Wendell P. Dabney establishes The Union.

Dett, R. Nathaniel (1882-1943)

From precocious five-year-old piano player in the 1890s to internationally known choral director, composer, concert pianist, and poet, R. Nathaniel Dett became champion for preservation of the black spiritual which he called authentic American folk music: He dedicated his life to finding a musical

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Source: Black Past

Aug

26

2011

Wilberforce University (1856- )

Wilberforce University was established near Xenia, Ohio in 1856 as a joint venture between the Methodist Episcopal Church and the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Named after 18th century abolitionist William Wilberforce, it was the first private, historically black university in the United

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Source: Black Past

Ohio legislature passed the first of a succession

Ohio legislature passed the first of a succession of Northern Black Laws which restricted the rights and movement of free Blacks in the North. Most Northern states passed Black Laws. Constitutions of three states --Illinois, Indiana, Oregon--barred Black settlers.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Jan

5

1804

Rollins, Ida Gray Nelson (1867-1953)

Ida Gray Nelson Rollins, the first African American Woman dentist, was born in Clarksville, Tennessee, on March 4, 1867. She became an orphan when her mother, Jennie Gray, died in her early teens. Rollins’ white father, whose name is not known, played no role in her childhood or education. After

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Source: Black Past

Winkfield, Jimmy (1882-1974)

Jimmy Winkfield, born on April 12, 1882, became famous as an early 20th Century horse jockey. Winkfield, the youngest of 17 children, was born in Chilesburg, Kentucky, a town just outside of Lexington. As a child, he had a routine that included performing chores on the farm where his father was

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Source: Black Past

(1874) John Mercer Langston, “Equality Before the Law”

John Mercer Langston, a prominent abolitionist and civil rights activist, was one of the earliest African American officeholders in the United States when in 1855 he was elected town clerk of Brownhelm, Township, Ohio. During the Civil War he recruited soldiers for the Massachusetts 54th Infantry

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Source: Black Past

Sep

4

1841

Herbert R. Brown

Herbert R. Brown was Senior Vice President, PR & Corporate Communications of Western & Southern Financial Group. Brown began his career in 1963 at Western & Southern and rose through the ranks to Senior Vice President in

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Source: Savoy Network

Jackson State University (1877- )

A historically black college located in on a 125-acre campus near downtown Jackson, the capital city of the state of Mississippi, Jackson State University (JSU) has been the designated urban university of the state’s higher education system since 1979. The school was founded in 1877 by the

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Source: Black Past

May

14

1970

Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks

Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks founded in Cincinnati.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Jun

10

1899

Langston, John Mercer (1829-1897)

John Mercer Langston, the youngest of four children, was born a free black in Louisa County, Virginia in 1829. Langston gained distinction as an abolitionist, politician, and attorney. Despite the prominence of his slaveowner father, Ralph Quarles, Langston took his surname from his mother, Lucy

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Source: Black Past

Nov

15

1897

Beah, Ishmael (1980– )

Ishmael Beah is a Sierra Leonean author and human rights activist who rose to fame with his personal history, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Solider. Beah was born on November 23, 1980, in Mattru Jong, Bonthe District, Sierra Leone, in West Africa. The Sierra Leone Civil War started in March

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Source: Black Past

Nov

23

1980

Algiers Motel Incident (1967)

The Algiers Motel Incident occurred in Detroit, Michigan on July 25, 1967, two days after the Detroit Race Riot began. The incident started when Army National Guardsman Ted Thomas reported hearing gunshots at the Algiers Motel Annex. Detroit Police, Michigan State Police, and other National

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Source: Black Past

Jul

25

1967

Central State University [Ohio] (1887- )

Central State University (CSU) was one of the first colleges in the United states to be administered by African Americans. It was also unique as a state-funded institution which for sixty years was part of a private college. The school’s beginnings can be traced back to 1856 and the establishment

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Source: Black Past

Death of Paul Laurence Dunbar (33), Dayton, Ohio

Death of poet and novelist Paul Laurence Dunbar (33), Dayton, Ohio.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Feb

9

1906

Birthday

Nancy Wilson, 62, singer , Born Chillicothe, Ohio Feb. 20, 1937

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Feb

0

1937

The Black Laws of Oregon, 1844-1857

Oregon passed exclusion laws against African Americans twice during the 1840s, considered another law in the 1850s, and in 1857 approved an exclusion clause as part of its constitution. Exclusion laws were also passed in Indiana and Illinois and considered in Ohio, but Oregon was the only free

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Source: Black Past

Turner, James Milton (1840-1915)

James Milton Turner was an African American Missourian who was a prominent politician, education advocate, and diplomat in the years after the Civil War. Turner was born a slave in St. Louis, Missouri in 1840. His father, John Turner (also known as John Colburn), was a well-known “horse

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Source: Black Past

Lucy Harth Smith: Pioneer Activist and Educator

She served thirty years on the executive council of the National Association for the study of Negro Life and

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Source: Black Then

Adams, John Quincy ["J. Q."] (1848-1922)

Educator, newspaper publisher and politician John Quincy Adams is best known as the editor of the Western Appeal/The Appeal of St. Paul, Minnesota. He held the position from 1886 to

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Source: Black Past

National Equal Rights League (1864–1921)

Founded in Syracuse, New York in 1864, the National Equal Rights League (NERL) promoted full and immediate citizenship for African Americans. Created during the Civil War, the League based its call for full citizenship as compensation for military service in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. They

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Source: Black Past

"Yes We Can": Barack Obama's Road to the White House, 2008

Barack Obamas campaign for the Presidency in 2008 has been described by many political analysts as brilliant and virtually flawless. Despite his inexperience in national politics and limited experience in state politics (Obama was first elected to political office in 1994), he assembled

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Source: Black Past

Mann, Dorothy Holland

Dorothy Holland Mann, a native of Annandale, Virginia, wasthe first woman and first African-American to head Region X of the United States Public Health Service (which includes Washington, Oregon, Idaho andAlaska) when she was appointed to the position in 1979 by Dr. Julius Richmond, theAssistant

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Source: Black Past

Eddie “the Sheik” Gardner: An Ultramarathoning Legend and Unsung Hero in the Struggle for Racial Equality in America.

In the following account, sports historian Charles Kastner describes the remarkable athletic career of Eddie “the Sheik” Gardner of Seattle, Washington. Gardner was arguably the greatest ultramarathoner in Pacific Northwest history. For a detailed discussion of Gardner’s participation

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Source: Black Past

Sessions, Lucy Stanton Day (1831-1910)

Educator and abolitionist Lucy Stanton Day Sessions is believed to be the first African American woman to graduate from college, completing a Ladies Literary Course from Oberlin College in 1850. For over a century the Ohio college has recognized its early Literary Course program as equivalent to

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Source: Black Past

Oct

16

1831

Clyburn, James Enos (1940– )

James Enos Clyburn was born in Sumter, South Carolina on July 21, 1940 to parents Enos and Almeta Clyburn. James Clyburn’s father was a minister and his mother was a cosmetologist. In 1957 James Clyburn graduated from Mather Academy located in Camden, South Carolina. Four years later he

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Source: Black Past

Jul

21

1940

Freeman, Harry Lawrence (1869-1954)

Composer, performer, musical critic/essayist, advocate, and teacher H. Lawrence Freeman was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1869 to Lemuel Freeman and Agnes Sims-Freeman. Initially self-taught, Freeman’s musical abilities were apparent at a young age. At 12, he started and performed in a boy’s vocal

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Source: Black Past

Black Indians: A Personal and Historic Journey

William Loren Katz has devoted his life to researching and writing African American history. In the following account written to describe the reissue of one of his most successful books, Black Indians, he describes how he became an historian of African America and particularly the black

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Source: Black Past

National Guard mobilized to stop rioting

National Guard mobilized to stop rioting in Dayton, Ohio.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Sep

21

1966

Prologue: Selected Articles | National Archives

Prologue: Selected Articles

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Source: Archives Library Information Center (ALIC)

African Americans in Medicine in the Civil War Era

Most Americans are now familiar with the contribution of nearly 300,000 black soldiers and sailors to the Union cause during the U.S. Civil War. Less well known is the role of a dedicated group of black doctors and nurses in uniform who worked diligently to save lives and fight disease. In

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Source: Black Past

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Wendell P. Dabney establishes The Union.

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The Speech that Made Obama President

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National Trust for Historic Preservation