-government in 1971 and became independent in 1984.

Ambassador Stanfield was born on October 28, 1943, in Houston, Texas. She earned a B.A. degree from Western College for Women in Oxford, Ohio in 1965. As an East-West Center grantee, she received an M.A. degree in Asian Studies from the University of Hawaii and continued her studies at the University of Hong Kong School of Oriental Studies and Linguistics in 1966-1967. 

Joining the United States Department of State in 1968, her primary area of specialization has been Asian Affairs. Her first overseas assignment was as Vice Consul with the then American Embassy in Taipei, Taiwan. While there she engaged in advanced language study at the Department of State School for Chinese Language and Area Studies in Taiwan.

Other overseas assignments have included her serving as a political officer with the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong and the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China. Ambassador Stanfield has also served as a Watch Officer in the Department of State Operations Center, as a political and economic/commercial officer in the Office of the Peoples Republic of China and Mongolian Affairs, and with the American Institute in Taiwan, Taipei Office.  She was also Director of the Office of Taiwan Coordination Affairs.  

Ambassador Stanfield has also been an Inspector with the Office of the Inspector General and served as an Examiner with the Board of Examiners of the Foreign Service. From 1990 to 1993, she was Deputy

Death of Captain Paul Cuffe (58), entrepreneur and activist, in Westport, Massachusetts.

John R Lynch Presides over Republican National Convention

Writer Richard Wright, author of Native Son and Black Boy was born, 1908