Submitted by Carolyn Gray: Her dad, Leonard Gray, she writes, "was not overly concerned about dress. He had the Obama conservative cool style." The father of 13, grandfather of 25 and great-grandfather of 26 was a deacon and a Sunday-school teacher, but Carolyn tells us that before he got saved, he was a "pretty good moonshiner" in rural Georgia!
Submitted by Tonya Thomas: "This is what men used to look like," she writes. Taken in the late 1930s, the photo features, from left to right, her father, Rayford Thomas Jr., and his brothers Ozzie Thomas Sr. and Charlie Thomas Sr. "I like to imagine they are [now] somewhere having a great time, looking fly just like this photo."
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Submitted by Gwendolyn Rosemond: Here's her fly father, home on military leave around 1945.
Submitted by Mark T. Laurent Jr.: Laurent's dad, pictured here in the '40s, was in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II. According to Laurent, "There is nothing more forever fashionable than a Marine in his dress blues."
Submitted by Ruth Perry: Pictured before they were married, Perry's parents, William Earl Perry and Ruth Woodland, hang out in Glen Mills, Pa., in 1949. Perry calls both of her parents "elegant dressers," and says her dad was a high school vice principal and an accomplished musician and photographer.
Submitted by Julian Thompson-Hicks: Thompson-Hicks says of his grandfather Salvia Thompson, shown here in 1949 with his grandmother and other family members, "Although times have changed, his style remains."
Submitted by Shelly Christiansen: In lieu of photos of her dad in "leisure suits or shades or tan-and-white kicks," Christiansen offers a more dignified image of the U.S. Army captain from 1951.
Submitted by Joy May-Harris: "You couldn't tell him he wasn't smooth," writes May-Harris of her father, Danny May, shown here in the late '50s on Central Avenue in Los Angeles.
Submitted by Michelle Jones-Dabney: Here's Sylvester "The Gentle Man" Jones in his boxing stance in 1954.
Submitted by Conley Major: Pictured with wife Molly McQueen, Nathaniel Major sits at a church dinner in Cleveland around 1958. Conley says that his parents were part of a handful of blacks to integrate their church and neighborhood in the early '50s.
Submitted by Charles Hale: A family photo of Jimmy Hale with his family in the early 1950s.
Submitted by Melnee McPherson: Dad Samuel poses on the porch in a snazzy suit around 1955.
Submitted by Tamara Suell: Why the tux and boutonniere? Sept. 14, 1963, when this shot was taken, was Ennis Suell's wedding day.
Submitted by Traei Walker: On a train in Germany, with a saxophone in one hand and a cigarette in the other, George S. Walker was the epitome of cool in 1963.
Submitted by Sylvette Parker Monroe: Back then, writes Sylvette, her dad's style "was a shirt and tie." The first black building inspector in Mobile, Ala., Mose Parker (shown here in 1964) was "always full of silly jokes."
Submitted by Gwen Williams: Gwen calls this '60s-era photo her father's "Malcolm X" picture because of his glasses. She adds, "He was a great cook, loved coaching sports for kids and telling stories that could last an hour."
Submitted by Pamela Simpkins Oliver: Oliver has a message for her military dad: "Happy Father's Day."
Submitted by Greta Carter: "One cool dude," Greta's daddy, posing here with her younger sister in 1969, has been married to her mom for 54 years.
Submitted by Nesha Tyler: Taken circa 1970, this photo is Nesha's favorite of her parents, who, according to her, were "one smooooooth cat" and a "baaaaaad woman."
Submitted by Karen McNeil: Described as the "quintessential man of the '60s and '70s," George McNeil, posing at his daughter's 1971 graduation, was told he looked like Eddie Kendricks of the Temptations.
Submitted by Tina Little-Coltrane: Lawrence Little (pictured with Little-Coltrane's mother in the Bronx, N.Y., in 1971) "stayed sharp back in the '70s."
Submitted by Kaila Afrekete Story: "This picture was taken around 1971, and my daddy was fashion-forward with his fitted leather, slim-fit jeans, black patent leather sneakers with white bottoms and a turquoise bracelet," writes Kaila. She tells us her father has "always been the coolest and the greatest."
Submitted by Quincy Mathis: Dad Melvin Jones poses during the '70s.
Submitted by Priya Frank: It was 1972 in Kenya, and Eddie and Betty-Bharati Frank had just gotten married. Says Priya: "This July they will have been married for 39 years, and my dad is still just as fly!"
Submitted by Shone Seymore: "Pops always had style, and he still does," writes Shone. Here are her parents, Robert and Melba, in 1973.
Submitted by Taj Wanzo: Taj says that his dad is the "coolest guy [he's] ever known." Look at this 1974 picture — do you doubt it? "They say 'things happen when you wear Eleganza,' " Taj continues. "Apparently, that includes sitting alone in a basement!"
Alesha Williams Boyd: "The 'fro. The sideburns. The butterfly collar. The greatest father," writes daughter Alesha to describe this circa-1975 photo, which also features her mom, Karen.
Submitted by Debra Mayo Johnson: Johnson describes her father's style in 1975 as "Pressed (dry-cleaned with heavy starch) jeans and black dress shoes and a short-sleeved shirt. My dad didn't own a pair of sneakers."
Submitted by Rod Brown: In this 1976 picture, taken in his hometown of Baton Rouge, La., Roosevelt "Teddy" Brown poses with his sons, Rod and Theodore. Rod tells us to pay particular attention to his dad's three-piece custom suit.
Submitted by Terri Randolph: "The flyest father then and now," Herbert Lee Randolph is rocking the hat and mutton chops at a 1976 family picnic.
Submitted by Kathleen Evergreen: It was 1977. Everett Jones was rocking a mean leisure suit. Enough said!
Submitted by Stephanie J. Anderson: Stephanie and her dad pose at Circus Circus in Las Vegas in 1977. Says Stephanie: "Check the Sansabelt pants!"
Submitted by Jimmy Levy: "Fishnet, bodybuilding and eight-tracks. And of course, sunglasses indoors," Jimmy writes. "The year was 1978, and my dad had the juice."
Submitted by Mel Spears: The bow tie was everything in this 1979 photo, taken on the wedding day of Ernest and Shelley Spears.
Submitted by Tay Mi: Here's Akin and Tanwa Foster posing around 1979. Tay describes her father's style as "straight pimpin' … er, I mean '70s chic."
Submitted by Angela Tucker: "A stylish dude," then-art school student James Tucker poses in the 1970s.
Submitted by Deborah Lewis: "The coolest dad in the world" is shown here (on the right with the "dark shades and big Afro") accepting a Father of the Year award.
Submitted by Art Robinson IV: "My dad had the Kangol in every color and fabric they made — not that fuzzy one made famous by the rappers," says Art, who adds that his dad also wore some classic kicks.
Submitted by Danielle Wallace: Danielle says she "live[s] for [her] father and his three-piece suit … talk about sharp!" Clive Wallace and his three-piece suit are pictured in 1981 with his wife and daughter.
Submitted by Amber E. Hampton: Talk about a funky father — here's a shot of Michael "Kidd Funkadelic" Hampton, of the band Funkadelic, "teaching" his daughter Amber how to play guitar while home from tour during the '80s.
Submitted by PippaLee Heriveaux: Pictured here in the '80s, "Pappa," as he was known, "was the patriarch and OG of the Heriveaux family" whose "style was to throw anything together, as long as it was fly!"
Submitted by Tessara Gabrielle Dudley: Quite a costume! Daddy Dudley is dressed for a play in the early '90s.
Submitted by Neosho Ponder: Neosho, a Delta, says her father is "a little too supportive of the sisterhood," which is apparent in this 2010 photo!
Like this slide show? There's more! Please go to our Facebook page to see all of the amazing reader-submitted pictures.
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