On January 3 1961, Rep. Adam Clayton Powell was elected Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee.
(AP Photo/Charles Gorry)
On January 3 1997, Prince performed a medley of songs in an on-air tribute to Bryant Gumbel in Gumbel’s final appearance as co-host of NBC’s “Today” show. The singer dressed up as Gumbel, shedding his usual flashy threads for a conservative dark suit, white shirt and tie.
(AP Photo/NBC,Craig Blankenhorn)
On January 3 1989, The Arsenio Hall Show made its premiere.
(AP Photo)
On January 4 1971, the Congressional Black Caucus was organized. Pictured here: Rep. Parren J. Mitchell, D-Md., chairman of the Black Caucas, briefs newsmen Monday, Sept. 12, 1977 in Washington on their opposition to a brief the Justice Department reportedly will make in support of Allen Bakke in the U.S. supreme Court Case of The Regents of the University of California Vs. Allen Bakke. Standing behind is Rep. Shirley Chisholm, D-N.Y.
(AP Photo/John Duricka)
On January 5 1965, The Supremes recorded “Stop! In the Name Of Love.” The song went on to become one of the Motown trio’s biggest hits.
(AP Photo/Frings)
On January 5 1975, The Wiz opened on Broadway. The production was an all-black musical version of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It later was made into a movie that starred Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.
At Indiana University on January 5 1911, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. was founded by Elder W. Diggs, Bryan K. Armstrong, John M. Lee, Harvey T. Asher, Marcus P. Blakemore, Guy L. Grant, Paul Caine, George Edmonds, Ezera D. Alexander and Edward G. Irvin.
(Photo: Olajumoke Obayanju, Howard University Hilltop Newspaper)
George Washington Carver, the brilliant agricultural chemist, died on January 5, 1943. Nicknamed “the Peanut Man” and the “Wizard of Tuskegee,” Carver headed the agricultural department of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and was one of the most prominent scientist of his day.
(AP Photo)
On January 7 1994, singer Rick James was sentenced in Los Angeles to nearly 5½ years in prison for sexual assault on two women. But two weeks later, a plea deal was reached under which the funk star avoided prison by going into a drug rehab center.
(AP Photo/Mark Terrill)
On January 7 1962, “The Twist” by Chubby Checker hit number one on the pop charts for a second time. It had previously hit number one in 1960 for seven weeks.
(AP Photo)
Shirley Franklin is sworn in as the first female African-American Mayor of Atlanta of a major Southern city.
(AP Photo/John Amis)
Contralto singer Marian Anderson performs on the steps of Washington’s Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday, in this April 9, 1939 file photo, after she had been refused permission to perform in Washington’s Constitution Hall by the hall’s owners, the Daughters of the American Revolution. On January 7 1955, Anderson made debut at Metropolitan Opera House as Alrica in Verdi’s Masked Ball. She was the first Black singer in the company’s history.
(AP Photo, File)
‘The Twist’ hit number one, Arsenio Hall’s late night show debuted and the eminent scientist George Washington Carver passed away; this is an incredibly historic week by any standard. The slideshow below takes a look a back on some of the pivotal cultural moments that have occurred this week in African-American history.
