People, Places and Things

Southern Christian Leadership Conference founded

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference was founded in New Orleans, Louisiana by five ministers including Martin Luther King, Jr., Ralph Abernathy, Joseph Lowery, Fred Shuttlesworth and C.K. Steele. Dr. King was the founding president, Abernathy president emeritus and Rep. Walter

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Jan

10

1957

Willie Mays, born

Baseball great Willie Howard Mays was born in Westfield, Alabama. Mays played with both the New York and San Francisco Giants. He was National League batting champion four times and twice the leagues Most Valuable Player.

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May

6

1931

Federal Reserve Board of Governors

Andrew F. Brimmer, economist and former Professor of Economics at University of Pennsylvania, is nominated by President Lyndon B. Johnson to serve as a Governor of the Federal Reserve System. This appointment represented the first black to serve in this capacity.

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Apr

13

1966

Martin Luther King, Jr.

On January 16, 1986, a bronze bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. is the first of any black American placed in the Capitol. The first national Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday is celebrated on January 20.

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Jan

16

1986

Andey Rooney suspended for racist comments

Andy Rooney, a CBS 60 Minutes commentator, received a 90-day suspension from work because of racist remarks about African Americans attributed to him by Chris Bull, a New York-based reporter for The Advocate, a bi-weekly national gay & lesbian newsmagazine published in Los Angeles. Bull quoted

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Feb

8

1990

Dr. Herman Branson -- Physicist, Chemist

Born: August 14, 1914

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Aug

14

1914

Spingarn Medal: Clarence Mitchell Jr.

Clarence Mitchell Jr., director of the Washington Bureau of the NAACP, awarded the Spingarn Medal for the pivotal role he....played in enactment of civil rights

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Dec

4

1969

Did You Know That In...

1778 - The Baptist church decides that marriages between slaves should be respected.

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Jan

0

1778

The Fifth Dimension's "Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In" is named Record of the Yea

The Fifth Dimensions Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In is named Record of the Year at the Grammys.

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Mar

11

1970

Death of Mary McLeod Bethune, educator/activist

Death of Mary McLeod Bethune (79), educator and civil rights leader, Daytona

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May

18

1955

Legislation giving the suffrage to Blacks

Legislation giving the suffrage to Blacks in the District of Columbia was passed over President Andrew Johnsons veto.

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Jan

8

1867

Patricia Roberts Harris (1924-1985).

Patricia Roberts Harris, lawyer and diplomat, was the first black woman ambassador appointed to an overseas post under President Lydon B. Johnson administration.

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Jan

0

1924

Selma Burke

Scupltor and educator Selma Burke was born on this day in Mooresville, North Carolina. She is commissioned to create a profile of President Franklin D. Roosevelt after a national competition sponsored by the Fine Arts Commission in Washington, D.C.; the completed project, a plaque, is unveiled and

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Dec

31

1900

Chemist Percy Julian born

Chemist Percy Julian born in Montgomery, Alabama. Julian studied at DePauwm, Fisk, Harvard and Vienna (Germany) Universities. In his lifetime he discovered several synthetic substances including one that made paint water-tight, cortisone and a fire suppressing foam.

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Apr

11

1899

Early Sermon for Abolition

On this date in 1791, Jonathan Edwards Jr. (1745-1801) preached a strong anti-slavery sermon before the Connecticut Society for the Promotion of Freedom and for the Relief of Persons unlawfully holden in Bondage. Edwards was a Congregationalist minister, like his more famous father, and later

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Sep

15

1791

Scott Joplin, the King of Ragtime, was born on this day in 1868 in Texarkana, Te

Scott Joplin, the King of Ragtime, was born on this day in 1868 in Texarkana, Texas. A skilled pianist and composer, Joplin started a 20-year ragtime craze with the release of his composition Maple Leaf Rag in 1897, during the Gay Nineties. Ragtime-scored piano music-at the time was considered

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Apr

1

1917

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

Montgomery, Ala., protest

Montgomery, Ala., police broke up protest demonstration on Alabama State campus and arrested thirty-five students, a teacher and her husband.

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Mar

1

1960

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

Four national chain stores announced

Four national chain stores announced on October 17 that counters in about 150 stores in 112 cities in North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Texas, Tennessee, Missouri, Maryland, Florida and Oklahoma had been integrated.

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Mar

1

1960

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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Sep

15

1964

birthday

Cab Calloway, bandleader and first jazz singer to sell a million records is born in Rochester,NY.

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Dec

25

1907

Death of Marcus Garvey

Death of Marcus Garvey (52), London, England.

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Jun

10

1941

Branford Marsalis, jazz saxophonist and icon, born

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Aug

26

1960

One thousand march on Alabama State

Through the 30th, One thousand Alabama State students marched on state capitol and held protest meeting.

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Mar

1

1960

Count Basie

William Count Basie, jazz musician, dies.

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Apr

26

1984

Jazz artist George Benson born

George Benson, jazz guitarist, protege and student of guitarist extraordinaire Chet Atkins, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Among Bensons hits are Breezin, Masquerade, The Greatest Love of All, and Love X Love.

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Mar

2

1943

President sent federal troops to South Carolina

President sent federal troops to South Carolina.

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Oct

26

1876

Robert Edward Chambliss, a former KKK member is convicted of first degree murder

Robert Edward Chambliss, a former KKK member is convicted of first degree murder in connection with the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., that killed four African teenage women.

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Nov

18

1977

1st Black chariman of P.C.G.E.P.

Archibald J. Carey, Chicago minister and attorney, appointed first Black chairman of Presidents Committee on Government Employment Policy.

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Aug

3

1957

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