Alma Taylor (1895 - 1974)

Actress. A silent film star, she gained her greatest popularity playing one of the two sprightly “Tilly girls” in a series of comedies in 1910 to 1911. The other Tilly girl was Chrissie White. Taylor appeared on over 90 movies, she usually played the heroine suffering nobly and at great length after losing her man […]

Alma Tell (1898 - 1937)

Actress. Appeared in motion pictures during the silent era (1910s and 1920s). Married to actor Stanley Blystone. Sister of actress Olive Tell. (bio by: A.J. Marik)  Family links:  Spouse:  Stanley Blystone (1894 – 1956)

Almafuerte (1854 - 1917)

Poet. Born Pedro Bonifacio Palacios, he was a humble teacher, despite his intellectual production, he lived and died poor.  He wrote two books: “Lamentaciones,” and “Almafuerte y la Guerra de 1914.”

Almafuerte (1854 - 1917)

Poet. Born Pedro Bonifacio Palacios, he was a humble teacher, despite his intellectual production, he lived and died poor.  He wrote two books: “Lamentaciones,” and “Almafuerte y la Guerra de 1914.”

Almira Sessions (1888 - 1974)

Actress. Born Allen Sessions in Washington D.C., she began her career on the New York stage and appeared regularly on Bob Hope’s radio show before relocating to Hollywood in 1940. She made her film debut in “Little Nellie Kelly” (1944) and appeared in many character roles until her retirement in 1971. Her credits included “The […]

Alois Alzheimer (1864 - 1915)

Alois Alzheimer was born in Marktbreit, Bavaria on 14 June 1864. His father served in the office of notary public in the family’s hometown.  Alzheimer attended Aschaffenburg, Tübingen, Berlin, and Würzburg universities. He received a medical degree at Würzburg University in 1886. In the following year, he spent five months assisting mentally ill women, before […]

Alois Carigiet (1902 - 1985)

Artist. The brother of actor Zarli Carigiet, he illustrated several children’s books and was the recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen Award for illustration in 1966. (bio by: DC)

Alois Lecoque (1891 - 1981)

Artist born in Prague who adopted a French name to help his career. His “Rooftops of Prague” was presented to Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower. (bio by: Alan Lopez)

Alonzo Chappel (1828 - 1887)

Artist. Son of William P and Maria (Howes) Chappel. His artistic talent was recognized very early  when at nine he entered a portrait into the American Institute Fair. By the time he was twelve, he was charging $25 for each portrait he painted. He also was strongly influenced by the history of the United States […]

Alonzo Wright (1898 - 1976)

First African-American to have a gas staion franchise (Standard Oil).  By 1930’s had 11 stations, and by the 1940’s, employed more African-Americans than anyone in the U.S.  Also made a plan for African-Americans to work their way through college, one of which was Jesse Owens. (bio by: Ginny M)

Aloysius Bertrand (1807 - 1841)

Poet. Born Louis-Jacques-Napoléon Bertrand, he was instrumental in the introduction of the prose poem into French literature with his poetic collection entitled “Gaspard of the Night”, published posthumously in 1842. Settling in Dijon, France in 1815, Bertrand found little success during his lifetime and spent most of his career publishing his works in the newspaper […]

Alphonse Balat (1818 - 1895)

Balat was born in Gochenée. He studied at the Academie of Namur and obtained his degree in architecture from the Academy of Antwerp in 1838. In 1839 he stayed in Paris for a year but returned after his father’s death. He was soon discovered by the Walloon nobility for which he built or renovated a […]

Alphonse Bertillon (1853 - 1914)

Criminologist. Bertillon began his career as a records clerk in the Parisian police department. He was the son of medicial professor Louis Bertillon. His obsessive love of order led him to develop his own methods of identifying  suspects. Bertillon identified individuals by measurements of the head and body, shape formations of the ear, eyebrow, mouth, […]

Alphonse Boudard (1925 - 2000)

Author. After waffling between sides in World War II for some time, he eventually became a member of the French Resistance. While fighting to oust the Germans from France, he was wounded and subsequently awarded a French military medal. He wrote about 30 novels and 22 screenplays, mostly depicting the common/everyday life of French people. […]

Alphonse Marie Adolphe de Neuville (1835 - 1885)

Artist. A French Academic painter, he is remembered for his battle scenes from the Crimean War, the Franco-Prussian War, and the Anglo-Zulu War. Born into a wealthy family, after earning his Bachelor of Letters he entered the naval school at Lorient, in Brittany, France in 1856. While there, he became interested in painting and worked […]

Alvah Bessie (1904 - 1985)

Alvah Bessie became initially known for his translations of avant-garde French literature, including Songs of Bilitis by Pierre Louÿs  and The Torture Garden by Octave Mirbeau. During the 1930s, Bessie became alarmed at the rise of fascism, and began working for the anti-fascist cause. No stranger to soldiering, through 1938 Bessie fought as a volunteer in the […]

Alvah Curtis Roebuck (1864 - 1948)

Businessman. Co-founder of Sears and Roebuck Company. Born in Lafayette, Indiana, he began working as a self-taught watchmaker in Hammond Indiana at the age of 22. He answered a classified ad for a watchmaker placed by Richard W. Sears in the Chicago Daily News in 1887. Their association grew into one of the world’s best […]

Alvaro Mutis (1923 - 2013)

Mutis was born in Bogotá and lived in Brussels from the age of two until eleven, where his father, Santiago Mutis Dávila, held a post as a diplomat. They would return to Colombia by ship for summer holidays. During this time Mutis’ family stayed at his grandfather’s coffee and sugar cane plantation, Coello. For Álvaro […]

Alvin Adams Dewey, II (1912 - 1987)

Law Officer. He was the Kansas Bureau of Investigations Special Agent who tracked down Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, who had murdered the Clutter Family in Holcomb, Kansas on November 15, 1959. The story around the Clutter murders and subsequent trial of their killers was made famous when they were depicted in writer Truman Capote’s […]

Alvin Ailey Jr (1931 - 1989)

Alvin Ailey Jr Ailey was born to his 17-year-old mother, Lula Elizabeth Ailey, in Rogers, Texas. His father, also named Alvin, abandoned the family when Alvin was only six months old. Like many African Americans living in Texas during the Great Depression, Ailey and his mother moved often and had a hard time finding work. […]

Alvin Ailey, Jr (1931 - 1989)

Dancer, Choreographer. Born in Rogers, Texas, he was the founder of the renown dance company the “Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater”.  Starting in 1949, he studied with influential choreographer Lester Horton in Los Angeles, California. When Horton died in 1953, Alvin Ailey took over the Lester Horton Dance Theater and became the director and resident […]

Alvin C. Copeland (1944 - 2008)

Entrepreneur. At age 18, he sold his car to open a one-man doughnut shop and had ten successful years in the doughnut business. Inspired by Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants, he used his doughnut profits to open the restaurant, Chicken on the Run in New Orleans, in 1971. He founded Popeye’s Chicken and Biscuits in 1976, […]

Alvin Childress (1907 - 1986)

Alvin Childress was born in Meridian, Mississippi. He was educated at Rust College, from which he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology. When he initially entered college, Childress intended to become a doctor, enrolling in typical pre-med courses. He had no thoughts of becoming involved in acting, but became involved in theater outside […]

Alvin Gittins (1922 - 1981)

Artist. He is best remembered for being the chairman of the Art Department at the University of Utah, and was the artist-in-residence.  He was an early leader in the recently emerging trend of realism in artwork.  Born in Kidderminster, Worcester, England, he came to the United States in 1946 to study, and graduated with a […]

Alvin Neelley (1953 - 2005)

Alvin Neelley was born in 1953 in Georgia, where he was a car thief during his teenage years. He met his second wife, Judith Ann Adams, when he was 26 years old and she was 15. Alvin divorced his first wife shortly before eloping with Judith Adams (1980). Lisa Ann Millican, a 13-year-old girl from Cedartown, […]

Alvy Moore (1921 - 1997)

Alvy Moore was born in Vincennes, Indiana, the son of Indiana natives Roy and Elice Moore. When Alvy was young, the family moved with his parents to Terre Haute, where Roy was a grocery store manager. He was the president of the senior class at Wiley High School in 1940-1941. He then attended Indiana State […]

Alyce McCormick (1904 - 1932)

Actress/Singer. She began her career as a singer on the streets of Omaha, Nebraska, with her parents. She won a 1923 Nebraska contest and joined the Ziegfeld Follies. During her time with the Follies she was confused with actress Alice McCormick who was named in a divorce suit aginst Florenz Ziegfeld, so she changed her […]

Alydar (1975 - 1990)

Trained by John M. Veitch (who also trained Alydar’s half-sister, Eclipse Award winning Our Mims) and ridden by jockey Jorge Velásquez, in 1978 Alydar dueled with Affirmed in all three legs of the Triple Crown he lost to his arch-rival by a combined total of less than two lengths. The 1978 Belmont Stakes, the third […]

Alysheba (1984 - 2009)

Race Horse. He was the winner of both the 1987 Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron. He fell short for his bid of a Triple Crown with a fourth place finish at the Belmont Stakes. His other notable highlights include 1988 Horse of the Year honors and 1988 […]

Amadeo Jacques (1813 - 1865)

Professor and philosopher. Between 1863 and his death, he was Director of the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires. One of his pupils, Miguel Cané, years later remembered him in his book. (bio by: 380W)  Family links:  Children:  Francisca Jacques (1859 – 1948)* *Calculated relationship