(Toledo, OH) A pair of Toledo's African-American icons will be honored this weekend.
Late jazz great Art Tatum will be honored by the Kent branch library at 2 p.m. Saturday during an annual celebration of his birth. The jazz pianist is the subject of poetry written by one of his devotees, who will do a reading of those works. Library visitors can also hear a sampling of his music at the celebration being held inside the Art Tatum African-American Resource Center.
Baseball pioneer Moses Fleetwood Walker is credited with breaking the color barrier in that sport 63 years ahead of Jackie Robinson as a bare-handed catcher with the Toledo Blue Stockings and will be the subject of a special celebration at Fleetwood's Tap Room inside Hensville downtown.
The Ohio General Assembly earlier this year designated Saturday as "Moses Fleetwood Walker Day" across the state, honoring his birth that day in 1856.