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Today’s Black History WOW!
Dr. Jester Hairston was born on July 9, 1901, in Belews Creek, North Carolina. His grandparents were enslaved and strongly influenced his interest in music. When he was young, his family moved to a small town outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where his father was killed in a job-related accident. His grandmother and her friends talked and sang about plantation life, and Hairston became determined to preserve that history through music.
He was among the first Black students admitted to Tufts University and later studied music at the Juilliard School. In 1925, Hairston pledged to the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.
He worked as a choir conductor in the early stages of his career. His work with choirs on Broadway eventually led to singing and acting parts in plays, films, radio programs, and television shows.
One of Hairston's most notable achievements was his role in preserving and popularizing African American spirituals. Hairston wrote the song "Mary's Boy Child" in 1956. He also arranged the song "Amen,” which he dubbed for the Sidney Poitier film Lilies of the Field.
Jester Hairston also made a significant impact in the world of acting. His career in Hollywood spanned several decades, and he appeared in numerous films and television shows. His role as Rolly Forbes in the television series "Amen" earned him special recognition.
Jester Hairston as the butler in “In The Heat of the Night.”
In 1961, the U.S. State Department appointed Hairston as a Goodwill Ambassador. He traveled worldwide, teaching and performing the folk music of the enslaved people.
In 1962’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Hairston portrayed the uncredited role of the father of accused rapist Tom Robinson. In 1967’s In the Heat of the Night, Hairston portrayed the butler of a wealthy racist being investigated for murder.
Jester Hairston was awarded several honorary doctorates. Hairston traveled extensively, conducting choirs and sharing the rich heritage of African American spirituals with audiences worldwide. His work entertained and educated, fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation of African American culture.
Hairston died in Los Angeles of natural causes in 2000 at age 98. Hairston has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to the television industry.
Today In Black History
In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln received the first group of Black people to confer with a U.S. president on matters of public policy. Lincoln urged Black people to emigrate to Africa or Central America, as he felt Black people were inferior to whites.
In 1876, Prairie View State University was founded.
In 1935, the Social Security Act became law.
In 2019, Dr. Nikole Hannah-Jones’s “The 1619 Project,” which examined the legacy of slavery in America, was launched in the New York Times Magazine. 1619 was the year the first captured Africans were brought here to be sold as slaves.
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