Military
1920 – 1978
James joined the segregated United States Army Air Corp while attending Tuskegee Institute. He was made a second lieutenant during World War II. James received the Distinguished Service Medal for his service in the Korean War, during which he flew more than 100 combat missions. In 1957 he graduated from the Air Command and Staff College in Alabama. James was named deputy commander for operations of the Eighth Tactical Fighter Wing in Thailand in 1966. After a series of promotions, he was named a four-star general in 1975, including command of the North American Air Defense system. During his career, James received the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and a Presidential Unit Citation.
Entertainment
1910 – 1986
b. Terre Haute, Indiana. A supporting player, he appeared in a wide range of movies from the 1950s to the 1980s, including The Aristocats (as the voice of Scat Cat; 1970), Lady Sings the Blues (1972), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), The Shining (1980), and The Journey of Natty Gann (1985). He also made numerous television guest appearances.
Dance
1906 ? 1975,
b. St. Louis, Mo., as Freda Josephine McDonald. In 1923 and 1924 she appeared in Broadway chorus lines. She became a sensation in Paris in La Revue n
The Arts
1914 ? 1988
b. Charlotte, N.C. Bearden grew up in Harlem and, in his work, has attempted to come to terms with the experience of blacks in America. Although his early work involved religious themes, his later production showed a greater connection with jazz and its relation to the art of collage. He is also noted for his prints in a variety of media, e.g., the lithographs in ?Jazz Series? (1979). In the 1960s, he was a founder of the Cinque Gallery, which was intended to help young artists, and the Spiral Group, which aided African-American artists. His work is represented in many major museums.
The Arts
1927-2001. Baptist preacher and prolific folk artist known as much for his outsized personality as for his sculpture made out of trash. He won wide recognition for his Paradise Garden, a two-and-a-half acre gallery of works created out of detritus. He also played the banjo on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show and designed album covers for the Talking Heads and R.E.M.
The Arts
1888 – 1946
b. West Chester, Pa. He worked as a porter, peddler, and warehouseman and never studied art. He was severely wounded in World War I. The naive fervor and bold design of his painting brought him recognition in the 1930s. Although his output amounted to less than 150 oils, drawings, and wood panels, he is one of the most widely acclaimed of America’s ?primitive? artists and was the subject of a major retrospective in 1994. Among his works in public collections are Self-Portrait (Albright-Knox Art Gall., Buffalo, N.Y.); Suppertime (Barnes Foundation, Merion, Pa.); and End of the War (Philadelphia Mus. of Art).
