Congressman Charles Diggs, Jr. resigns

(1870) Henry O. Wagoner, Jr., Celebrates The Ratification Of The 15th Amendment To The United States Constitution

In May, 1870, Henry O. Wagoner, Jr., the twenty year old son of one of black Denvers leading civil rights advocates, was given the rare privilege of addressing a local audience gathered to celebrate the ratification of the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Wagoner congratulated the

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Source: Black Past

May

4

1870

Black Indians: A Personal and Historic Journey

William Loren Katz has devoted his life to researching and writing African American history. In the following account written to describe the reissue of one of his most successful books, Black Indians, he describes how he became an historian of African America and particularly the black

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Source: Black Past

Arvarh E. Strickland, 1930-2013: An Historian’s Life

In the article that follows, Richard S. Kirkendall, the Scott and Dorothy Bullitt Professor Emeritus of American History at the University of Washington, Seattle, pays tribute to fellow historian Arvarh E. Strickland. Kirkendall was chairman of the History Department of the University of

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Source: Black Past

Oct

19

2007

Gossett, Larry (1945-- )

Born on February 21, 1945 in Seattle to parents, Nelmon and Johnnie Carter Gossett, Larry Gossett has been a dedicated public servant for over 40 years. After graduating from Franklin High School, he was a VISTA volunteer in Harlem (1966-1967). Gossett attended the University of Washington, where

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Source: Black Past

Feb

21

1945

Blayton, Jesse B., Sr. (1879-1977)

Jesse B. Blayton, Sr., was a pioneer African American radio station entrepreneur. Blayton founded WERD-AM in Atlanta, Georgia on October 3, 1949 making him the first African American to own and operate a radio station in the United

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Source: Black Past

Oct

3

1949

Powell, Adam Clayton, Jr. (1908-1972)

Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., preacher, civil rights activist, and national politician, was born to Mattie and Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. in New Haven, Connecticut, on November 29, 1908. Young Powell grew up in New York City, New York since his father, a Baptist preacher, became pastor of the historic

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Source: Black Past

John Edward Jacob

Born in Trout, Louisiana on this day, John Edward Jacobs was raised in Houston, Texas. Jacobs served the Urban League in many capacities and in 1982 replace Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. as its president.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Dec

16

1934

(2015) President Barack Obama's Eulogy for Rev. Clementa Pinckney

VIDEO OF SPEECH

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Source: Black Past

Boseman, Benjamin Anthony (1840-1881)

Benjamin A. Boseman, physician, politician, and postmaster, was free born in New York in 1840 to Benjamin A. and Annaretta Boseman. He was the oldest of five children, two girls and three boys. Boseman grew up in Troy, New York where his father served as a steward on the steamboat Empire in the

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Source: Black Past

Feb

23

1881

Jackson, Maynard, Jr. (1938-2003)

Thegreat-grandson of slaves, Maynard Jackson, Jr. was born in Dallas, Texas, onMarch 23, 1938. His father, MaynardJackson, Sr., was a leading figure in the 1930s campaign for black votingrights in Dallas and a founder of Democratic Progressive Voter’s League in 1936. His mother, Irene Dobbs

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Source: Black Past

Gatson, Dewey (AKA Rajo Jack DeSoto) (1905-1956)

Automobile racer Rajo Jack DeSoto was born Dewey Gatson on July 28, 1905 in Tyler, Texas. (Previously published biographies have incorrectly listed his racing name as Rojo Jack.) Rajo Jack was barred from racing in many organized venues because of his African American heritage, but he had several

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Source: Black Past

Cuba Gooding, Jr.

His brother, actor Omar Gooding, also played a football star in the 2003 ESPN series Playmakers… His father, Cuba Gooding, Sr., sang lead for the pop group The Main Ingredient; their big hit (1972) was “Everybody Plays the Fool”… Cuba Gooding, Jr. has two sons: Spencer (b. 1993) and

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Race, Gender, Jazz & Local 493: Black Women Musicians in Seattle: 1920-1955

During its brief and rocky tenure from 1918 to 1924, pianist Gertrude Harvey Wright was one of four women in Seattle’s first black musicians’ union, the American Federation of Musicians’ Local 458. Wright, Virginia Hughes, a “Mrs. Austin,” and (Edythe) “Turnham,” all

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Source: Black Past

Pierce, Samuel R., Jr. (1922-2000)

Lawyer, judge and businessman Samuel Riley Pierce, Jr., was the first African American partner in a major New York law firm, the first African American member of a Fortune 500 board, and one of the first African Americans to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. His career ended when he was

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Source: Black Past

Baldwin, James (1924-1987)

James Arthur Baldwin, fiction writer, essayist, dramatist, and poet, was born on August 2, 1924 in Harlem, New York during the Harlem Renaissance. After graduating from DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx in 1942, he began his formal career as a writer. Baldwin was inspired by Richard

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Source: Black Past

Aug

2

1924

Washington, Hercules (Enslaved Cook of George Washington) (1755?- ?)

Hercules Washington was the enslaved head cook at George Washington’s Mount Vernon plantation home where he prepared meals for decades for the Washington family and the guests who visit the mansion. Hercules was most likely born in 1755 somewhere in Virginia although the exact place of birth and

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Source: Black Past

Arkansas Pioneers in Flight: African Americans in Aviation from the Natural State, 1932 to 1953.

Pioneering African-American Aviators Featuring the Tuskegee Airmen of Arkansas is a study of little known black women and men who participated in the first four decades of U.S. aviation history. The book began originally in 2006 as a biography of Milton Pitts Crenchaw, a native of Little

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Source: Black Past

Harlem

Harlem, residential and business section of upper Manhattan, New York City, bounded roughly by 110th St., the East River and Harlem River, 168th St., Amsterdam Ave., and Morningside Park. The Dutch settlement of Nieuw Haarlem was established by Peter Stuyvesant in 1658. To the W of Harlem, near

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Evelyn Bundy Band (c. 1926)

Formed in 1926, the Evelyn Bundy Band was one of the earliest and most influential local jazz ensembles to contribute to the Seattle, Washington jazz

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Source: Black Past

Lawrence v. Texas (2003)

March 26, 2003, Argued

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Source: Black Past

Kelly, Samuel Eugene (1926-2009)

Samuel Eugene Kelly, soldier and educator, was born in Greenwich, Connecticut on January 26, 1926 to James Handy Kelly, a minister, and Essie Matilda Allen-Kelly, a homemaker. Educated at Greenwich public schools, Kelly dropped out of high school in 1943 and joined the United States Army the

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Source: Black Past

Jan

26

1926

Arthur Ashe

Arthur Ashe was a twentieth century famous African American tennis player. He is considered the world’s number one tennis player after he won three Grand Slam titles. He was the first black man to be selected for the United States Davis Cup team and won the singles title at

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Source: Black History Resources

Jul

10

1943

Eric Holder

Eric Himpton Holder, Jr. was the first African American Attorney General of the United States. He was born on January 2, 1951, to Eric and Miriam Holder in New York City. Eric and Miriam had both migrated from Barbados. Eric worked as a real estate agent and Miriam worked as a telephone

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Source: Black History Resources

Jan

2

1951

92nd Infantry Division, (1917–1919, 1942–1945)

The 92nd Infantry Division, a military unit of approximately fifteen thousand officers and men, was one of only two all-black divisions to fight in the United States Army in World War I and World War II. The 92nd Division was organized in October 1917 at Camp Funston, Kansas, and included black

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Source: Black Past

Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church

Atlantas Ebenezer Baptist Church , the nearby crypt containing the remains of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his boyhood home are dedicated as part of a memorial to be known as the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Change.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Jan

15

1970

Evans, Melvin Herbert (1917–1984)

Melvin Herbert Evans was born on August 7, 1917, in Christiansted, St. Croix, Virgin Islands. He attended public schools until entering Howard University where he received his B.S. in 1940. In 1944 he received his M.D. from Howard College of Medicine, whereupon he served in a variety of medical

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Source: Black Past

Jan

3

1979

Guitar

Robert F. Flemming, Jr. patents a guitar.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Mar

3

1886

Basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar born

Basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar born Lewis F. Alcindor, Jr. in New York City.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Apr

16

1947

Young, Andrew (1932 - )

Andrew Young, Jr., came into prominence as a civil rights activist and close associate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., during the modern civil rights movement in the United States. Young worked with various organizations early in the movement, but his civil rights work was largely done with the

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Source: Black Past

Mar

12

1932

Military Service

Samuel L. Gravely, Jr. became the first African American Admiral in the United States Navy.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Apr

28

1971

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Congressman Charles Diggs, Jr. resigns

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