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Blanche Kelso Bruce sworn in as a U.S. Senator.
Blanche Kelso Bruce was a US Senator from Mississippi; the first black man to serve a full term in the senate, and the first person born into slavery to preside over the senate. While serving in the senate, he was an advocate for civil rights for blacks, native Americans, Chinese immigrants and
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Source: Blackfacts.com
May
21
1881
The first African American magazine, Mirror of Freedom, begins publication in Ne
The first African American magazine, Mirror of Freedom, begins publication in New York City.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
30
1838
The South Carolina Gazette reports that Cae
The South Carolina Gazette reports that Caesar, a South Carolina slave has been granted his freedom and a life time annuity in exchange for his cures for poison and rattlesnake bite. Caesar and the famous James Derham of New Orleans are two of the earliest know African American medical
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Illinois Math and Science Academy
May
9
1750
A commemorative stamp is issued by the U.S. Postal Service to honor Henry Ossawa
A commemorative stamp is issued by the U.S. Postal Service to honor Henry Ossawa Tanner, the first African American artist elected to the National Academy of Design
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
10
1973
First Black Political Convention
Through the 12th - three thousand delegates and five thousand observers attended the first Black political convention in Gary, Indiana. The NAACP and other groups withdrew from the convention after the adoption of resolutions critical of busing and the state of Israel.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
10
1972
Jackie Robinson
Jackie Robinson appears on the cover of Life magazine; first time an African American is featured on the cover in the magazines 13 year history
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Source: Blackfacts.com
May
10
1950
Moneta Sleet becomes the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize for his
Moneta Sleet becomes the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize for his photograph of Mrs. Martin Luther King, Jr. and her daughter at her husbands funeral
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Source: Blackfacts.com
May
5
1969
Lee Elder becomes the first African American professional golfer to qualify for
Lee Elder becomes the first African American professional golfer to qualify for the Masters Tournament.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by APEX Museum
Apr
21
1974
NAACP convention adopted emergency resolution
NAACP convention adopted emergency resolution charging that President Nixon was leading the mob in its assault upon the Fourteenth Amendments Equal Protection clause.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
4
1972
Bill Russell named head coach of the Boston Celtic
Bill Russell named head coach of the Boston Celtics, becoming the first African American to coach an NBA team.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by New York University
Mar
28
1966
Anthony Burns, celebrated fugitive slave, arrested
Anthony Burns, celebrated fugitive slave, arrested by United States Deputy marshals in Boston. Two thousand United States troops escorted him through the streets of Boston when he was returned to the South on June 3.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Museum of African American History in Massachusetts
May
24
1854
Henry Lewis
On this day Henry Lewis becomes the first African American to lead a symphony orchestra in the United States.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Feb
15
1968
Lelia Smith Foley becomes the first African A
Lelia Smith Foley becomes the first African American woman to be elected mayor of a U.S. city (Taft, OK)
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
16
1973
In "Re Franck Negro," a Massachusetts court finds a black man not guilty of co
In Re Franck Negro, a Massachusetts court finds a black man not guilty of conspiring to assist someone in escaping from prison; this case marks one of the first times that blacks successfully participate in the legal system.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by NSBE Boston
Jan
0
1669
President Grant sent federal troops to Vicksburg,
President Grant sent federal troops to Vicksburg, Mississippi.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
5
1875
George H. White
George H. White, the only African American member of the U.S. House of Representatives, (1896) and the first to introduce an antilynching bill, born. He also founded Whitesboro, N,J, as a haven for African Americans escaping Southern racism.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
18
1852
Charles Edward Anderson
In 1960, Charles Edward Anderson earned a Ph.D. in Meteorology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Massachusetts. Charles Edward Anderson the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in Meteorology; died today.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Oct
21
1994
Samuel L. Gravely is born
Samuel Gravely was appointed captain of the Navy Destroyer Escort, U.S.S. Falgout, the first African American to command a United States warship. He later received the rand of Rear Admiral, a first for an African American navyman.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
4
1922
NAACP Elects Kweisi Mfume
Kweisi Mfume is unanimously elected President and CEO of the NAACP.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
9
1995
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
NAACP chairman Stephen Gill Spottswood
NAACP chairman Stephen Gill Spottswood told the NAACP convention that the Nixon administration was anti-Negro and was pressing a calculated Policy inimical to the needs and aspirations of the large majority of citizens.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by New York University
Jun
29
1970
John B. McLendon
John B. McLendon becomes the first African American coach in the ABA when he signs a two year contract with the Denver Nuggets.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association (MBLA)
May
14
1969
Jonathan A. Rodgers becomes president of CBS's television stations division, the
Jonathan A. Rodgers becomes president of CBSs television stations division, the highest ranking African American in network television. Rodgers had been general manager of WBBM-TV, CBSs Chicago Station
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
3
1990
1641 Massachusett colony.
In 1641, the first colony to legalize slavery, and to forbid use of unjust violence in the capture of slaves, was Massachusetts.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1641
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Toms Cabin, a novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, published in Boston.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
20
1852
The Charles R. Drew Postgraduate Medical
The Charles R. Drew Postgraduate Medical School (later Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science) is chartered in Los Angeles. It is the only African American focused medical school west of the Mississippi
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by APEX Museum
Aug
2
1966
Daniel Alexander Payne
On this date in 1893, Daniel A. Payne died. The sixth bishop of the American Methodist Episcopal Church, Payne was the first African American ordained by the Lutheran Church in 1837. In 1856, he founded Wilberforce University, where he became the first Black president of a college in America. Payne
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by APEX Museum
Feb
24
1811
Killings in Civil Rights demonstrations
Jonathan M. Daniels, white Episcopal seminary student from Massachusetts, killed and Richard F. Morrisroe, white Roman Catholic priest from Chicago, seriously wounded by shotgun blasts fired by white special deputy sheriff in Hayneville, Alabama. They were participating in civil rights
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
12
1965
First African American Intercollegiate football
Livingstone and Biddle College (now Johnson C. Smith) play the first African American intercollegiate football game
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
27
1892
Death of Ida B.Wells-Barnett
Ida Bell Wells-Barnett
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
16
1862
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