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Richard Theodore Greener
Richard Theodore Greener becomes the first African American to graduate from Harvard University
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
30
1844
Karen Farmer
Karen Farmer becomes the first African American member of the Daughters of the American Revolution when she traces her ancestry back to William Hood, a solider in the Revolutionary War.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association (MBLA)
Dec
28
1977
Noble Johnson
George and Noble Johnson founded the Lincoln Motion Picture Company in 1916. It was the first black-owned production company, it produced films exclusively for African
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1916
Writer Wallace Thurman's play Harlem opens in NYC.
Writer Wallace Thurmans play Harlem opens in NYC. It is the first successful play by an African American playwright.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Christo Rey New York High School
Feb
20
1929
The Chip Woman's Fortune by Willis Richardson
The Chip Womans Fortune by Willis Richardson, the first dramatic work by an African American playwright to be mounted on Broadway, opens at the Frazee Theatre on Broadway
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by APEX Museum
May
15
1923
The Cotton Bag Fort
A African American Designs The Cotton Bag Fort: When Andrew Jackson assembled his force at New Orleans, his soldiers, many of whom were African American slaves, were outnumbered by the British forces ten to one. Faced with this disadvantage, Jackson consulted with men as to what was the best
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Intellitech
Oct
2
2002
Laurence Fishburne, Jr. Born
Actor Laurence Fishburne, Jr. was born on this day in Augusta, GA. Fishburne , nicknamed Fish will start his theatrical career at the young age of 10. He will become the son of the first African American family featured on a daytime drama at the age of 11. He will continue his rise to fame starring
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Illinois Math and Science Academy
Jul
31
1961
Massacre in Mississippi
White Democrats killed seventy-five Republicans in massacre at Vicksburg, Mississippi.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
7
1874
Rafer Johnson, is born
Born August 18, 1935, Hillsboro, Texas One of the greatest all-around track athletes in history. On Sept. 6, 1960, he won the Olymic Decathlon, the first for an African American.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
18
1935
Percy Julian, developer of drugs to combat glaucom
Percy Julian, developer of drugs to combat glaucoma and methods to mass produce cortisone and George Washington Carver are the first African American Inventors admitted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in the halls 17-year history.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
8
1990
The first African American performers
The first African American performers, the Worlds Fair Colored Opera Company, appear at Carnegie Hall.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Feb
13
1892
Phyllis Mae Daley, first of four African American
Phyllis Mae Daley, first of four African American Navy nurses to serve active duty in WW II receives her commission as an ensign in the Navy Nurse Corps.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
8
1945
Naval Frigate named after African American
The Navy frigate USS Jesse L. Brown was commissioned. The ship was named for Ensign Jesse L. Brown, the first African American naval aviator killed in combat over Korea.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Feb
17
1973
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
Shirley Franklin is sworn in
Shirley Franklin is sworn in as the first African American Mayor of Atlanta and the only African American female mayor of a major American city.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Museum of African American History in Massachusetts
Jan
7
2002
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
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
Miss America
Vanessa Williams is the 1st African American Miss America to be crowned.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by APEX Museum
Sep
17
1983
93rd Infantry
93rd Infantry activated and assigned to combat in the South Pacific; the first African American division formed during World War II
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Museum of African American History in Massachusetts
May
15
1942
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
Sponsored by Pride Academy
Jan
5
1804
North Carolina Mutual and Provident Insurance
North Carolina Mutual and Provident Insurance Company founded by John Merrick and associates in Durham, North Carolina as the first African American owned insurance company.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Oct
20
1898
Mary Eliza Mahoney
Mary Eliza Mahoney, the first African American to graduate from a nursing school, graduates from the nursing program at the New England Hospital for Women and Children
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Greater Boston Veterans Collaborative
Aug
1
1879
Joseph Haynes Rainey
Joseph Haynes Rainey, first African American representative in the U.S. House of Representatives where he will serve five terms, born
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
21
1832
Congress repeals the Enforcement Act
Congress repeals the Enforcement Act which makes it easier for some states to disenfranchise African American voters.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Feb
8
1894
White mob prevented enrollment of students
White mob prevented enrollment of students at Mansfield High School, Mansfield, Texas.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Pride Academy
Aug
30
1956
African American Captures British General
African American Captures British General Prescott: African Americans continued to serve in the colonial militias, and some, like Prince, an African American man in Lieutenant Colonel Bartons Rhode island army, showed great daring and bravery. Early in August 1777, Colonel Barton conceived a plan
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
3
2002
Heroic union seaman
Robert Smalls and 12 fellow Afro-American seamen captured the Planter, a cotton steamer converted into a Confederate battleship. Smalls piloted the gunboat into Union lines and presented the ship to the U.S. Navy at Charleston Harbor. Smalls was promoted to Captain during the Civil War
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Source: Blackfacts.com
May
13
1862
Ground is broken for the Harold Washington wing of the DuSable Museum in Chicago
Ground is broken for the Harold Washington wing of the DuSable Museum in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by artist and poet Margaret T. Burroughs in 1961, the DuSable is one of the oldest African American museums in the U.S.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
17
1991
Time, Inc. agrees to sell NYT Cable for $420
Time, Inc. agrees to sell NYT Cable for $420 million, to a group led by J. Bruce Llewellyn, the largest cable TV acquisition by an African American
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
9
1989
Zena Garrison becomes the 1st African American player to win the junior singles
Zena Garrison becomes the 1st African American player to win the junior singles tennis championship at Wimbledon, England
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
4
1981
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