Altovise Davis: African-American Actress and Dancer

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Altovise Davis: African-American Actress and Dancer

Altovise Davis was an African-American actress and dancer. She was the wife of Sammy Davis Jr. Davis was born in Charlotte, North Carolina and was the only child to Altovise and John Gore. When she was very young her family moved to Brooklyn, N. Y. where she graduated from the School of Performing Arts in […]

Source: Black Then

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Talley, André Leon (1949-)

Known as one of the fashion world’s most recognized personalities, Talley stepped down as Vogue’s editor-at-large after three decades to become the editor-in-chief for Numero Russia, an international magazine based in

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Source: Black Past

Oct

16

1949

Nina Simone was an African-American singer, pianist and civil rights activist. Her birth name was Eunice Kathleen Waymon. She was born in Tryon, North Carolina to Mary Kate Waymon and John Divine Waymon. She was the sixth of seventh children and the family was quite poor when Simone was growing

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Source: Black History Resources

Forty-ninth Congress (1885-87) convened

Forty-ninth Congress (1885-87) convened. Two Black congressmen: James E. OHara, North Carolina; Robert Smalls, South Carolina.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Dec

7

1885

Eure Sr., Dexter Dillard (1924-2015)

Dexter Dillard Eure Sr., pioneering black newspaper columnist for the Boston Globe, was born in Suffolk, Virginia, an only child to Luke Eure and Sarah Sharpe. His father left the family when he was an infant and his mother died when he was 12. Eure spent the rest of his young life going back and

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Source: Black Past

Jul

2

2015

Congress cracks down on civil rights for blacks

Congress readmitted North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama and Florida on condition that the constitutions of said states shall never be amended or changed as to deprive any citizen or class of citizens or the United States of the right to vote in said states who are entitled

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Jun

25

1868

State Troopers Called in to Stop Racial Incidents

State troopers mobilized to stop disturbances in Wrightsville, Georgia. Racial incidents were also reported in 1980 in Chattanooga, Tenn., Oceanside, Calif., Kokomo, Ind., Wichita, Kans., and Johnston County, North Carolina.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Apr

8

1980

How Martin Luther King Day Became a Federal Holiday

On Nov. 2, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill making Martin Luther King Day a federal holiday, effective Jan. 20, 1986. As a result of this bill, Americans commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr.s birthday on the third Monday in January. Few Americans are aware of the history of Martin Luther

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Source: ThoughtCo

Delany, Samuel Ray, Jr. (1942- )

Samuel R. Delany, Jr., “Chip,” is an award-winning African American gaywriter, editor, professor, and literary critic. He is the first major AfricanAmerican science fiction writer as well as one of the most influential writersof this genre in the United States. Hetransformed the field

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Source: Black Past

Apr

1

1942

Burton, Walter Moses (1829?-1913)

Walter Moses Burton holds the distinction of being the first black elected sheriff in the United States. Burton was also a State Senator in

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Source: Black Past

Feb

20

1874

Definition of Secession

Secession was the act by which a state left the Union. The Secession Crisis of late 1860 and early 1861 led to the Civil War when southern states seceded from the Union and declared themselves a separate nation, the Confederate States of

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Source: ThoughtCo

Dec

20

1860

Murray, Pauli (1910-1985)

Pauli Murray was born on November 20, 1910 in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of Agnes and William Murray. Her father, a Howard University graduate, taught in the Baltimore public schools. Both of Murray’s parents died when she was a child. Her mother suffered from a brain hemorrhage and died

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Source: Black Past

Jul

1

1985

American actress Pamela Suzette Grier was born on May 26, 1949, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Her parents were Gwendolyn Sylvia who worked as a nurse, and Clarence Ransom Grier, Jr. who worked as a mechanic in U.S. Air Force. As a result, the family travelled a lot, and Grier lived in several

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Source: Black History Resources

May

26

1949

Britton, Theodore R., Jr. (1925- )

Ambassador Theodore Roosevelt Britton, Jr. was born on October 17, 1925 in North Augusta, South Carolina. In 1936, he and his family migrated to New York City, New York. Britton was drafted into the U.S. Marine Corps out of high school soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Although he was unaware

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Source: Black Past

Mary Lou Williams

Death of musician Mary Lou Williams (71), in Durham, North Carolina.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

May

28

1981

Bennett College [Greensboro] (1873- )

Bennett College opened in 1873 when seventy African American women and men began gathering for primary and secondary studies in the basement of Warnersville Methodist Episcopal Church in Greensboro, North Carolina. White northern philanthropists contributed tremendously to the school, including

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Source: Black Past

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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Source: Blackfacts.com

Dec

31

1900

Pitre, Clayton (1924- )

Clayton Pitre is a long time Seattle, Washington-based community activist, former Chief Housing Developer for the Central Area Motivation Project (CAMP), and a retired Montford Point

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Source: Black Past

Death of Charles R. Drew

Death of Charles R. Drew (45), surgeon and developer of the blood bank concept, after an automobile accident near Burlington, North Carolina.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Apr

1

1950

Adams, Alma Shealey (1946-)

Congresswoman Alma Shealey Adams currently represents North Carolina’s 12th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. She is the 100th woman elected to that legislative body and the second African American woman, after Eva Clayton, to represent North Carolina in the

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Source: Black Past

Hollingsworth, Dorothy (1920- )

Dorothy Hollingsworth, a prominent educator and politician, achieved a number of “firsts” during her years in Seattle. The most important was becoming the first black woman in Washington State’s history to serve on a school board. Born in Bishopville, South Carolina on October

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Source: Black Past

Oct

29

1920

Fifty-second Congress convened

Fifty-second Congress convened. One Black congressman: Henry P. Cheatham, North Carolina.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Dec

2

1891

Micheaux, Oscar (1884–1951)

Oscar Micheaux was the quintessential self-made man. Novelist, film-maker and relentless self-promoter, Micheaux was born on a farm near Murphysboro, Illinois. He worked briefly as a Pullman porter and then in 1904 homesteaded nearly 500 acres of land near the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation in

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Source: Black Past

Butterfield, George Kenneth, Jr. (1947– )

North Carolina Congressman George Kenneth Butterfield Jr. was born in Wilson, North Carolina on April 27, 1947 to a father who was a dentist and civic leader as well as the first black elected official in eastern North Carolina in the 20th century; and a mother who was a classroom teacher for 48

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Source: Black Past

Apr

27

1947

Reggie White was a famous African American sportsman. He was known for his professional football career and remarkable performance in 15 seasons of the National Football League. He represented University of Tennessee while playing college football. He was declared NFL Defensive Player of the Year

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Source: Black History Resources

Dec

26

2004

Aggrey, Orison Rudolph (1926- )

U.S. Ambassador Orison Rudolph Aggrey was born in Salisbury, North Carolina, the son of James Emman Kwegyir, an African immigrant who became an American college professor, and Rose Rudolph (Douglass) Aggrey, an African American woman. He earned a B.S. degree from Hampton Institute, where he

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Source: Black Past

Apr

6

2016

Cowan, William “Mo” (1969- )

William Cowan, known to most as “Mo” Cowan, served in the United States Senate as a Democrat from February 1t to July 16 in 2013, representing the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Governor Deval Patrick, a fellow Democrat, appointed Cowan on January 30th, 2013 to fill the seat vacancy

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Source: Black Past

Apr

4

1969

Turner, Benjamin Sterling (1825-1894)

Benjamin Sterling Turner, a member of the United States House of Representatives from Alabama during the Reconstruction period, was born on March 17, 1825 in Weldon, North Carolina. He was raised as a slave and as a child received no formal education. In 1830 Turner moved to Selma, Alabama with his

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Source: Black Past

Mar

21

1894

Jordan, Michael Jeffrey

Jordan, Michael Jeffrey, 1963–, American basketball player, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. As a freshman at the Univ. of North Carolina, he made the shot that won the 1982 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament final over Georgetown. Joining the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Dizzy Gillespie

John Birks Gillespie, commonly referred to as Dizzy Gillespie, was an American born trumpeter and composer. Born in Cheraw, South Carolina on 21 October 1917, Gillespie is regarded as the proponent of the earlier Bebop music scene, and together with his complex trumpeting and rhythmic

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Source: Black History Resources

St. Augustine’s University (1867- )

St. Augustine’s University is a private, four-year coeducational liberal arts college located in Raleigh, North Carolina. St. Augustine’s was founded in 1867, making it one of the oldest historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) in the United

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Source: Black Past

Aug

1

2012

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