Chicago Defender - February 16, 1965 - Nat King Cole
1 2019-03-12T23:57:01+00:00 Stanford University Press af84c3e11fe030c51c61bbd190fa82a3a1a12824 1 2 Chicago Defender - February 16, 1965 - Nat King Cole plain published 2019-07-08T11:11:15+00:00 AnonymousThis page is referenced by:
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February - Archived Posts
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Click on date to view post:February 1, 1980: Atlanta Daily World on Carter G. Woodson and articles from 1926-27 on first “Negro History Week.”February 2, 1936: Atlanta Daily World and black press editorial cartoons on Ethiopian anti-colonial battle against Italy.February 3, 1948: Atlanta Daily World on efforts to block black voting rights on anniversary of passage of 15th Amendment.February 4, 1956: Pittsburgh Courier on Montgomery Bus Boycott, in honor of Rosa Parks’ birthday.February 5, 1977: New York Amsterdam News, “Roots Captivates Millions of T-Viewers.”February 6, 1982: Cleveland Call & Post advertisement for Wilber Black, the (Jheri) “Kurl King” and Black’s Pride Hair Care Center.February 7, 1944: Los Angeles Tribune ad for “Sweet ’n’ Hot” revue featuring Dorothy Dandridge.February 7, 1948: Cleveland Call and Post editorial cartoon on segregation of University of Oklahoma Law School and Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher.February 8, 1964: New York Amsterdam News covers NYC school boycott, the largest civil rights protest in U.S. history.February 9, 1935: Selection of articles from Norfolk Journal and Guide on anti-lynching work, Negro History Week, Imitation of Life, and Paul Laurence Dunbar.February 10, 1959: Philadelphia Tribune reports on voter registration efforts in the city.February 11, 1928: Valentine’s Day wishes from the Chicago Defender Junior.February 12, 1949: “Grow Old With Me” short story in Baltimore Afro-American.February 13, 1960: Greensboro sit-in protests in Norfolk Journal and Guide and Cleveland Call and Post.February 14, 1946: Los Angeles Sentinel on fire in Fontana that killed O’Day, Helen, Barry, and Carol Ann Short.February 15, 1975: Pittsburgh Courier editor-in-chief Hazel Garland on professional opportunities for retired black athletes and lack of black television news anchors.February 16, 1965: Chicago Defender on the death of Nat King Cole.February 17, 1979: Ad for The Warriors in New York Amsterdam News, and article by Amsterdam News intern Nelson George.February 18, 1944: Atlanta Daily World on Harry Alpin, the first African-American reporter to cover a White House press conference.February 19, 1910: Clubwoman Ida Cummings in the Baltimore Afro-American.February 20, 1969: “Bowling Around L.A” by Los Angeles Sentinel columnist Juanita Blocker.February 21, 1970: Black journalists’ statement of support for the New York Times’ Earl Caldwell and his right to protect confidential sources in the Black Panther Party.February 22, 1965: The black press on the murder of Malcolm X.February 23, 1957: Philadelphia Tribune on Thomas Edison (formerly Northeast) High School and how board moved school to create segregated facility.February 24, 1934: Carter G. Woodson in Pittsburgh Courier on “Forgotten Negroes.”February 25, 1939: Blanche Thompson, Irvin C. Miller, and “Brown Skin Models” revue in Norfolk Journal and Guide.February 26, 1949: Baltimore Afro-American on Satchel Paige and other black major league baseball players heading to spring training.February 27, 1937: New York Amsterdam News on Dr. Anna Cooper Johnson’s new dental office in Harlem.February 28, 1978: Philadelphia Tribune on MOVE conflict with Philadelphia authorities eight years before bombing.February 29, 1956: Chicago Defender on Leap Year tradition of single women courting bachelors.
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February 16, 1965
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What kind of a star was Nat King Cole? When the singer passed away on February 15, 1965, the Chicago Defender dedicated its front page to Cole the next day. The Defender's choice of caption, “The King Is Dead,” was fitting. When he died at 45 years of age, Cole was one of the best known entertainers in the United States. The paper also made it clear that Cole was a son of the Great Migration and a Chicagoan: “The man with the golden voice, who charmed all generations was born in Montgomery, Ala. ...His family moved to Chicago when he was four. The Rev. [Edward James] Cole [Nat’s father] made his move to Chicago in 1919 and was placed in charge of the True Light Baptist Church. The family later moved to North Chicago (Waukegan). When he died, the Rev. Mr. Cole was pastor of the First Baptist Church in North Chicago. In Cole’s home there was swathed in love and devotion. There was also music. Many believe it was Nat’s mother, Cora Bell Cole, who planted the musical spark in the closely knit family. Mrs. Cole, who died in 1955, was a famous signer in her own right” (click to view PDF).
Among his many accomplishments, Cole was the first African-American performer to host a variety show on network television.The Nat “King” Cole Show aired from 1956 to 1957, but was cancelled because the show could not secure a sustaining sponsor. In a 1958 Ebony magazine article entitled “Why I Quit My TV Show,” Cole describe his frustration:
Here is an episode of The Nat “King” Cole Show from October 1957, just before NBC cancelled the program:For 13 months I was the Jackie Robinson of television. I was the pioneer, the test case, the Negro first....On my show rode the hopes and tears and dreams of millions of people....Once a week for 64 consecutive weeks I went to bat for these people. I sacrificed and drove myself. I plowed part of my salary back into the show. I turned down $500,000 in dates in order to be on the scene. I did everything I could to make the show a success. And what happened? After a trailblazing year that shattered all the old bugaboos about Negroes on TV, I found myself standing there with the bat on my shoulder. The men who dictate what Americans see and hear didn't want to play ball.
