[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 21 (Tuesday, February 25, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1581-S1582]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          BLACK HISTORY MONTH

 Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, for more than 70 years, February 
has been designated as the month in which we honor the achievements and 
contributions of African-Americans to our history, our culture and our 
future. One remarkable African-American leader, W.E.B. DuBois, made an 
observation in 1903 that bears great significance for this celebration. 
``Herein lies the tragedy of the age,'' he said, ``that men know so 
little of men.'' Since 1926, Black History Month has challenged us to 
mitigate that tragedy, encouraging us to study the lives of both our 
most noted heroes and those whose stories have remained untold.
  As it does each year, the Association for the Study of Afro-American 
Life and History has selected a theme for this month's celebration. 
It's theme for 1997, ``African-Americans and Civil Rights: A 
Reappraisal,'' focuses on the pioneers, leaders, and venues in the 
civil rights struggle that are often unrecognized. In light of this, I 
want to pay tribute to an extraordinary group of African-American 
artists from my State of Maryland who, despite their undeniably 
significant contributions to our culture, nevertheless remain 
relatively unknown. Yet, given their landmark accomplishments, these 
individuals would be important role models for aspiring artists of all 
backgrounds. By pushing the limits of their artistic mediums, the 
international respect earned by these artists advanced the struggle for 
the equal recognition of all people, both in our society and under its 
laws. I salute the association for selecting a theme that focuses on 
more of our Nation's unsung heroes.
  At the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, there 
sits a memorial chair dedicated to Ira Aldridge, one of the greatest 
Shakespearean tragedians of his day. Born in Baltimore in 1805, 
Aldridge's performances were so popular with heads of state that he was 
the first African American to be knighted. He drew praise from New York 
to Prussia, with a diverse repertoire of roles that included Othello, 
Macbeth, Shylock, Lear and Richard III. Known as ``The Celebrated 
African Tragedian,'' Aldridge was called ``without doubt the greatest 
actor that has ever been seen in Europe,'' by a Viennese critic, and 
``the most beautiful male artist that one can imagine,'' by a Prussian. 
Pioneers like Aldridge made possible careers like those

[[Page S1582]]

of Sidney Poitier, Lawrence Fishburne and Denzel Washington.
  From offstage, inspiring women of every color, we find Frances Ellen 
Watkins Harper. This poet, writer, and lecturer was the first African-
American female novelist to be published in this country. She was born 
in Baltimore, in 1825, and attended a school for African-Americans on 
the present site of the Baltimore Convention Center. A writer of 
paperbacks and pamphlets on topics from abolition to the Bible, her 
popularity has been well documented. Records show that two of her 
poetry collections had sold 50,000 copies each by 1878. Her talents and 
perseverance were such that she was also the first African-American 
woman to have her work published in the Atlantic Monthly. Without 
someone like Harper, we may never have seen a Gwendolyn Brooks or an 
Alice Walker.
  Joshua Johnson was the first African-American artist in the United 
States to earn his living as a professional portrait painter. A freed 
slave, Johnson worked in Baltimore for more than 30 years and painted 
more than 80 portraits of Baltimore's sea captains, shopkeepers, and 
merchants, and their families from 1795 to 1825. Described as a ``self-
taught genius,'' Johnson's subjects were mostly white and his style, 
quite realistic for the age in which he lived. While little is known of 
Johnson's personal history, the success and historical significance of 
his professional endeavors are clear. Johnson's portraits are still 
widely displayed in museums across the Nation, including the 
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the National Gallery here in 
Washington.

  The Broadway classics, ``I'm Just Wild About Harry'' and ``Memories 
of You'' are the works of another Baltimorean, Eubie Blake. The famous 
vaudevillian, ragtime pianist and composer of more than 3,000 songs was 
the cocomposer of the first all African-American Broadway musical, 
``Shuffle Along.'' After its 1921 debut on Broadway, ``Shuffle 
Along's'' successful 2 year run in New York paved the way for a 
continued African-American presence on Broadway's brightly-lit strip. 
``Shuttle Along'' also influenced other composers, including Gershwin 
who, many critics say, might never have written ``Porgy and Bess'' had 
Blake never written his musical. At age 86, Blake astonished the 
entertainment world by coming out of retirement to join the ragtime 
revival of the 1970's, inspiring a whole new generation of listeners. 
Two years after receiving the Medal of Freedom from President Reagan in 
1981, Blake was honored at galas across the country that marked his 
100th birthday with evenings of his own music.
  Baltimore is proud to claim another musical legend. Raised as Eleanor 
Fagen, Billie Holiday rose to outstanding levels of acclaim and 
popularity for her unique approach to jazz singing: She was as able to 
alter the rhythm and tone of her voice as the players accompanying her 
were able to do on their instruments. In the course of her 26-year 
career, so-called Lady Day recorded with musical giants including Benny 
Goodman, Count Basie, Artie Shaw and Teddy Wilson. Frequently called 
the greatest jazz singer ever, she inspired audiences from New York's 
Cotton Club to Baltimore's Royal theater, with ballads such as 
``Strange Fruit,'' a song protesting lynching and discrimination.
  Baltimore is also home to the Afro-American newspaper group, the 
Nation's oldest continuously published African-American newspaper 
chain. Founded in 1892, the chain has produced as many as 13 editions, 
and served readers from New Jersey to South Carolina. The pages of the 
Afro-American have borne the bylines of the paper's many reporters who 
later became national figures in the struggle for civil rights. One 
such individual was Clarence Mitchell, Jr., the Baltimore lawyer and 
activist who ultimately became director of the Washington Bureau of the 
NAACP. Today, the Afro-American publishes editions in Baltimore and 
Washington DC as well as a Wednesday weekly.
  First knight, first novelist, first painter, first composer, first 
lady of jazz, the list goes on and on. Maryland is very proud of these 
great men and women. In succeeding against enormous odds, only did they 
inspire us, but they laid the groundwork upon which other African-
American actors, painters, writers, and musicians have followed. Like 
Maryland's history, the history of this country is replete with the 
contributions of African-Americans, many of which have gone 
unrecognized. The names I have mentioned today are but a small sample, 
a reminder that Black History Month is also a time to silently honor 
those heroes whose names we may never know.

  It was another writer who often worked in Maryland, Langston Hughes, 
who wondered,

     What happens to a dream deferred?
     Does it dry up.
     Like a raisin in the sun?

  The accomplishments of the African-Americans I have recognized today 
prove that some dreams can surmount even the most difficult obstacles. 
A 100 years ago, who could have imagined the success of writers like 
Hughes and Toni Morrison? Who would have dreamed of public servants and 
leaders such as Maryland's own Parren Mitchell, Thurgood Marshall, and 
Kweisi Mfume? The achievements of these as well as the outstanding 
individuals who had the courage to take the very first steps, 
individuals like Joshua Johnson and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, 
challenge us to ensure that today's budding artists and leaders will 
never have to confront the barriers that faced earlier generations. 
Given the extraordinary achievements of the artists and activists who 
did overcome those barriers, one can only imagine the wealth of poems, 
paintings, and compositions that never made it into our libraries, 
museums, and concert halls. Let us create an America that is America 
for all Americans, and let us make our history, our culture, and our 
future that much richer.

                          ____________________