Frederica Chase Dodd

Ford, Harold Sr. (1945- )

Harold Eugene Ford, Sr., a United States Representative from Tennessee from 1975 to 1997, was born on May 20, 1945 in Memphis, Tennessee to Vera Davis and Newton Jackson Ford, a funeral home director. Ford’s family was part of the local black elite dating back to the beginning of the 20th

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Source: Black Past

May

20

1945

O’Hara, James Edward (1844-1905)

After the Civil War, James O’Hara taught at freedman’s schools in New Bern and Goldsboro, North Carolina. OHara also studied law at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Shortly after North Carolina’s 1868 Constitutional Convention which reorganized state government and authorized black male

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Source: Black Past

Oliver O. Howard

Oliver O. Howard , in full Oliver Otis Howard (born Nov. 8, 1830, Leeds, Maine, U.S.—died Oct. 26, 1909, Burlington, Vt.), U.S. Union officer in the American Civil War (1861–65) who headed the Freedmen’s Bureau (1865–72) to help rehabilitate former slaves during the period of

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Source: Brittanica

Pratt , Edwin T. (1930-1969)

Edwin Thomas Pratt had been a leader in Seattle, Washington’s civil rights movement for a decade when he was assassinated at the front door of his home on January 26, 1969. At the time, Pratt was Executive Director of the Seattle Urban League. His murder remains

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Source: Black Past

Evans, Annie/Evanti, Lillian (1891-1967)

Lillian (Evans) Evanti, one of the first African American women to become an internationally prominent opera performer, was born in Washington D.C. in 1891. Evanti was born into a prominent Washington, D.C. family. Her father, Wilson Evans, was a medical doctor and teacher in the city. He was

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Source: Black Past

Dec

6

1967

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Founded

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, the first organization of black Greek sisterhood was founded on this date at Howard University in Washington, D. C. by Ethel Hedgeman (Lyle).

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Jan

15

1908

James Amos Porter (1905-1970)

born on this day; wrote the definitive book, Modern Negro Art (1943, 1969, 1992); head, Department of Art, Howard University from 1953-1970; painter and historian

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Dec

22

1905

William E. Kennard

William E. Kennard served as United States Ambassador to the European Union from 2009 to 2013. In this role, Kennard worked to promote transatlantic trade and investment and to eliminate regulatory barriers to commerce. Currently, Kennard is Chairman and Co-Founder of Velocitas Partners, LLC, an

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Source: Savoy Network

Davis, Ruth A. (1943 - )

At the time of her retirement from the United States Foreign Service in 2009, Ambassador Ruth A. Davis was the longest serving Career Ambassador and at the rank of Director General of the Foreign Service, had achieved the highest ranking position in the Foreign Service. She was also the first

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Source: Black Past

Reed, Frankie A. (1954- )

Frankie Annette Reed is a career Foreign Service officer who has held a variety of diplomatic postings in Europe, Africa, and Pacific Island nations. Between 2011 and 2013, she served as concurrent Ambassador to the Republic of the Fiji Islands, the Republic of Nauru, the Kingdom of

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Source: Black Past

Morrison, Chloe Anthony Wofford "Toni" (1931- 2019)

Born Chloe Anthony Wofford on February 18, 1931 in Lorain, Ohio to parents George and Ella Ramah Wofford, novelist Toni Morrison grew up in a working class family. She received a B.A. degree from Howard University after majoring in English and minoring in the classics. Wofford earned an

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Source: Black Past

Feb

18

1931

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. founded

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. was founded at Howard University. Among the founders were Langston Taylor, Leonard F. Morse and C.I. Brown. Special charter members included William F. Vincent, I.C. Scruggs and Walter F. Tebles.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Jan

9

1914

Langston, John Mercer (1829-1897)

John Mercer Langston, the youngest of four children, was born a free black in Louisa County, Virginia in 1829. Langston gained distinction as an abolitionist, politician, and attorney. Despite the prominence of his slaveowner father, Ralph Quarles, Langston took his surname from his mother, Lucy

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Source: Black Past

Nov

15

1897

The Freeman's Bureau.

The Freemans Bureau was established by Congress on March 3, 1865. The bureau was designed to protect the interests of former slaves. This included helping them to find new employment and to improve educational and health facilities. In the year that followed the bureau spent $17,000,000

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Mar

3

1865

Ralph Bunche

Born: 8/7/1904 Detroit, MichiganDied: 12/9/1971 New York City, New YorkRalph Johnson Bunche was an American political scientist, academic, and diplomat who received the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize for his late 1940s mediation in Israel.Business / Schooling: Awards / Achievements:

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Washington, Walter Edward (1915-2003)

Walter Edward Washington, attorney and politician, was born in Dawson, Georgia, on April 15, 1915 to Willie Mae and William L. Washington. After his mother’s death in 1921, Washington moved with his father to Jamestown, New York. Washington excelled academically and athletically in the public

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Source: Black Past

Oct

27

2003

Wells, Barry L. (1942- )

Ambassador Barry L. Wells has had an extensive career in international affairs with the United States Foreign Service after an earlier period as a university professor and administrator. Wells was born in 1942 in Columbus, Ohio and graduated from East High School in that city in 1959. He received

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Source: Black Past

Sowande, Olufela (Fela) Obafunmilayo (1905-1987)

Musician, composer, professor, and conductor Fela Sowande was born May 1905 in Abeokuta, Nigeria. He was the son of Emmanuel Sowande, who was an Anglican priest and influential in the development of Nigerian sacred music. Fela Sowande was a musician and composer of music in the classical

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Source: Black Past

Howard Thurman

Howard Thurman , in full Howard Washington Thurman (born Nov. 18, 1899, Daytona Beach, Fla., U.S.—died April 10, 1981, San Francisco, Calif.), American Baptist preacher and theologian, the first African American dean of chapel at a traditionally white American university, and a founder of the

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Source: Brittanica

Apr

10

1981

Prologue: Selected Articles | National Archives

Prologue: Selected Articles

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Source: Archives Library Information Center (ALIC)

Mushingi, Tulinabo Salama (1957 - )

Dr. Tulinabo S. Mushingi is currently the U.S. Ambassador to the West African nation of Burkina Faso. After nomination by President Barack Obama and his confirmation by the U.S. Senate, Mushingi arrived in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, and began serving as ambassador on August

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Source: Black Past

Aug

5

2013

Jordan Kush Ngubane

Jordan Kush Ngubane , Kush also spelled Khush (born Nov. 15, 1917, Ladysmith, Natal [now KwaZulu/Natal], S.Af.—died 1985), Zulu novelist, scholar, and editor for the South African publications Ilanga lase Natal (“The Natal Sun,” Durban), Bantu World (Johannesburg), and Inkundla ya

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Source: Brittanica

Chris Rock

Chris Rock is an American comedian, actor, writer, director and producer who shot to fame with the hit television show “Saturday Night Live”. He was born on February 7, 1965 to Rosalie Rock, a school teacher and social worker, and Julius Rock, a truck driver and newspaper delivery

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Source: Black History Resources

Nov

23

1996

Brown, Gayleatha Beatrice (1947-2013)

On July 2, 2009 President Barack Obama appointed Gayleatha Beatrice Brown to be the United States ambassador to Burkina Faso, a nation in West Africa. This was her second ambassadorial appointment. Previously, Brown had been appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as U.S. Ambassador to

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Source: Black Past

Jul

2

2009

Kelly, Sharon Pratt Dixon (1944- )

Sharon Pratt Dixon was born on January 30, 1944 in Washington, D.C. to parents Carlisle Pratt and Mildred (Petticord) Pratt. Carlisle was a Washington, D.C. Superior Court Judge. Mildred Pratt died of breast cancer when Sharon was four years old. Pratt’s father played a major role in her life by

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Source: Black Past

Jan

30

1944

Sorority Founded

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, founded at Howard University in 1913, incorporated.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Dec

19

1930

Romare Bearden

One of the major contributors to the world of art and literature, Romare Bearden, was born on September 2, 1911 in Charlotte, North Carolina. During the 76 years that he spent in this world, Bearden showed remarkable flair in the fields of music, performing arts and history, including art and

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Source: Black History Resources

Mar

12

1988

Biography of California Attorney General Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris was born Oct. 20, 1964, to a black Stanford University professor and a Tamil Indian physician mother, Harris became the first California attorney general with African American or South Asian ancestry after defeating Republican rival Steve Cooley in the 2010 election for the

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Source: ThoughtCo

Powell, Colin (1937- )

Colin Powell is a retired Four-Star United States Army General who was the first African American to serve as National Security Advisor, Chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff and Secretary of

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Source: Black Past

Hollingsworth, Dorothy (1920- )

Dorothy Hollingsworth, a prominent educator and politician, achieved a number of “firsts” during her years in Seattle. The most important was becoming the first black woman in Washington State’s history to serve on a school board. Born in Bishopville, South Carolina on October

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Source: Black Past

Oct

29

1920

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