Slavery abolished in New York State

August Wilson's play The Piano Lesson

August Wilsons play The Piano Lesson wins the Pulitzer Prize for drama. It is the second Pulitzer Prize for Wilson who also won one for Fences in 1981 and was award the New York Drama Critics Award for Fences, Ma Raineys Black Bottom, and Joe Turners Come and Gone.

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Aug

12

1990

Singer Leslie Uggams born

Singer Leslie Uggams, who made her singing debut with the Lawrence Welk Band, was born in New York city.

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May

25

1943

National Urban League Formed

The National Urban League was formed in New York City. The league was born out of a merger of the National League for the Protection of Colored Women, National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes and the Niagra Movement.

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Apr

19

1910

Basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar born

Basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar born Lewis F. Alcindor, Jr. in New York City.

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Apr

16

1947

Anti-Slavery Law

The provisional governor of Florida abolishes slavery by proclamation.

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Aug

3

1865

Death of Ralph J. Bunche

Death of Ralph J. Bunche (67), Nobel Peace Prize winner and undersecretary of the UN from 1955 to his retirement in October, 1971, in New York City.

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Dec

9

1971

Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery in Maryland,

Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery in Maryland, summer. She returned to the South nineteen times and brought out more than three hundred slaves.

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Dec

6

1849

U.S. Rep. Floyd Flake born

U.S. Rep. Floyd Flake, D-New York, was born in Los Angeles, California. A businessman and minister, Flake established the Allen Christian School and Allen Home Care Agency.

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Jan

30

1945

District of Columbia abolishes slavery

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Feb

2

1862

Suit accusing New York City Board of Education of

Suit accusing New York City Board of Education of using racial quotas filed in U.S. District Court on behalf of Black and Puerto Rican children.

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Jan

16

1962

The movie, Green Pastures, premieres in New York's

The movie, Green Pastures, premieres in New Yorks Radio City Music Hall.

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Jul

16

1936

African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AMEZ) Church

African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AMEZ) Church formally organized at meeting in New York City.

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Jun

21

1821

Elbert Frank Cox

Elbert Frank Cox was born on this day in Evansville, Indiana. He became the first Black to hold a doctorates degree in mathematics which he received from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York in 1925.

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Dec

5

1895

First Black Greek-Letter Organiation

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. was founded on December 4, 1906 on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York by seven college men who recognized the need for a strong bond of Brotherhood among African descendants in this country. The visionary founders, known as the Jewels of the

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Dec

4

1906

Activist Faye Wattleton

Faye Wattleton, a rgeistered nurse and New York activist, was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Wattleton served as president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America from 1978 to 1992.

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Jul

8

1943

T. Thomas Fortune

T. Thomas Fortune started New York Freeman, which later became the New York Age.

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Nov

22

1884

"Nubian Monarchy Called Oldest," New York Times

New York Times comments on findings of archaeologist Bruce Williams finds at Qutsul. Evidence leads many to believe that Ta-Seti (most ancient Nubia) developed the worlds first divine kingship, monarchy, which then travelled up the Nile to Egypt.

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Mar

1

1979

First Free School

First free school in New York City, the African Free School opened.

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Nov

1

1787

Maryland legally recognizes the institution of slavery;passes law enslaving al

Maryland legally recognizes the institution of slavery; passes law enslaving all imported Africans; freeborn English women who marry black slaves are enslaved, as are the childred of such unions.

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Jan

0

1663

Death of poet Countee Cullen

Death of poet Countee Cullen (42), New York City.

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Jan

9

1946

Civil Rights

April 4, 1967. Speaking before the Overseas Press Club in New York City, Revered Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, announced his opposition to the Vietnam War.

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Apr

4

1967

Wash., D.C. Slave Emancipation and Reparations

On April 16, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia. Passage of this act came

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Apr

16

1862

Spingarn Medal: Charles R. Drew

Spingarn Medal presented to Charles R. Drew who set up and ran the blood plasma bank in the Presbyterian Hospital in New York City which served as one of the models for the widespread system of blood banks now in operation for the American Red Cross.

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Aug

20

1944

Runnin' Wild opened at Colonial Theater, Broadway

Runnin Wild opened at Colonial Theater, Broadway. Miller and Lyles Productions introduced Charleston to New York and the world.

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Oct

29

1923

Charles L

Charles L. Reason named professor of belles-lettres and French at Central College, McGrawville, New York. William G. Allen and George B. Vashon also taught at the predominantly white college.

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Oct

16

1849

Entertainment

The first black to perform with an American opera company was Caterina Jarboro, who was featured in a Chicago Opera Company production of Aida at the New York Hippodrome on July 22, 1933. She also sang the title role of the opera in Milan, Italy, in May, 1930. La Julia Rhea sang the role of Aida in

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Sep

9

2001

City College President

Dr. Bernard Harleston, former dean of arts and sciences at Tufts University, appointed president of New Yorks City College.

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Mar

6

1981

Frederick Douglass Escapes

Frederick Douglass, disguised as a sailor escapes from slavery

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Sep

3

1838

NAACP Executive Director

Death of Roy Wilkins (80), longtime executive director of the NAACP, in New York.

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Sep

8

1981

Silent Parade in protest of lynchings

Ten thousand Blacks marched down Fifth Avenue, New York City, in silent parade protesting lynchings and racial indignities.

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Jul

28

1915

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