Week of Jan. 27-Feb. 2
January 27
1953—One of Black America’s most gifted novelists, Ralph Ellison, wins the prestigious National Book Award with his powerful novel “The Invisible Man.” The novel helped him achieve international fame. The main character constantly escapes one disaster after another. The disasters are brought on by a combination virulent racism and the character’s own naiveté. Ellison was born in Oklahoma City, Okla.
1961—Opera diva Leontyne Price makes her debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.
1972—Mahalia Jackson, generally considered the greatest gospel singer that ever lived, dies of heart failure on this day near Chicago, Ill. She was born in New Orleans, La. She settled in Chicago where she briefly studied beauty culture under the nation’s first Black millionaire, Madame C.J. Walker. Among her greatest and most frequently requested songs were “Did It Rain,” “Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho, “ “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,” and “When the Saints Go Marching In.”
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