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Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia (1885 – )
Founded in 1886 by Pastor John Andrew Parker, a freedman, Ebenezer Baptist Church of Atlanta, Georgia had only 13 members and no church building upon Parker’s passing in 1894 and when Alfred Daniel Williams became its second pastor.  Williams’ powerful sermons and strong leadership skills increased
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Source: Black Past
John McWhorter, “Celebrate the Triumph of Ordinary Black Americans”
It is a mantra among black Americans that we are insufficiently aware of our history, that our advancement will be hobbled until we are all rooted in a sense of continuity with the past. Yet, every year we are regaled with not just a Black History Day but a Black History Month. Over four weeks in
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Source: Black Past
(1964) Fannie Lee Chaney, “Meridian Awakened”
Shortly after her son, James Chaney was murdered in Mississippi in the summer of 1964 along with Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, Fannie Lee Chaney gave an address in which she vowed to continue the struggle for racial justice in her home state.  She also announced that 12 year old Ben
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Source: Black Past
Ailey, Alvin (1931-1989)
Alvin Ailey was born in Rodgers, Texas during the Great Depression. He overcame racism, poverty, and homophobia to become one of the most celebrated choreographers in American history. His single teenage mother Lula Ailey washed clothes, picked cotton, and worked in domestic service in various
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Eastern Bank
(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
School enrollment
Black students enroll in classes at Oberlin College, Ohio.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
May
21
1833
Berea College
Berea College, located in east central Kentucky at the base of the Cumberland Mountains, was founded in 1855 by abolitionist John G. Fee.  Berea was one of the first fully integrated colleges in the South, enrolling an essentially equal number of blacks and whites from 1865 to 1892.  Racial
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Source: Black Past
Documentary Films on Blackpast.org
Capra, Frank The Negro Soldier 1943
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Source: Black Past
(1948) Bayard Rustin, “Jim Crow Army"
By the early 1960s Bayard Rustin would emerge as a major strategist for the civil rights movement and advisor to Dr. Martin Luther King.  In 1948, however, he was less well known among the American population.   By that point, however, most of his views were shaped and well known.  In World War
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Source: Black Past
Mar
22
1948
Negro Musicians’ Union, Local 493, Seattle
Also known as the Negro Musicians’ Union, Local No. 493 was formed in 1913 in Seattle. During this time period Locals across the country, under the banner of the American Musicians Federation (AMF), decided to encourage black musicians to form their own unions rather than admit them. From this
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Source: Black Past
Scottsboro Boys Falsely Accused
The Scottsboro Boys, nine young African Americans, were falsely charged with rape and collectively served more than 100 years in prison. The right of African Americans to serve on juries was established by their case.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
25
1931
Rustin, Bayard (1910-1987)
Bayard Rustin was one of the most important, and yet least known, Civil Rights advocates in the twentieth century. He was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania and raised by his maternal grandparents. His grandmother, Julia, was both a Quaker and an active member of the National Association for the
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Association of Latino Professionals For America (ALPFA) Boston Professional Chapter
Aug
24
1987
Miles College [Fairfield] (1905-- )
Miles College is a private, four-year Historically Black College and University (HBCU) located in Fairfield, Alabama, about six miles west of downtown Birmingham.  The school was founded in 1905 by the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church (now called Christian Methodist Episcopal Church or CME
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Source: Black Past
Oct
13
2006
National Guard mobilized to quell disturbances at
National Guard mobilized to quell disturbances at Ohio State University. Black and white students were demanding an end to ROTC programs and the admission of additional Black students.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
May
21
1970
Thomas, Clarence (1948- )
Clarence Thomas, the second African American to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court, was born in Pin Point, Georgia, a small community south of Savannah.  His mother, Leola Williams, a single parent, raised Thomas until he was seven.  He and his brother, Myers, were sent to Savannah where they were
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Source: Black Past
Wheatley, Phillis (1754-1784)
Enslaved in Senegal [in a region that is now in Gambia] at age eight and brought to America on a schooner called the Phillis (for which she was apparently named), was purchased by Susannah and John Wheatley, who soon recognized her intellect and facility with language.  Susannah Wheatley taught
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association (MBLA)
Nicomedes Santa Cruz: A Black Public Intellectual in Twentieth-Century Peru
In the following article University of Oregon historian Carlos Aguirre describes the self-taught poet, writer, and folklorist Nicomedes Santa Cruz, one of the understudied black intellectual leaders in Peru and Latin
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Source: Black Past
Feb
5
1992
King, Martin Luther, Jr. (1929-1968)
One of the most visible advocates of nonviolence and direct action as methods of social change, Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15, 1929. As the grandson of the Rev. A.D. Williams, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist church and a founder of Atlantas NAACP chapter, and the son
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Source: Black Past
Black Students Escorted To School
Soldiers of 101st Airborne Division escorted nine Black students to Central High school.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
24
1957
Clardy Craven, Erma (1918-1994)
Erma Clardy Craven was an African American leader in the pro-life movement. Craven helped start various “pro-life” organizations such as African-Americans Against Abortion, the National Right to Life Committee, Black Americans for Life, National Democrats for Life, and Americans United
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Source: Black Past
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
The History of Black History Month
In the following article Daryl Michael Scott, Professor of History at Howard University and Vice President of Program for the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, describes the history of the Black History Month
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Source: Black Past
Fisk University (1866- )
One of the first U.S. institutions to offer a liberal arts education to former slaves in the post-Civil War South, Fisk opened its doors in Nashville, Tennessee, just nine months after the Confederate surrender at Appomattox. General Clinton B. Fisk of the Tennessee Freedmens Bureau donated
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Source: Black Past
Oct
6
1871
Documentary Films on Blackpast.org - African American History - Director
A&E Television Americas Black Warriors (on World War II) 1998
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Source: Black Past
Ebony Magazine
Ebony, a pictorial news magazine published by Chicago, Illinois-based Johnson Publishing Company, first appeared in November 1945. Created by John H. Johnson, who modeled his publication after Life magazine, Ebony celebrated African American life and culture by depicting the achievements of black
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Source: Black Past
Ellison, Keith M. (1963- )
Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison was born on August 4, 1963 in Detroit, Michigan.  He was raised Catholic in a middle class family which included five sons to a father who was a psychiatrist and a mother who was a social worker.  Since childhood Ellison was involved with the civil rights
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Eastern Bank
Aug
4
1963
10 Famous African American Women You Should Know About
It is not untrue when they said it’s a men’s world. One hardly see equal ratio of man and woman, be it in a workplace setting, educational institute or sports. Men always tend to stay ahead of women throughout the history. Even in the twenty-first century we see a huge pay gap between two genders
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Source: Famous African Americans
Black students seized finance building at
Black students seized finance building at Northwestern University and demanded Black-oriented curriculum and campus reforms.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) Boston Professional Chapter
May
3
1967
Norton, Eleanor Holmes (1937- )
Eleanor Holmes Norton was born on June 13, 1937 in Washington, D.C. to parents Coleman and Vela Holmes.  Both her parents were government employees.  Growing up in a well educated and politically conscious household caused Eleanor Holmes to be very aware of the surrounding struggles for African
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Source: Black Past
Jun
13
1937
Tomlinson, Maurice (1971- )
Maurice Tomlinson is one of the most well-known gay rights activists in the world. He is an attorney-at-law, law lecturer, journalist, and HIV/AIDS and LGBTI (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgendered Intersexual) activist in Jamaica and the
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by APEX Museum
Apr
9
1971
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