William “Count” Basie

For decades, Basie led his musicians across the nation and the world to play for millions of adoring fans. The brass and rhythm section swung hard and funky with those boogie-woogie piano fingers and understated fills. That was the Count Basie Band’s signature and still is. Basie’s approach influenced swing, and his contributions to the musical lexicon eventually resulted in him being the first African American to receive a Grammy. Singers who collaborated with Basie represent a who’s who of vocalists, including Billie Holiday; Jimmy Rushing, a.k.a. Mr. 5 by 5; Joe Williams; Ella Fitzgerald; Sarah Vaughn; Frank Sinatra; Carmen Bradford; and her mother, Melba Joyce. 

There was another outstanding singer who sang with Basie. Paul Robeson on “King Joe” is part of an exemplary trinity. Acclaimed novelist Richard Wright wrote the lyrics to the song and Basie wrote the stomp blues about world heavyweight champion Joe Louis. 

Basie band members included singular instrumentalists, such as Lester Young, Joe Jones, Harry “Sweets” Edison, Buck Clayton, Frank Foster, and Clark Terry. One of the Basie Band’s signature tunes, “April In Paris,” has his instruction to his band, “Let’s try it one more once.” Basie was also a close friend and confidante of Lena Horne, whom he convinced to stay in Hollywood to represent a positive image of Black womanhood. 

Basie was the first African American to win a GRAMMY. His neighbor in spirit and place, Cassandra Wilson, another GRAMMY winner years hence, was also a resident of 555 Edgecombe Avenue.

One of the Basie organization’s most well-known songs is “April In Paris.” It is a testament to the arranging chops of Wild Bill Davis, who transformed Yip Harburg and Vernon Duke’s melodious composition into a tour de force that the band still performs today. Basie’s legacy continues, led by musical director Scotty Barnhart, featuring vocalist Carmen Bradford.

When she opened a flagship salon in Harlem in 1955, Rose Morgan and her House of Beauty were household names across Black America—not to mention the extra notoriety she attained after she wed boxer Joe Louis. 

Morgan was an entrepreneur who parlayed her skills in beauty culture into a thriving empire. Branching out, she opened a charm school and became a manufacturer of hair products. 

The Rose Meta Morgan House of Beauty employed and trained nearly 3,000 people. When she opened her newly purchased building, 10,000 people were in attendance, including the mayor of New York City. Morgan was on the founding board of directors of Freedom National Bank.

Rose Morgan on the History Makers

Charles Alston was a painter, sculptor, illustrator, muralist, and teacher active in the Harlem Renaissance. Alston co-founded the Harlem Art Workshop in 1934, at 306 W. 141 Street. It a haven for creative people in Harlem, including Ralph Ellison, Augusta Savage, and Richard Wright. Alston also co-founded the Harlem Arts Guild to advocate for increased funding for Black artists. He was also a co-founder of Spiral, an artist collective formed to increase Black artist representation in galleries and museums.

Myra Adele Logan, MD was the first woman to perform open heart surgery and one of the first African American women elected as a fellow to the American College of Surgeons. Her other accomplishments include the development of antibiotics, including Aureomycin; work on early detection and treatment of breast cancer; and efforts to develop x-ray processes to more accurately detect differences in tissue density, allowing for earlierdetection of tumors.

Marcelino Manuel da Graça, better known as Charles Manuel “Sweet Daddy” Grace or Daddy Grace, was a Christian evangelist, faith healer, pastor, and the founder and first bishop of the predominantly African-American denomination of the United House of Prayer For All People. Daddy Grace was a real estate mogul who owned up to forty-two large and expensive mansion homes across the United States, including The Eldorado in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, 545 and 555 Edgecombe Avenue, and a 25-room mansion in Havana, Cuba. 

Mr. Golson was born in Orangeburg County, South Carolina. He attended  Voorhees Normal and Industrial School, where he finished high school and earned an associates degree. He moved to Harlem during the great migration, and served in the United States Army in WWII. He went into the real estate business and eventually began buying houses. He once owned and managed thirty-seven apartment buildings, including 545 and 555 Edgecombe Avenue. After his demise, 555 was sold to a real estate investment company. 

Andy Kirk was a saxophonist, musician, and real estate agent. Kirk was the bandleader of the jazz Twelve Clouds of Joy, which featured prominent musicians, including Fats Navaro, Hattie McDaniel, Mary Lou Williams, June Richardson, Charlie Parker, Dick Wilson, and Lester Young. Following the disbandment of the Clouds of Joy in 1948, Kirk received his real estate license in the 1950s and later managed Theresa Hotel in Harlem. He authored his memoir entitled 20 Years on Wheels (1989).

Anne Brown was a soprano, actress, and opera singer known for her role as “Bess” in the original opera production of Porgy and Bess, a role that George Gershwin rewrote for her in particular. At sixteen, Brown was the first African American vocalist to attend Julliard. After touring domestically and internationally, she settled in Oslo, Norway, and became a Norwegian citizen after marrying skier Thorleif Schjelderup, a medalist at the 1948 Winter Olympics. She resided in Oslo until she died in 2009 at the age of ninety-six. 

H. Jack Geiger, MD was a lifelong civil rights activist and health advocate who helped bring medical services to poor, rural areas. He also helped found two antiwar doctors groups, including Physicians for Social Responsibility, which received the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to end the nuclear arms race, and Physicians for Human Rights, which won the 1997 prize for its work to to ban landmines. 

Larry and Alphonso “Fonce” Mizell, the Mizell Brothers, were an American record team in the 1970s, which produced jazz fusion, crossover jazz, soul, R&B and disco records. Their company, Sky High Productions, produced albums for Blue Note Records, including artists Johnny Hammond Smith, Roger Glenn, The Blackbyrds, and Donald Byrd. As an electrical engineer, Larry performed testing on the Lunar Module for the NASA Apollo program. Alphonzo was a member of The Corporation, the Motown production team that produced all of The Jackson 5’s early hits from 1969 to 1971.

Clarence L Holte was an African American bibliophile who collected over 8,000 books about Africa and the African Diaspora.  His collection, which includes rare and contemporary books dating from 1690 to the 1970s, was sold to Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria, in 1977. He was also an advertising executive for over 20 years, advocating for increased minority representation. When he retired from advertising, he managed the Nubian Press, the book publishing company he founded. 

Before Denzel Washington and Samuel L. Jackson, there was Canada Lee. Despite the fame and influence of his early career as an actor, he has nearly been written out of history, due to his outspoken activism on behalf of the rights of Black people. This stage and screen actor railed against the stereotypic roles that Black actors were expected to play and, he, interestingly, performed in white face in plays. He was a Renaissance Man—a jockey, boxer, actor, and Broadway producer—who took principled stances against racism and fascism. Lee also took in a fourteen-year-old, Jewish runaway whom he met at the Broadway production of Richard Wright’s Native Son. The youth grew up to be a physician activist.