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Burroughs, Jr., John Andrew (1936–2014)
John Andrew Burroughs, Jr. was an equal opportunity advocate and diplomat who was born in Washington, D.C. on July 31, 1936. He spent his youth in Washington, D.C. before moving to the Midwest to attend the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa.  While there he played on the varsity football
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Source: Black Past
Wiley College (1873- )
Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, is the first African-American college established in the Lone Star State.  The institution was founded in 1873 by Bishop Isaac Wiley of Methodist Episcopal Church and chartered by the Freedman’s Aid Society in 1882. Isaac Wiley grew up with dreams of becoming
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Source: Black Past
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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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Intellitech
Mar
1
1960
Jordan, Barbara (1936-1996)
Barbara Charline Jordan was born in Houston Texas’s Fifth Ward on February 21, 1936. She received her education in public schools in Texas and graduated from Texas Southern University in 1956 with a B.A. in political science and history. Jordan then received her LL.B. from Boston University School
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Source: Black Past
Jan
17
1996
(1920) Archibald Grimke, “The Shame of America, or the Negro’s Case Against the Republic”
Archibald Grimke was born enslaved in Charleston, South Carolina in 1849.  After the Civil War, Archibald and his younger brother Francis, enrolled at Lincoln University.  Archibald graduated in 1872 and then entered Harvard Law School.  After graduation he practiced in Boston.  By the 1880s Grimke
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Source: Black Past
(1905) Roscoe Conkling Bruce, “Freedom Through Education”
Home
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Source: Black Past
“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
Sponsored by National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) Boston Metropolitan Chapter
The Notorious B.I.G.
The Notorious B.I.G. was an iconic East Coast rapper who released only one album during his lifetime, but rose to fame after his untimely death in a shooting incident. He was born Christopher George Latore Wallace on May 21, 1972 to Voletta Wallace and George Latore and raised in Brooklyn, New
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Source: Black History Resources
May
21
1972
Cooper, J. Gary (1936– )
J. Gary Cooper, military, government, and business leader, was appointed United States Ambassador to Jamaica by President Bill Clinton in 1994. He was the first African American to occupy the position. Prior to his appointment, he had a distinguished military
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) Boston Professional Chapter
Oct
2
1936
Hyman, John Adams (1840-1891)
John Adams Hyman was born into slavery on July 23, 1840 in Warren County, North Carolina. Hymans thirst for knowledge resulted in him being sold away from his family for attempting to read a spelling book that was given to him by a sympathetic white jeweler. He continued to seek knowledge at his
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies
Sep
14
1891
Owens, Jesse
Owens, Jesse, 1913–80, U.S. track star, b. Alabama. He was also called John Cleveland Owens, although his original name was said to be simply J. C. Owens. After his family moved to Cleveland he excelled at track and field events in high school. He won the broad-jump titles at the outdoor
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
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
Johnson, Jack (1878-1946)
Jack Johnson, the first African American and first Texan to win the heavyweight boxing championship of the world, was born the second of six children to Henry and Tiny Johnson in Galveston on March 31, 1878.  His parents were former slaves.  To help support his family, Jack Johnson left school in
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association (MBLA)
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz musician who is widely credited as being one of the creators of modern day jazz. He was born on October 10, 1917, in Rocky Mount, North Carolina to Thelonious and Barbara Monk. He had an older sister named Marion and a younger brother named Thomas. When
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Source: Black History Resources
Oct
10
1917
Alabama A&M University [Normal] (1875-- )
Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical (Alabama A & M) University is a historically black university located in the city of Normal, Alabama.  The school began in 1875 when Alabama officials used the Morrill Act of 1862 allowing state governments to establish colleges for African American
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies
Jul
16
2009
Cottonpickers organized union and strike
Cottonpickers organized union and staged strike for higher wages in Texas.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
3
1891
Confederate Flag Protest
In Montgomery, Alabama, Thomas Reed, president of the Alabama chapter of the NAACP, was arrested after he and 11 others attempted to strike a Confederate flag flying atop the state capitol building.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Museum of African American History in Massachusetts
Feb
3
1988
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
Sponsored by Eastern Bank
Apr
27
1947
Volunteer African American army units, including the 3rd Alabama, 3rd North Caro
Volunteer African American army units, including the 3rd Alabama, 3rd North Carolina, 6th Virginia, 9th Ohio, 9th Illinois, 23rd Kansas and 10th Cavalry regiments, some units with African American officers, took part in the Spanish-American War on Cuban soil. Some of these veterans, upon return to
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
21
1898
Betty Shabazz
Betty Shabazz was the wife of Malcolm X, a prominent leader of the Nation of Islam. Her exact date of birth is not known, but it is believed to be May 28, 1934. She was born in Georgia to unwed teenage parents named Ollie Mae Sanders and Shelman Sandlin, and raised in Detroit. By some accounts, her
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Source: Black History Resources
(1963) Malcolm X, “Message to the Grassroots”
On December 10, 1963, while still the leading spokesman for the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X gave a speech at a rally in Detroit, Michigan.  That speech outlined his basic black nationalist philosophy and established him as a major critic of the civil rights movement.  The speech appears
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Source: Black Past
Dec
10
1963
(1948) Henry A. Wallace, “Radio Address”
Former Vice President Henry A. Wallace, Jr., in 1948 became the Presidential nominee of the Progressive Party.  Wallace ran a spirited campaign which unlike almost any before, took on the question of racial discrimination and segregation against African Americans in the South.  What follows is his
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Source: Black Past
Sep
13
1948
Dorie Miller downs three planes
Messman Dorie Miller downs three Japanese planes in the attack on Pearl Harbor
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Greater Boston Veterans Collaborative
Nov
7
1941
The Trillion Dollar African American Consumer Market: Economic Empowerment or Economic Dependency?
Collective African American net income (spending power) now exceeds $1 trillion dollars annually. Because of this economic reality, a wide variety of contemporary companies continually create marketing campaigns to effectively reach this important segment of the U.S. consumer market. Yet, in the
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Christo Rey New York High School
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
Lawrence v. Texas (2003)
March 26, 2003, Argued
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Source: Black Past
Algeria
Nearly four times the size of Texas and the largest country on the continent, Algeria is bordered on the west by Morocco and Western Sahara and on the east by Tunisia and Libya. The Mediterranean Sea is to the north, and to the south are Mauritania, Mali, and Niger. The Saharan region, which is
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
Sponsored by Diversity In Action
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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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Pride Academy
May
6
1931
Dr. Dre
Name at birth: Andre Romelle Young
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
Sponsored by New York University
Underground Railroad, The (1820-1861)
The Underground Railroad was established to aid enslaved people in their escape to freedom.  The railroad was comprised of dozens of secret routes and safe houses originating in the slaveholding states and extending all the way to the Canadian border, the only area where fugitives could be assured
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Source: Black Past
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