This week in black history

Mary McLeod Bethune, educator, opened Daytona Normal and Industrial School for Black women in Daytona Beach, FL, on this day. The school merged in 1923 with Cookman Institute and became Bethune-Cookman College. Born July 10, 1875, in Mayesville, SC, Bethune attended Scotia Seminary (now Barber Scotia College) in Concord, NC, and Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. Upon graduation from Moody, she returned to the South to teach. After 20 years of work, Bethune won national acclaim when President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed her the first Black woman to head a U.S. government agency when she was named to head the Division of Minority Affairs for the National Youth Administration. She died on May 18, 1955.

October 3, 1956--

Nat King Cole (Nathaniel Adams Cole), famed singer, became the first Black to host his own TV show on this day. "The Nat King Cole Show" appeared on NBC Tuesday nights. It was a popular show that garnered exceptional ratings. But, because of racism, no company would sponsor the show. Without sponsorship, the show was not able to survive. Cole was born on March 17, 1919, in Montgomery, AL. In the early 1940s he was considered one of the leading jazz pianists of his day. Cole's vocal recording of Straighten Up and Fly Right (1943) won him great fame as a singer. In 1946 he recorded The Christmas Song, the million-selling tune remains a Christmas classic today. He appeared in many films, including Pin Up Girl, Stars on Parade, Breakfast in Hollywood and Saint Louis Blues. Cole died of cancer in 1965.