Dred Scott files suit

Ellis, William Henry (1864-1923)

William Henry Ellis, an African American businessman who challenged racial constructs in the United States by “passing” as Hispanic, was born a slave to Charles and Margaret Ellis on June 15, 1864. His parents had been brought by Joseph Weisiger from Kentucky to Texas in 1853. In 1870

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Source: Black Past

Sep

24

1923

(1947) Moranda Smith Addresses The Congress Of Industrial Organizations Annual Convention, Boston

After World War II organized labor began to penetrate into some industrialized areas of the South where it inevitably confronted the issue of race. Unions such as the Food and Tobacco Workers affiliated with The Congress of Industrial Organizations, promoted racial integration and helped develop

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Source: Black Past

Oct

15

1947

Dove, Rita (1952- )

American poet laureate Rita Frances Dove was born August 28, 1952 in Akron, Ohio. Rita’s father, Ray Dove, was the first African American chemist in the tire industry. Rita Dove excelled in school and in 1970 she received the Presidential Scholar Award. Dove completed a B.A. in English in three

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Source: Black Past

Aug

28

1952

(1809) William Hamilton, “Mutual Interest, Mutual Benefit and Mutual Relief”

In January 1809 the African American community of New York celebrated the first anniversary of the passage of the Slave Importation Ban passed by Congress. That celebration, however, would be the last. By the following year it was clear that the law prohibiting the “foreign” slave trade

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Source: Black Past

Jan

2

1809

The African Insurance Company (1810-1813)

In 1810 The African Insurance Company was created with offices located at 159 Lombard Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the first African American-owned insurance company in the United States. The first president was Joseph Randolph while Cyrus Porter was treasurer and William Coleman

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Source: Black Past

Apr

12

1787

African American and Black History Blog

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Source: Black History Resources

Boston Busing Case

Morgan v. Hennigan, 379 F. Supp. 410 (D.C. Mass., June

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Source: Black Past

Jun

21

1974

761st Tank Battalion (1942-45)

The 761st Tank Battalion was formed in the spring of 1942 and was the first African American tank battalion to see combat in the Second World War. Commanding this battalion was a white Lt. Colonel, Paul L. Bates. As the unit fell under the scrutiny of other white officers who were critical of

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Source: Black Past

Dred Scott Timeline

In 1857, just a few years before the Emancipation Proclamation, a slave named Samuel Dred Scott lost a fight for his

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Source: ThoughtCo

Parks, Gordon (1912-2006)

On November 30, 1912, in Fort Scott, Kansas, Sarah and Andrew Parks welcomed their fifteenth child, Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks, into their home. Though struggling against poverty and racism in Fort Scott, young Gordon was nurtured there. His mother was especially influential, and her

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Source: Black Past

Thurgood Marshall

Thurgood Marshall was the first African American Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Marshall was also famous for his historic victory on the ‘Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka’ Case, which ended the racial segregation of public

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Source: Black History Resources

Jan

24

1993

Fairfax, Alfred (c.1843– c.1916)

Elected to the state House of Representatives in 1888, Alfred Fairfax was the first African American to serve in the Kansas legislature. A farmer and pastor, Fairfax represented the 58th District. During his single term in office (1889-1890), he served as chairman of the House Committee on

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Source: Black Past

Nelly

Name at birth: Cornell

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Coretta Scott King

Coretta Scott King was the wife of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.. The couple met in Boston, where Coretta Scott was studying voice at the New England Conservatory of Music; they were married on 18 June 1953. The family moved to Montgomery, Alabama and then to Atlanta as Dr. King

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button, Attorney General of Virginia, ET

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Source: Black Past

Truth, Sojourner, Isabella Baumfree (ca. 1791-1883)

Sojourner Truth, an abolitionist, women’s rights activist, emancipated slave and itinerant evangelist, became arguably the most well-known 19th Century African American woman. Born around 1791, Isabella (her birth name) was the daughter of James and Betsey, slaves of Colonel Ardinburgh

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Source: Black Past

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

The Dred Scott v. Sandford case (1857) was the most important slavery-related decision in the United States Supreme Court’s history. Coming on the eve of the Civil War, and seven years after the Missouri Compromise of 1850, the decision affected the national political scene, impacted the rights of

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Source: Black Past

(1850) Samuel Ringgold Ward, “Speech on the Fugitive Slave Bill”

Samuel Ringgold Ward (1817-1864), was one of the most prominent of the anti-slavery speakers in the nation by the 1850s. Born into slavery in Maryland, he escaped with his mother to New Jersey. In 1834 when he was 17 Ward was attacked by a pro-slavery mob in New York and was temporarily

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Source: Black Past

Apr

5

1850

About Us - BlackPast.org's Funders

The following foundations and corporations have or are currently providing funding for BlackPast.org. We appreciate their support because it plays a crucial role in helping keep the website free and available to the general public.

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Source: Black Past

Motley, Constance Baker (1921-2005)

Constance Baker Motley was born on September 14, 1921 in New Haven, Connecticut. She was the ninth child in a family of 12 children. Her parents were emigrants from the island of Nevis in the West Indies. Motley grew up attending New Haven’s integrated public schools and soon became an avid

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Source: Black Past

Sep

28

2005

Mauritania

Mauritania became an independent nation on Nov. 28, 1960, and was admitted to the United Nations in 1961 over the strenuous opposition of Morocco, which claimed the territory. In the late 1960s, the government sought to make Arab culture dominant. Racial and ethnic tension between

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Stokes, Louis (1925-2015)

Ohio’s first African American Congressman, Louis Stokes was born to Charles and Louis Stokes on February 23, 1925 in Cleveland, Ohio, where he attended its public schools before joining the United States Army in 1943. Stokes served in the army for three years and then attended Western Reserve

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Source: Black Past

Jan

3

1969

Slavery and Freedom on the Minnesota Territory Frontier: The Strange Saga of Joseph Godfrey

New York historian Walt Bachman introduces Northern Slave, Black Dakota, his new biography of Joseph Godfrey, an African American who was born into slavery in the free territory that became Minnesota, fled from abusive masters to seek refuge among the Dakota Indians, and was a principal figure in

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Source: Black Past

Bussa Rebellion (1816)

The Bussa Rebellion was the largest slave revolt in the history of Barbados. The rebellion took its name from the African-born slave, Bussa, who led the uprising. The Bussa Rebellion was the first of the three major slave uprisings that took place in the British West Indies between the

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Source: Black Past

Cuba

On April 19, 2011, Cuba made the most significant change to its leadership in over 50 years, by appointing José Ramón Machado to fill the second-highest position in the Communist Party. It was the first time since the 1959 revolution that someone other than the Castro brothers has been named to the

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Apr

19

2011

Star Jones

Name at birth: Starlet Marie Jones

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Benjamin Montgomery

Benjamin Montgomery was born into slavery in 1819 in Loudon County, Virginia. He was sold to Joseph E. Davis, a Mississippi planter. Davis was the older brother of Jefferson Davis who would later serve as the President of the Confederate States of America. After a period time, Davis could see great

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Source: Black History Resources

Serena Williams

Serena Williams completed a second “Serena Slam” by winning the 2014 U.S. Open and the 2015 Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon. She came close to winning the actual Grand Slam in 2015, but she lost to Roberta Vinci in the semi-finals of the U.S. Open… The only women ever to win

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

John Parker

John P. Parker was born in 1827 in Norfolk, Virginia. His father was white and his mother was a black slave. John was sold to a slave agent in 1835 and then sold to a slave caravan which took him to Mobile, Alabama where he was purchased by a physician. Working as a house servant, Parker learned to

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Source: Black History Resources

Nov

26

2012

Haitian Revolution (1791-1804)

The Haitian Revolution has often been described as the largest and most successful slave rebellion in the Western Hemisphere. Slaves initiated the rebellion in 1791 and by 1803 they had succeeded in ending not just slavery but French control over the colony. The Haitian Revolution, however, was

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Source: Black Past

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