Nat King Cole born

(1860) Abraham Lincoln, “Cooper Union Address”

On February 27, 1860, Abraham Lincoln, a presidential candidate who had yet to win the Republican nomination, accepted an invitation to speak to the Young Mens Republican Union at Cooper Union Hall before a capacity crowd of 1,500. Lincoln used the occasion to outline his views on slavery in the

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Source: Black Past

Feb

27

1860

(1966) Stokely Carmichael, “Black Power”

Soon after he was named chairman of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Stokely Carmichael began to tout the slogan and philosophy of Black Power. In the speech below he explains Black Power to an audience at the University of

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Source: Black Past

Oakwood University [Huntsville] (1896- )

Oakwood College is a private, four-year coeducational historically black liberal arts university located in Huntsville, Alabama; the small urban campus is five minutes from downtown. Sitting on 1,185 acres, Oakwood University is one of the historical landmarks of Huntsville. It is the only

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Source: Black Past

(1875) Congressman James T. Rapier, “Half Free, Half Slave”

On February 4, 1875, Congressman James T. Rapier of Alabama, rose on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives to support the Civil Right bill then before Congress which when enacted later that year became the Civil Rights Act of 1875. His speech appears

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Source: Black Past

Feb

4

1875

(1963) Malcolm X, “Message to the Grassroots”

On December 10, 1963, while still the leading spokesman for the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X gave a speech at a rally in Detroit, Michigan. That speech outlined his basic black nationalist philosophy and established him as a major critic of the civil rights movement. The speech appears

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Source: Black Past

Dec

10

1963

Joe Louis

Born: 5/13/1914 La Fayette, AlabamaDied: 4/12/1981 Paradise, NevadaJoseph Louis Barrow, best known as Joe Louis, was an American professional boxer. He held the world heavyweight championship from 1937 to 1949, and is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all timeAwards

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Lionel Hampton

Best Known

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Jimmie Lee Jackson dies

Jimmie Lee Jackson, civil rights activist, died of injuries reportedly inflicted by officers in Marion, Alabama.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Feb

26

1965

Civil Rights Memorial is dedicated in Montgomery, AL, 1989

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Nov

11

1989

Coretta Scott King

Born and raised on a farm in Perry County, Alabama, Coretta Scott (1927-2006) was introduced to the segregated society at an early age and lived a discriminated life for many years. Even though she attended a one-room school for low-income blacks in her neighbourhood, Scott excelled in her

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Source: Black History Resources

Jan

30

2006

Death of Booker T. Washington

Death of Booker T. Washington (59) educator and organizer, in Tuskegee, Alabama.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Nov

14

1915

Segregation Movements

Tennessee started modern segregation movement with Jim Crow railroad car and was followed by Florida (1887), Mississippi (1888), Texas (1889), Louisiana (1890), Alabama, Kentucky, Arkansas and Georgia (1891), South Carolina (1898), North Carolina (1899), Virginia (1900), Maryland (1904), Oklahoma

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Dec

24

1881

Politician Oscar De Priest born

Birthday in Florence, Alabama, of Oscar De Priest, who became a politician after moving to Chicago. Elected in 1928, De Priest was the first African American from Illinois elected to the House of Representatives.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Mar

9

1871

First Black Elected Officials

Rev. K.L. Buford and Dr. Stanley Smith were elected to Tuskegee City Council and became first Black elected officials in Alabama in twentieth century.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Sep

15

1964

Booker T. Washington's Visit to Spokane (1913)

In 1913 the famous African American activist and educator Booker T. Washington left Tuskegee, Alabama, to begin a speaking tour around the United States. The ultimate goal of this tour was to raise funds for the Tuskegee Institute in order to educate more young African Americans. Washington began

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Source: Black Past

Carl Lewis

Carl Lewis is a retired American track and field athlete who is famous for his exceptional Olympic record. Lewis is also the current indoor long jump world record holder; a record which he has held since

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Source: Black History Resources

Jul

1

1961

(1963) John Lewis, “We Must Free Ourselves”

John Lewis, then the 23-year-old Chairman of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was asked to speak at the March on Washington on August 28, 1963. When A. Philip Randolph, Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders saw the draft of his speech which was critical of both the

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Source: Black Past

Aug

28

1963

Gautier, Freddie Mae Hurd (1930–2001)

Freddie Mae Gautier, civil rights activist, political advisor, businesswoman, and mentor was arguably the most politically influential black woman in Seattle in the latter half of the twentieth century. Born at the Seattle General Hospital on July 15, 1930, Gautier never knew her birth

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Source: Black Past

Abbott, Anderson Ruffin (1837-1913)

Anderson Ruffin Abbott, Canada’s first black doctor, was born April 7, 1837 in Toronto, Ontario. He was the son of free black property owners William Ruffin Abbott and his wife Ellen (Toyer) Abbott who left Alabama after their store had been destroyed. They settled briefly in New York until

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Source: Black Past

Dec

29

1913

Arrington, Richard (1934- )

Richard Arrington, the first African American mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, was born in Livingston, Alabama on October 19, 1934 to sharecroppers. He received a Bachelors degree from Miles College (Alabama), a M.A. in Biology from the University of Detroit in Michigan, and a Ph.D. in Zoology and

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Source: Black Past

Oct

19

1934

U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Constitutional Clauses

U.S. Supreme Court upheld clauses in Alabama constitution which disfranchised Blacks.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Apr

27

1903

Clarence Willi Norris, last surviving member of the Scottsboro Boys, died at age

Clarence Willi Norris, last surviving member of the Scottsboro Boys, died at age 76 whiel a patient at the Bronx Community Hospital. Norris was one of nine African American teenagers accused of the 1931 rape of two white prostitutes in Alabama. The case was tried several times between 1931 and 1937

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Jan

22

1989

Award-Winning Literary and Scholarly Works by African Americans (to 2013)

The following is a list of major awards won by African Americans for literary, journalistic, and scholarly writing compiled by San Diego State University Librarian Robert Fikes, Jr. The list includes all awards earned by these writers for fiction and non fiction. Links to specific prizes appear

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Source: Black Past

Supreme Court upheld lower court decision which

Supreme Court upheld lower court decision which banned segregation on city buses in Montgomery, Alabama. Federal injunctions prohibiting segregation on the buses were served on city, state and bus company officials, December 20. At two mass meetings Montgomery Blacks called off year-long bus

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Nov

13

1956

Border Love on the Rio Grande: African American Men and Latinas in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas (1850-1940)

The area of South Texas known as the Lower Rio Grande Valley became in the period between the U.S. Civil War and World War I one of the few regions south of the Mason-Dixon Line where racial miscegenation laws were frequently challenged. As a consequence a small but significant number of prominent

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Source: Black Past

First Reconstruction constitutional convention

First Reconstruction constitutional convention (eighteen Blacks, ninety whites) opened in Montgomery, Alabama.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Nov

5

1867

Rosa Jinsey Young

Rosa Jinsey Young was born on this date in 1890. The daughter of a Methodist circuit rider, she became a teacher and opened a private school in 1912 in Rosebud, Alabama, for the Methodist church. When the school ran into financial problems, the Lutheran church offered help. Young joined the

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Source: Blackfacts.com

May

14

1890

Evander Holyfield

Evander Holyfield is a retired professional boxer and ex-world heavyweight champion. He was born on October 19, 1962 in Atmore, Alabama. He was the youngest of 9 children and began boxing at the age of 12 when he won the Boys Club boxing tournament. By the age of 13, he competed in the Junior

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Source: Black History Resources

Oct

19

1962

Knights of St. Peter Claver (1909- )

The Knights of Peter Claver organization was founded in 1909 in Mobile, Alabama. It is the largest African American Catholic lay organization in the United States. The organization was founded by the Josephites, a Catholic order whose mission was to serve Catholic African Americans. Josephite

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Source: Black Past

(1923) James Weldon Johnson, “Our Democracy and the Ballot”

Poet, novelist and U.S. diplomat, James Weldon Johnson is probably best known to millions as the author of the lyrics to “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the black national anthem. Johnson was also a civil rights activist and was Executive Secretary of the National Association of Colored

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Source: Black Past

Mar

10

1923

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