Archive of posts filed under the celebrity category.
DCS: arturo schomburg
Arturo Schomburg, son of a Black midwife and a German immigrant to Puerto Rico, was told by a grade school teacher that Black people had no heroes, no history and no accomplishments. This infuriated the young Arturo and he devoted his life to proving his teacher wrong. At St. Thomas College in the Virgin Islands, …
DCS: ida b. wells
Ida Bell Wells was born into slavery in 1862. After the end of the Civil Wars, Ida’s parents, advocates in Reconstructionist politics, expressed the importance of education to their eldest daughter. Ida attended Rust College until she was expelled following a dispute with the university president. She lived with her grandmother until a yellow fever …
inktober52: swamp
DCS: bass reeves
Bass Reeves was born into slavery, but escaped to “Indian Territory” (modern Kansas and Oklahoma) during the Civil War. Bass learned the languages of the Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole tribes, as well as tracking and survival skills. After the Emancipation Proclamation, Bass returned to Arkansas and began farming near the town of Van Buren. Because …
inktober52: zoo
DCS: cyd charisse
Young Tula Finklea enrolled in ballet lessons to strengthen her legs after a bout of polio. At 14, she auditioned for and danced with Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo . During a European tour, 22 year-old Tula met a former dancing partner, Nico Charisse, and the couple were married in Paris in 1939. Now using the …
inktober52: aquarius
DCS: alice brock
A free spirit from a very young age, Alice Pelkey learned a love of cooking from her mother. After dropping out of college, Alice married Ray Brock, a woodworker and craftsman over ten years her senior. A gift from her mother allowed the couple to purchase an old church in Stockbridge, Massachusetts that was used …