This February, 107.7 The Bronc and 107.7 The Bronc Retro invites you to join us in commemorating Black History Month with Milestones in African American History.

Celebrate the many contributions African Americans have made throughout history and learn how African American people fueled our economy, developed industry, impacted business, and changed the worlds of sports and entertainment forever. 

These extraordinary visionaries helped to shape, impact, and enrich the world in which we all live in, because Black history is American history!

Tune in both WRRC-FM and WRRC2 daily, from February 1 to 29, to hear a different 60-second milestone moment every hour from African Americans, you may not have ever heard about before, but had a profound influence on the world and every milestone is voiced by Rider University students.

Here are some of the African Americans being featured this month on 107.7 The Bronc and 107.7 The Bronc Retro:

Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry, best known as Stepin Fetchit, is known for being the first African American actor. Perry grew up in Key West Flordia in 1902 with his parents until he was adopted at 11. At 12, Perry ran away to join the carnival and make a living from his singing and tap dancing skills. By age 20, Perry became a vaudeville actor and a comic relief character in most films in which he appeared. In 1976, Perry received an NAACP Image Award, and two years later, was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame.

Macon Bolling Allen was born in 1816 in Indiana. Little is known about Allen’s upbringing, but he was a free man who taught himself how to read and write. Allen got a job as a schoolteacher, where he could refine his skills, and soon after, he moved to Maine to pursue higher education. At 28, Allen passed the Maine Bar in Portland and became the first African-American attorney. Not only was he the first, but he was also the second African American to be Justice of Peace in Massachusetts in 1847.

Guion Bluford became the first African American to be launched into space. Born on November 22nd, 1942, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Blufors received an undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering. In 1964, he was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Air Force, where he trained as a fighter pilot. In 1978, Bluford earned his doctorate in aerospace engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology. He was 1 of 35 selected in NASA’s first competition to become a space shuttle astronaut, and on August 30th, 1983, he rode into Earth’s orbit on the shuttle orbiter Challenger. Bluford carried out multiple missions for NASA until 1993, when he left for a private sector career in the information technology and engineering services field.

Charles L. Reason was born in July 1818 in New York. As he grew up, he would attend public school with his brothers Elmar and Patrick. When Charles graduated, he went to look for work in the ministry. Charles was denied work because of his race, which fueled him to write powerful poetry to uplift African Americans. One of Charles known poems is called “Freedom”. Charles believed that it was essential for other African Americans to educate themselves. He dedicated himself to being the first African American professor to be able to inform the African American community and give back to those who supported him.

James Wormley Jones is known as the first African American FBI agent. He attended Virginia Union University in Richmond, Virginia, where he completed his education in 1905. Jones worked for the Washington Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., and was promoted to detective in 1919. Jones enlisted in the army during WWI and was commissioned as a captain. After the war, Jones returned to his job as a police officer and was appointed the first
African American special agent by A. Bruce Bieluski, the Director of the Bureau of Investigation. He penetrated both the African Blood Brotherhood and Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association and helped bring charges to Garvey in 1922. A year later, Jones resigned from the FBI after it became generally known that he was an ex-police officer.

Subscribe to hear all of 107.7 The Bronc’s Milestones on-demand!

Click any of the links below to subscribe to The Bronc’s free, 60-second Milestones In African American History featuring Rider students and staff:
Milestones in African American History January 15, 2024