The struggle for democracy: what can be done

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Miriam E. Benjamin was a school teacher living in Washington D.C. In 1888, Ms. Benjamin received a patent for an invention she called a Gong and Signal Chair for Hotels. Her chair, as she stated in her patent application would “reduce the expenses of hotels by decreasing the number of waiters

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Source: Black History Resources

Pilgrim Baptist Church, Saint Paul, Minnesota (1863- )

Pilgrim Baptist Church in Saint Paul, Minnesota, is the oldest African American church in the state of Minnesota. A group of escaped slaves began worshiping together in 1863, and under the leadership of fellow escaped slave Robert Thomas Hickman, the church officially became Pilgrim Baptist Church

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Source: Black Past

Nov

15

1866

Condoleezza Rice

Condoleezza Rice, one of the most influential women in the world, was born on November 14, 1954, in Birmingham, Alabama. She was the first black woman to serve as the United States’ National Security Adviser, as well as the first black woman to serve as U.S. Secretary of State from 2005-2009. Rice

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Source: Black History Resources

Nov

14

1954

cotton gin

cotton gin | FactMonster

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Richmond, Indiana (1836- )

Bethel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, organized in September 1836 in Richmond, Indiana, is the oldest still-operating black congregation in the state of Indiana. It was organized by AME missionary William Paul Quinn, one of dozens of churches he founded during his life; Quinn would later

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Source: Black Past

Jefferson, William J. (1947-- )

William J. Jefferson is a former Democratic politician who represented Louisiana’s Second Congressional District from 1991 to 2009. He was the first African American congressman elected from the state since Reconstruction. His career ended in a bribery scandal that resulted in his conviction in

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Source: Black Past

Jun

4

2007

Wilkins, Roy

Wilkins, Roy | FactMonster

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

The Baptist Foreign Mission

More than 150 delegates from Baptist Churches in eleven states organized the Baptist Foreign Mission Convention of the United States at a meeting in Montgomery, Alabama. Rev. William H. McAlphine was elected president.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Nov

24

1880

Moore's Ford Lynching

During the late afternoon of the 25th of July 1946 four African-Americans were shot dead by a lynch mob at Moores Ford, Walton county, Georgia, about eight miles from the town of Monroe. The grotesquely sprawled bodies of the victims--the Coroner said at least sixty bullets were pumped into

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Jul

25

1946

(1965) Lyndon B. Johnson, "The Voting Rights Act"

In early March 1965 much of the nations attention was focused on civil rights marches in and around Selma, Alabama. Activists led by Dr. Martin Luther King used these demonstrations to urge the federal government to act to end the denial of voting rights to tens of thousands of African Americans

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Source: Black Past

Allen University [South Carolina] (1870 - )

Allen University, a Christian liberal arts institution located on a 20-acre campus in Columbia, South Carolina, is the oldest historically black college in the state. The school was founded in 1870 by the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church of South Carolina, and was originally located in

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Source: Black Past

Farrakhan, Louis

Farrakhan, Louis | FactMonster

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Uncle Tom Revisited: Rescuing the Real Character from the Caricature

Today the phrase Uncle Tom evokes a powerfully negative image in American society. It depicts a weak, subservient, cringing black man who betrays his race and its struggle for liberation. David Reynolds, an English professor in the Graduate School of the City University of New York

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Source: Black Past

Ancient History, Africa: Biographies

Ancient History, Africa: Biographies | FactMonster

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

African Physical Geography

African Physical Geography | FactMonster

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Sugar Ray Robinson

Sugar Ray Robinson, born Walker Smith Junior, was an American Professional Boxer. A member of the international boxing hall of fame, Robinson is believed by many to be the greatest boxer of all time; owing mostly to his 91 fight unbeaten streak, and his remarkable

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Source: Black History Resources

Oct

4

1940

George Alcorn patents fabrication of spectrometer

Patent # 4,618,380

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Oct

21

1986

Mali

U.S. Department of State Background Note

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

(1871) Congressman Robert C. DeLarge, “Speech on the Enforcement of the Fourteenth Amendment”

Robert Carlos DeLarge served as a Republican member of the U.S. Congress less than a full term. He was elected in 1870 and began his term on March 4, 1871. However he left Congress on January 24, 1873 within two months of the completion of his term when the seat was declared vacant as the result of

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Source: Black Past

Smalls, Robert (1839-1915)

Robert Smalls was born in Beaufort, South Carolina, on April 5, 1839 and worked as a house slave until the age of 12. At that point his owner, John K. McKee, sent him to Charleston to work as a waiter, ship rigger, and sailor, with all earnings going to McKee. This arrangement continued until

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Source: Black Past

May

13

1862

Wilder, Lawrence Douglas (1931- )

Born in Richmond, Virginia on January 17, 1931, Lawrence Douglas Wilder was the first African American to be elected governor in the United States of America. For four years Wilder served as the governor of Virginia (1990-1994). Currently he is serving as the mayor of

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Source: Black Past

Jan

17

1931

James Augustine Healy

James Augustine Healy, first Black American Roman Catholic bishop, ordained a priest in Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Jun

10

1854

Ancient History, Africa: Biographies

Ancient History, Africa: Biographies | FactMonster

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

W.E.B. DuBois and the Making of the Encyclopedia Africana, 1909-1963

In their introduction to Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, co-editors Henry Louis Gates and Kwame Anthony Appiah describe W.E.B. DuBois’s half century campaign to publish an encyclopedia that would encompass the African diaspora. That introduction appears

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Source: Black Past

Hatshepsut

Hatshepsut | FactMonster

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Guinea Pigs

A descendant of the wild guinea pigs of South America, todays domesticated guinea pig is viewed by many as an easy pet for children. Many parents select a guinea pig as a first pet for their child, believing a small pet needs only a small amount of care. It is important to understand that these

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

O’Leary, Hazel Rollins Reid (1937- )

The first and only woman to hold the position of U.S. Secretary of Energy, Hazel Rollins Reid was born May 17, 1937 in Newport News, Virginia. During this time of public school segregation, Reid’s parents, hoping for better schooling opportunities, sent their daughter to live with an aunt in New

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Source: Black Past

Jan

22

1993

“The Yellow Rose of Texas”: The Ironic Origins of a Popular Song

While many Americans are familiar with the song, The Yellow Rose of Texas, few know the story of Emily West, the African American woman who was the inspiration for its creation. In the excerpt below from a longer article that first appeared in 1996, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Source: Black Past

(1867) John Sella Martin, A Speech Before the Paris Antislavery Conference

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Source: Black Past

Aug

27

1867

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