Jake Gaither

Alonzo Smith "Jake" Gaither (April 11, 1903 – February 18, 1994) was the head football coach at Florida A&M University (FAMU) for 25 years, and amassed one of the best winning records of any college football coach.

Gaither was born in 1903 in Dayton, Tennessee. His father was a preacher, and as a youth Gaither expected to also become a preacher. He graduated from Knoxville College, where he had played football, in 1927. Gaither's father died around that time, and Gaither became a high school football coach to help support his family. Gaither later completed a master's degree at Ohio State University in 1937.

Gaither went to work as an assistant to head coach William "Big Bill" Bell at Florida A&M College for Negroes (as it was called then) in 1938. The FAMC Rattlers had an undefeated (8-0-0) season that year, and won their first Black College National Championship. The school won the national title again in 1942. Bell left to enter military service in 1943. After two years of problems in the football program, Gaither was hired as the head football coach for Florida A&M College in 1945. One story is that the president of the college could not find anyone else to take the job.

Vestal Goodman

Vestal Goodman (December 13, 1929 – December 27, 2003) was a singer who performed in the Southern gospel genre for more than half a century. She is known both as a solo performer and as a member of The Happy Goodman Family—which originated with her husband and his brothers and sisters—one of the pioneering groups in southern gospel music.

Goodman was the fourth of six children. She began singing in her home church. Her original intent was to study for the Metropolitan Opera, but being raised in church she felt compelled to sing gospel music.

She married Howard Goodman, a preacher nine years her senior, on November 7, 1949. They had a son Rick, and a daughter Vicki. They pastored churches and sang for congregations across the country. Along with Howard's two brothers Sam and Rusty, they became known as The Happy Goodman Family, helping pave the way for Southern gospel music during the 1960s.

With the formation of Word Records in the early 1960s, Vestal and The Happy Goodman Family were the flagship artists signed to the company. In 1969, she won the first ever Female Vocalist of the Year Dove Award. As a natural step in her career, Vestal Goodman released her first solo album, "Hallelujah!" in 1971, from which came the well-known single, "It'll All Be Over But the Shoutin'".