Parents divided amid accusations of racism at Houston high school

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Jan

29

1926

Larry Doby is born. He will become the first African American in baseballs American League, playing for the Cleveland Indians. He will be the 1954 RBI leader.

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Dec

13

1924

Blanche Kelso Bruce sworn in as a U.S. Senator.

Blanche Kelso Bruce was a US Senator from Mississippi; the first black man to serve a full term in the senate, and the first person born into slavery to preside over the senate. While serving in the senate, he was an advocate for civil rights for blacks, native Americans, Chinese immigrants and

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May

21

1881

Race riot in Houston

Race riot, Houston, between soldiers of Twenty-fourth Infantry Regiment and white citizens. Two Blacks and eleven whites killed. Martial law declared.

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Aug

23

1917

Samuel L. Gravely is born

Samuel Gravely was appointed captain of the Navy Destroyer Escort, U.S.S. Falgout, the first African American to command a United States warship. He later received the rand of Rear Admiral, a first for an African American navyman.

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Jun

4

1922

Birthday

Ruth Gaines-Shelton Born April 8, 1872. African- American Playwright born at Glasgow, MO. Best known for prize winning comedy The Church Fight, which was published in Crisis (a publication of NAACP) in May of 1926.

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Apr

8

1872

Thomas W. Turner

Thomas W. Turner founder of the Federation of Colored Catholics and charter member of the NAACP dies at age 101

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Apr

15

1978

Max Robinson, first African American news anchor for a major television network

Max Robinson, first African American news anchor for a major television network died today.

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Dec

20

1988

David Ruggles

David Ruggles dies in Northampton, Mass. Often called the first African American bookseller for his bookstore established in 1834, Ruggles was an abolitionist, and a conductor on the Underground Railroad

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Dec

26

1849

Marchers led by Martin Luther King

Thousands of marchers, led by Martin Luther King Jr. completed first leg of five-day Selma-to-Montgomery march. Marchers were protected by federalized Alabama National Guardsmen and U.S. Army troops. Selma-to-Montgomery march ended with rally of some fifty thousands at Alabama capitol. One of the

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Mar

7

1965

Congressman William H. Gray is elected chairman

Congressman William H. Gray is elected chairman of the House Budget Committee, the highest congressional post held by an African American.

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Jan

4

1985

James Weldon Johnson resigned

James Weldon Johnson resigned as executive secretary of the NAACP, citing health reasons.

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Dec

19

1930

Mae Jemison: Astronaut, Physician

Born: October 17, 1956

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Oct

17

1956

Professional baseball player, Frank Robinson,becomes the manager of the Clevelan

Professional baseball player, Frank Robinson,becomes the manager of the Cleveland Indians and the first Black manager of a major league team, 1975

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Oct

9

1975

Elizabeth "Mumbet" Freeman, dies.

Elizabeth Mumbet Freeman, dies. Born into slavery, she ran away form her owners after mistreatment by her masters wife. She petitioned successfully for her freedom, citing her knowledge of the Bill of Rights and the new constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in her argument that all men

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Dec

28

1829

NAACP elects Roy Wilkins as there new executive director

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Jul

8

1965

Alabama Educational Television Commission

Alabama Educational Television Commission has its application for license renewal denied by the Federal Communications Commission because of racial discrimination against African Americans in employment and programming.

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Jan

8

1975

COINTELPRO

FBI documents, released in response to a freedom of information suit, revealed that the government mounted an intensive campaign against civil rights organizations in the sixties. In a letter dated August 25, 1967, the FBI said the government operation, called COINTELPRO, was designed to

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Aug

25

1967

Juanita Hall becomes the first African American

Juanita Hall becomes the first African American to win a Tony award for her role as Bloody Mary in the musical South Pacific.

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Apr

9

1950

52 nurses lead by Martha M. Franklin

52 nurses lead by Martha M. Franklin form the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses, to improve the status of African American nurses

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Aug

23

1908

Dan McClellan

Dan mcClellan was the first black baseball player to pitch a perfect game.

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Jan

0

2000

Civil Rights Movement

On this day the African American community of Montgomery, Alabama voted unanimously to end its 385 day bus-boycott.

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Dec

20

1956

Zora Neale Hurston, writer/anthropologist born

Zora Neale Hurston

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Jan

7

1891

The First Black Psychic

Shirley Ajayi was the first African American given a part on a television show as a psychic! The show lasted for about one year[actually six months] in Chicago, Illinois since the show was seasonal! Shirley started her career the minute her predictions came true! She was renamed Aura and hired to

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Mar

27

2002

Doris A. Davis of Compton, California becom

Doris A. Davis of Compton, California becomes the first African American woman to govern a metropolitan city.

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Jun

5

1973

Jewel Plummer Cobb, cancer research biologist

Jewel Plummer Cobb, cancer research biologist, President of California State University, Fullerton, the first African American to hold such as position in the CSU system, born.

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Jan

17

1924

Fourteenth Amendment

U.S. Supreme Court decision in Slaughterhouse cases began process of diluting the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court said the Fourteenth Amendment protected federal civil rights, not Civil rights heretofore belonging exclusively to the states.

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Apr

14

1873

Truman sends Congress Anti-Lynching Message

President Truman sent Congress a special message urging adoption of a civil rights program, including a fair employment practices commission and anti-lynching and anti-poll tax measures.

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Feb

2

1948

A commemorative stamp is issued by the U.S. Postal Service to honor Henry Ossawa

A commemorative stamp is issued by the U.S. Postal Service to honor Henry Ossawa Tanner, the first African American artist elected to the National Academy of Design

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Sep

10

1973

George Johnson

George and Noble Johnson founded the Lincoln Motion Picture Company in 1916. It was the first black-owned production company, it produced films exclusively for African

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Dec

17

2001

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