Today in Black History: February 27th
1897 – Marian Anderson Is Born
Marian Anderson, renowned contralto and one of the most celebrated singers of the 20th century, was born on February 27, 1897, in Philadelphia. Rejected by the Philadelphia Music Academy due to her race, she studied privately with Giuseppe Boghetti and Agnes Reifsnyder. In 1925, she won a competition with the New York Philharmonic, later making her Carnegie Hall debut in 1928. After touring Europe in the early 1930s, she returned to the U.S., gaining national acclaim despite racial discrimination.
In 1939, after being denied permission to sing at Constitution Hall, Anderson performed at the Lincoln Memorial for 75,000 people. She later became the first African American to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in 1955. A supporter of the civil rights movement, she sang at the March on Washington in 1963 and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Anderson retired in 1965 after a farewell tour. Honored throughout her life, she passed away on April 8, 1993, at age 96.
1956 – Dewey Gatson (Rajo Jack Desoto) Passes Away
Rajo Jack DeSoto, born Dewey Gatson on July 28, 1905, in Tyler, Texas, was a pioneering African American automobile racer. Barred from many races due to segregation, he competed on the “outlaw circuit” and won several key events, including a 1936 victory at the Los Angeles Speedway. He earned the nickname “Rajo” while selling racing kits for Rajo Motor Manufacturing.
Despite being excluded from AAA-sanctioned races, he competed in Honolulu in 1954, even with partial vision from a 1938 accident. He also ran several businesses. Rajo Jack died in 1956, and in 2003, he became the first black driver inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame.
1964 – Anna Julia Cooper Passes Away
Anna Julia Cooper, born into slavery on August 10, 1858 in Raleigh, North Carolina, became a prominent writer, teacher, and activist advocating for African American and women’s education. After the Civil War, she studied at Saint Augustine’s Normal School before earning degrees from Oberlin College. She taught at Wilberforce University and Washington Colored High School, where she championed college preparation for black students.
In 1892, Cooper published A Voice from the South, emphasizing the role of educated black women in racial uplift. She later earned a Ph.D. from the University of Paris at 67 and led Frelinghuysen University. Cooper died on February 27, 1964, at age 105.
