Nat “King” Cole honeymooning with wife Maria in Mexico in 1948. This photo appeared in the April 1965 issue of Ebony which paid tribute to the legend after his untimely death from lung cancer at age 45.

Duke Ellington and his singers Joya Sherrill, Kay Davis and Maria Ellington (no relation - later Mrs. Nat King Cole, mother of Natalie and niece of Charlotte Hawkins Brown).

Educator Charlotte Hawkins Brown on her wedding day in 1912.  Founder of the historic Palmer Memorial Institute in North Carolina, Ms. Brown was also one of the invaluable suffragists who worked for black women to have the same equal rights black men and white women were fighting for in the early 20th century.  

She was also the great aunt of singer Natalie Cole. In fact, she raised Natalie’s mother Maria and her sisters (her brother’s children) when their mother died in childbirth. Ms. Brown died in 1961.

Educator Charlotte Hawkins Brown on her wedding day in 1912.  Founder of the historic Palmer Memorial Institute in North Carolina, Ms. Brown was also one of the invaluable suffragists who worked for black women to have the same equal rights black men and white women were fighting for in the early 20th century.  

She was also the great aunt of singer Natalie Cole. In fact, she raised Natalie’s mother Maria and her sisters (her brother’s children) when their mother died in childbirth. Ms. Brown died in 1961.