With dreams of becoming a fashion designer, Mattiwilda Dobbs attended Spellman College in the early 1940s. Her instructors encouraged young Mattiwilda to pursue singing and she graduated in 1946 with a degree in music.

She began performing in Europe, making her operatic debut in Holland in Stravinsky’s The Nightingale. In 1953, at the request of conductor Herbert von Karajan, Mattiwilda performed as “Elvira” in Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri at La Scala in Milan. This  marked the first time a black artist sang in the Italian opera house.

She returned to the United States, taking the role of “Gilda” in Rigoletto, at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. Mattiwilda was the  first African American singer to perform in a romantic role at the Met. Although the celebrated Marian Anderson previously sang at The Met, Mattiwilda was the first African-American offered a long-term contract.

Mattiwilda toured the country in various roles to much acclaim. Following the lead of other African-American of the day, she refused to perform for segregated audiences. Although this decision hurt her career, she stood by her convictions. When the Atlanta Municipal Auditorium was desegregated in 1961, Mattiwilda was the first person to sing to an integrated audience in the city. Mattiwilda retired from the stage in 1974 to begin a teaching career at the University of Texas, where she was the very first African-American faculty member.

Pastor Martin Luther King Sr. wanted Mattiwilda to marry his son Martin Luther King Jr, but things just didn’t work out.

Mattiwilda was aunt to Atlanta’s first black Mayor, Maynard Jackson, and she sang at his 1978 inauguration.

Mattiwilda eventually made her permanent home in Atlanta. She passed away in December 2015 at the age of 90.

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The child of free blacks who moved North just prior to the Civil War, Mary Eliza Mahoney began working as an untrained practical nurse at twenty-years old. To supplement her income, Mary took on janitorial duties at the New England Hospital for Women and Children.

In 1878, she was accepted into the New England Hospital’s graduate nursing program. During her 16-hour days, Mary tended to the needs of six different patients at one time, all while juggling attending lectures and completing written assignments. She eventually completed the grueling 16-month program. Mary was one of only three graduates who was there at the very beginning of the program and she was the only African-American awarded a diploma.  Upon her graduation Mary Mahoney became the first African-American graduate nurse.

For the next four deacdes, Mary worked as a nurse, mostly for private clients who were among Boston’s most prominent families. Public nursing, at the time, was rampant with discrimination against African-Americans.

Mary worked hard as a nurse and also as a leader for opportunities for African-American nurses. After a stirring speech at a 1909 Boston convention, Mary was made a lifetime member of the NACGN, the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses.

Mary succumbed to breast cancer in 1926 at the age of 81. The Mary Mahoney Medal is awarded annually in recognition of excellence in nursing.

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Pete Smith began his career, humbly, as an aide on the vaudeville circuit. He soon found work with Louis B. Mayer as a publicity manager for Mayer’s studio. He was promoted to doing voice overs and editing on short subjects and sports-related newsreels. Based on his sense of humor, Pete was given his own series at MGM Studios. He narrated the Pete Smith Presents series, putting on a high-pitched nasal voice that became very familiar to the movie-going public. His shorts, some featuring animal actors, became popular and Pete was able to produce a series of nine-minute films he dubbed “Goofy Movies.”

Pete worked closely with actor-stuntman Dave O’Brien and his wife Dorothy Short. O’Brien became so familiar with Pete’s style that, after a while, he was able to fill in and mimic the style, allowing for the production of more films. Over the course of his career, Pete produced and narrated over 150 film projects and earned fourteen Academy Award nominations. He was given an honorary Oscar at the 26th annual event.

Pete suffered from poor health in his later years. He was admitted to a convalescent home in Santa Monica, California. On January 12, 1979, Pete climbed the stairs to the roof of the facility and jumped to his death. He was 86.

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As a student at Northern Illinois University, Cynthia Ann Cichorski took DJ duties at the campus radio station. She parlayed her communications degree as a reporter for a local radio station using the more “radio-friendly name “Morgan.”

After graduation, Cindy worked as the on-air weather forecaster at a Rockford TV station. Eventually, she made her way to Los Angeles, where her good looks landed her a stint as the “Irish Spring Girl” in a series of commercials.

In 1980, Cindy made her film debut in the raucous comedy Caddyshack. Cindy played “Lacy Underall,” the promiscuous niece of Ted Knight’s “Judge Smails” character. Two years later, she co-starred in Disney’s Tron, the first computer-generated film and future cult classic. Cindy made dozens of guest appearances on episodic television, as well as a regular role in later seasons of the nighttime soap opera Falcon Crest. Although she did not appear in the 2010 sequel to Tron, she participated in some promotion  for the film with co-star Bruce Boxleitner.

Out of the spotlight for years, Cindy lived modestly with a roommate in Lake Worth Beach, Florida. On December 30, 2023, Cindy’s roommate returned home after a holiday trip. She smelled a “strong odor” coming from Cindy’s bedroom. She knocked on the door and received no answer. Worried, Cindy’s roommate called the local sheriff’s office. When law enforcement opened Cindy’s bedroom door, they found the actress dead. It was estimated that she had died several days earlier. Cindy was 69 years old.

On December 17, 2023, Cindy posted an unusual message the social media platform “X.” She refenced a call she received from a man claiming to be her agent. She also seemed to be concerned for her own safety and for her future living arrangements.

No additional information has been made public. Cindy’s death was determined to be from natural causes.

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