Cook, Will Mercer (1903-1987)

Denzel Washington

Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is a renowned Hollywood actor and producer, known for his powerfully portrayed performances in film and television. Washington was born on December 28, 1954 near New York City. His father, Reverend Denzel Hayes Washington Sr. was a minister, and his mother Lennis owned

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Source: Black History Resources

Dec

28

1954

Black Women Unite

National Federation of Afro-American Women and the Colored Womens League merged and created the National Association of Colored Women. Mary Church Terrell was elected president at meeting at Washingtons Nineteenth Street Baptist Church.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Jul

21

1896

Lavizzo, Blanche Sellers (1925-1984)

Dr. Blanche Sellers Lavizzo was the first African American woman pediatrician in the state of Washington. She arrived in Seattle in 1956, with her husband Dr. Philip Lavizzo, a general surgeon. They had left medical practices in New Orleans, Louisiana to pursue a better future in the Pacific

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Source: Black Past

Jul

11

1925

The African American Experience in Italy, 1852 to 2013

In the following article longtime BlackPast.org contributor and San Diego State University Librarian Robert Fikes discusses African Americanemigrants to and visitors in

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Source: Black Past

Metropolitan AME Church, Washington D.C. (1821- )

Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal (AME) is the oldest continuously operating black church in the District of Columbia. Metropolitan AME is also designated by the AME Church (the black denomination founded in 1787 by Richard Allen) as the National Cathedral of African

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Source: Black Past

Jan

9

1894

(1905) Roscoe Conkling Bruce, “Freedom Through Education”

Home

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Source: Black Past

Singer Roberta Flack born

b. 10 February 1937, Asheville, North Carolina, USA. Born into a musical family, Flack graduated from Howard University with a BA in music. She was discovered singing and playing jazz in a Washington nightclub by pianist Les McCann, who recommended her talents to Atlantic Records. Two classy

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Feb

10

1940

Austin, Roy L. (1939- )

Ambassador Roy Leslie Austin spent most of his life as a university scholar before becoming a U.S. diplomat at the age of 61. When Austin was nominated by President George W. Bush to be Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago he was a sociology professor at Pennsylvania State University. After

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Source: Black Past

Parker, Maurice S. (1949- )

Ambassador Maurice S. Parker is a career Senior Foreign Service Officer with the rank of Minister-Counselor at the U.S. Department of State. On April 30, 2007 Parker was nominated by President George W. Bush to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Swaziland. After U.S. Senate confirmation, Parker

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Source: Black Past

Berry Lawson Case (1938)

On March 26, 1938, Berry Lawson, a twenty-seven-year-old African American waiter staying at the Mt. Fuji Hotel located on Yesler Way in downtown Seattle, Washington, was reportedly asleep in a chair in the hotel lobby. He was spotted by three Seattle Police Department officers, who approached

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Source: Black Past

Washington (State) Omnibus Civil Rights Act of 1957

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Source: Black Past

Booker T. Washington

Born: 4/5/1856 Hales FordDied: 11/14/1915 Tuskegee, AlabamaBooker Taliaferro Washington was an African-American educator, author, orator, and advisor to presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American community.Business

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Death of Lincoln

Death of Abraham Lincoln, Washington.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Apr

15

1865

John T. Walker

John T. Walker installed as the first Black bishop of the Episcopal diocese of Washington.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Sep

24

1977

Grimké, Charlotte Forten (1837-1914)

Charlotte Forten Grimké grew up in a rich intellectual and activist environment. Born into a wealthy Black abolitionist family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Charlotte Louise Forten became famous in her own right as a writer and poet. Her grandparents, James, Sr. and Charlotte Forten, hosted

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Source: Black Past

Fighting for Freedom on Both Sides of the American Revolution

Alan Gilbert, University of Denver political scientist and anti-racist activist, is the author of Black Patriots and Loyalists: Fighting for Emancipation in the War for Independence, one of the few works that examines the free and enslaved blacks who joined the American Patriots and the British

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Source: Black Past

Jones, David “Deacon” (1938-2013)

National Football League star David “Deacon” Jones was a dominant player in the League. During Jones’ years on the football field he singlehandedly revolutionized the defensive end position. Throughout his fourteen-year stint in the NFL Jones managed to play in 190 games, missing only

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Source: Black Past

Jun

3

2013

Conna, John N. (1836-1921)

John Newington Conna was a pivotal figure in the early history and development of Washington State. Born enslaved near San Augustine, Texas in 1836, Conna was a free man by the time of the Civil War because he served in the 1st Louisiana Native Guards, an all-black Union Regiment between 1863 and

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Source: Black Past

Dawson, William Levi (1886-1970)

WilliamLevi Dawson was a well-known Chicago, Illinois lawyer who became one of the city’s most influentialpoliticians. His career paralleled the risingsignificance of African Americans in the Democratic Party. Dawson was born in Albany, Georgia on April 26,1886. Little is known of his formative

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Source: Black Past

Hickman, George W., Jr. (1924–2012)

George Hickman was a Tuskegee airman during the World War II. Later in his life, he was a fixture at Seattle sporting events, working as an usher at University of Washington games and Seattle Seahawk football

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Source: Black Past

The first National Negro Catholic Congress is held

The first National Negro Catholic Congress is held in Washington. D. C.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Jan

2

1837

Walter E. Washington

President Lyndon B. Johnson named Walter E. Washington commissioner and unofficial mayor of Washington, D.C.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Sep

6

1967

Smith, Samuel J. (1922-1995)

Samuel J. Smith, a Washington State Legislator and Seattle City Councilmember was born on July 21, 1922, in Gibsland, Louisiana. Listening to speeches by Franklin Roosevelt broadcast on radio in the early 1930s persuaded young Smith that he wanted a future in

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Source: Black Past

Jul

21

1922

Marvin Gaye

Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. was a legendary singer and recording artist who came to be known as the “Prince of Soul”. Gaye was born on April 2, 1939 in Washington, D.C. He was raised by his father “Reverend Marvin Gay Sr.” who was a very strict guardian. Gaye was musically

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Source: Black History Resources

Apr

2

1939

Mason, Dawn (1945- )

Dr. Dawn Mason is a former Washington State Representative for the 37th District, an adjunct professor and former member of the Board of Visitors at Antioch University Seattle, and Vision and Planning Team Member for Cultural Reconnection (USA and Kenya). Mason was born in Jersey City, New Jersey

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Source: Black Past

Jul

2

1945

P.B.S. Pinchback

P.B.S. Pinchback elected to the U. S. Senate. Since he had previously been elected to Congress, he went to Washington with the unique distinction of being both a senator-elect and a congressman-elect.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Jan

14

1873

Denzel Washington Born

Actor Denzel Washington was born on this day in Mount Vernon, NY. Washington will star in such films as Malcolm X, Glory, Much Ado about Nothing, and A Soldiers Story. He will have a start in television in his role on popular show St. Elsewhere. He will win an Academy Award for best supporting

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Dec

28

1954

Randolph, Asa Philip

Randolph, Asa Philip, 1889–1979, U.S. labor leader, b. Crescent City, Fla., attended the College of the City of New York. As a writer and editor of the black magazine The Messenger, which he helped to found, Randolph became interested in the labor movement. In 1917 he organized a small union of

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Congressman Denny Heck, Olympia, Washington

On November 6th, 2012, the residents of Washington’s new 10th Congressional District elected Denny Heck to be the district’s first member of the United States House of Representatives. Since taking office, Congressman Hecks top priorities have been creating jobs, growing our economy and keeping the

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Source: Black Past

Samuel " Black Sam" Fraunces

George Washington gives his farewell address to his troops at Fraunces Tavern in NYC owned by ,Samuel Black Sam Fraunces a wealthy West Indian of African and French descent who aided Revolutionary forces with food and money

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Dec

4

1783

BlackFacts Details

Cook, Will Mercer (1903-1987) - Birthday

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