Black History Corner

SEPTEMBER 23 - OCTOBER 22 LIBRA - The Harmonizer Nice to everyone they meet. Can’t make up their mind. Have own unique appeal. Creative, energetic and very social. Hate to be alone. Peaceful, generous. Very loving and beautiful. Flirtatious. Give in too easily. Procrastinators. Very gullible.

- by Adelaide Abdur-Rahman

The Opal is the stone for the month of October Opal has been called the Cupid stone because it reflects the complexion of Eros, the Greek god of love. In the Middle Ages, opal was thought to render the wearer invisible, thus it was recommended for thieves to wear opals. Ancient Arab culture believed opals fell from heaven, acquiring their play of color from flashes of lighting. To the Romans, the opal was the symbol of hope and purity. They called it “Cupid Paederos”, a child beautiful as love. The Roman senator Nonius chose to go into exile rather than surrender an opal to Mark Anthony and most opals are 50-65 million years old, dating back to the Cretaceous period when dinosaurs walked the earth.

October 21 You are a natural leader, charming, gracious, and loyal. You are responsible for many pleasant affairs and have many friends.

1846 Edwin Clarence Joseph Turpin Howard, the first African American graduate of Harvard Medical College, was born in Boston, MA.

1890 Lorenzo Dow Turner, a linguist (in the English department at Howard University), was born in Elizabeth City, NC.

1892 Eloyce King Patrick Gist, a screenwriter, producer, author, pianist, and director (Verdict Not Guilty), was born in Hitchcock, TX.

1901 George Wiltshire, an actor (Midnight Menace), was born.

1911 (Patrick Henry) Pat Chappelle, a theatre owner who established and ran The Rabbit’s Foot Company traveling vaudeville show, dies in Jackson, FL.

1912 (Carlos Wesley) Don Byas, jazz tenor saxophonist, was born in Muskogee, OK.

1914 Samuel A. McElwee, the first African American to serve three terms in the legislature and the first to be nominated as the Speaker of the House in Tennessee, died in Chicago, IL.

1916 Anthony Crawford was killed by a lynch azmob in Abbeville, SC.

1917 John Birks ‘Dizzy’ Gillespie, a musician and composer, was born in Cheraw, SC.