Celebrating Black History Month: Harriet Pickens and Frances Wills, first African American women commissioned in the US Navy

 

Harriet Ida Pickens, born March 17, 1909 in Talladega, Alabama, and Frances Wills, born July 12, 1910 in Philadelphia, Pennyslvania, were the first two African American female officers to be commissioned by the US Navy.

The WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) was established in 1942 during WWII, and many African American women wanted to enlist.  Then-Secretary of the US Navy Frank Knox refused their admission, following his death in April 1944, President Franklin Roosevelt authorized their inclusion in the WAVES.  Pickens and Wills were the first African American women chosen as recruits. They were enlisted on November 13, 1944.

Pickens passed away in 1969 in New York City after a stroke.  Wills died in January 1998 in New York City. 

Harriet Pickens and Frances Wills

Peter Tork of the Monkees born 1942

 

Peter Tork, born Peter Halsten Thorkelsen February 13, 1942 in Washington, DC, rose to fame as a member of The Monkees, a television show that aired in the 1960s. He began piano lessons at nine and learned to play banjo and guitar.  Tork joined the folk music scene in Greenwich Village.

Tork was cast in The Monkees with Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith.  He left the show in 1969 and began a solo career.  He appeared on numerous television shows and movies into the 2010s.

He passed away in February 2019 from cancer.

Milkshake by Peter Tork

Celebrating Black History Month: Nancy Leftenant-Colon, first African American in US Army Nurse Corps

 Nancy Leftenant, born September 29, 1920 in Goose Creek, South Carolina, became the first African American in the regular US Army Nurse Corps in March 1948. She trained at the Lincoln School for Nurses in the Bronx and joined the US Army Nurse Corps in 1945 as a second lieutenant.

In 1946, she was promoted and assigned to the 332nd Station Medical Group on Lockbourne Army Air Base in Ohio.  Leftenant-Colon became a flight nurse in the US Air Force and served in Korea and Vietnam. 

She was promoted to major and retired from the military and her post as Chief McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey.  She passed away in January 9, 2025 at 104 years old.

Nancy Leftenant-Colon at 102

Celebrating Black History Month: James H. Conyers, first African American admitted to the US Naval Academy

James Henry Conyers, born October 24, 1855 in South Carolina, was the first African American admitted to the US Naval Academy.  He was nominated by South Carolina congress Robert B. Elliott, also an African American.  After completing his exams, he was sworn in September 24, 1872 as a cadet-midshipman.  

Life at the academy was particularly harsh and Conyers was the target of brutal hazing, being spit on, and physically attacked.  In one incident, his fellow midshipmen tried to drown him. Nine cadets were dismissed from the academy after one brutal attack, but Conyers resigned in October 1873.

He returned to South Carolina and lived a quiet life until he passed November 29, 1935.  

James H. Conyers 

Celebrating Black History Month: Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., first African American brigadier general in US Air Force

 

Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., born December 18, 1912 in Washington, DC, was the first African American brigadier general in the US Air Force.  His father was Benjamin O. Davism, Sr., the first African American brigadier general in the US Army.  

He entered the US Military Academy at West Point, graduating in 1936, become the first black man to do so since 1889.The US Army assigned him to the all-black 24th Infantry Regiment at Fort Benning, Georgia. He then taught military tactics at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.  In 1941, he entered aviation cadet training and graduated in 1942, becoming one of four first African American combat pilots in the US military.  

In September 1943, Davis was assigned to command the 332nd Fighter Group, and went overseas.  During WWII, the airmen he commanded flew more than 15,000 sorties, shot down 112 enemy planes, and damaged or destroyed 273 planes on the ground, losing only 66 of their own planes and 25 bombers.  Davis received a Silver Star for a strafing run into Austria and the Distinguished Flying Cross for a bomber-escort mission to Munich June 9, 1944. At the end of the war he had been promoted to colonel. 

When President Truman ordered the racial integration of the armed forces, Col. Davis helped draft the Air Force plan for implementing this order. He returned to combat when he assumed command of the 51st Figher-Interceptor Wing in Korea in 1953. 

He was promoted to major general in 1959 and brigadier general in 1960. He retired from the Air Force in 1970. 

President Clinton promoted Davis to four-star general in 1998.  

He passed away in July 2002.

Benjamin Davis Jr. interview

"The Ritual" premieres 2018

 

The Ritual, a British horror film released in October 2017, premiered on Netflix, February 9, 2018.  It stars Robert James-Collier from Downton Abby fame.  The movie follows four friends who travel to the Swedish countryside to perform a ritual, in memory of their friend, murdered during a store robbery.  When one of the group twists his ankle, they decide to take a short cut through a dark forest to their destination.  They soon realize they are being stalked by a supernatural being.

I really enjoyed this movie.  It has a creepy Blair Witch vibe to it when the friends try to find shelter at night in the dark forest during torrential rain.  I admit the film lost some of its horror when the monster is finally revealed, but it's still an exciting, scary movie.

https://youtu.be/Vfugwq2uoa0?si=vnD4VgQnWV7K1SEG

Celebrating Black History Month: Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., first African American to promoted to brigadier general

Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., born July 1, 1877 in Washington, DC, became the first African American to be promoted to brigadier general in the US Army.  He graduated from Howard University in 1898, and joined the 8th volunteer Infantry for the Spanish-American War, receiving a commission as a first lieutenant.

He joined the regular army as a private and then became a on-commissioned officer.  In 1901, he was appointed second lieutenant of Cavalry.  He served in the Philippine-American War and Wrold War I.  Despite racism and being passed over for promotions, he was promoted to Colonel in 1930.

Davis's accomplishments led him to be promoted to brigadier general and commanded the 4th Cavalry Brigade, 2nd Cavalry Division.  He retired in 1948 and passed away in November 1970.