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Freedmen's Town, Houston, Texas (1865- )
Freedmen’s Town is a nationally registered historical site. The site was originally a community located in the fourth ward of Houston, Texas that began in 1865 as the destination for former enslaved people from surrounding plantations in Texas and Louisiana after the Civil
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Source: Black Past
Jun
19
1865
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Document Number: PL 88-352
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Source: Black Past
Jan
31
1968
Mae Jemison: Astronaut, Physician
Born: October 17, 1956
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Oct
17
1956
Chamillionaire
Chamillionaire is an African American rapper from Houston, Texas. His birth name is Hakeem Seriki and he was born to a Muslim father and a Christian mother. He was raised in a strict, conventional household and was the eldest of four siblings. His parents taught him good values and he worked
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Source: Black History Resources
Baca, Susana (1944- )
Susana Baca, recording artist and the first Afro-Peruvian to sit as a Cabinet Minister, was born in 1944 in Chorrillos, a seaside district of Lima, Peru, to a working class family. Her father was a chauffeur and her mother worked as cook and laundress for upper class families. Baca began singing at
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) Boston Metropolitan Chapter
Young, Andrew (1932 - )
Andrew Young, Jr., came into prominence as a civil rights activist and close associate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., during the modern civil rights movement in the United States.  Young worked with various organizations early in the movement, but his civil rights work was largely done with the
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Source: Black Past
Mar
12
1932
Charles H. Houston
Charles H. Houston awarded the Spingarn Medal posthumously for his pioneering work in developing the NAACP legal campaign.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
27
1950
Bolden Jr., Charles F. (1946-)
Charles Frank Bolden, Jr., NASA’s first permanent black administrator, was born to Charles Frank and Ethel Bolden, both teachers, on August 19th, 1946 in Columbia, South Carolina.  He rose to the rank of Major General in the United States Marine Corps and was a National Aeronautics and Space
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Source: Black Past
Jul
17
2009
Kirk, Ronald (1954-- )
Ronald Ron Kirk is the U.S. Trade Representative for U.S. President Barack Obama.  Kirk was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 18, 2009, and officially sworn in two days later.  Kirk is the 16th trade representative and the first African American to hold the Cabinet-level post.  As trade
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by APEX Museum
Mar
18
2009
Andre Ware of the University of Houston becomes the first African American quart
Andre Ware of the University of Houston becomes the first African American quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by APEX Museum
Dec
2
1989
Zina Garrison born
Zina Garrison is born in Houston, Texas. She will win 37 professional tennis title, an Olympic gold medal and in 1990 finish runner-up at Wimbledon.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
16
1963
Muhammad, Khalid Abdul (1948-2001)
Khalid Abdul Muhammad was an African-American activist, a one-time member of the Nation of Islam  and national chairman of the New Black Panther Party. Muhammad was born Harold Moore Jr. on January 12, 1948, to Harold Moore Sr and Lottie B. Moore in Houston, Texas. Moore’s Aunt, Carrie Moore
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) Boston Professional Chapter
First Black Mayor of Houston, Texas
Lee Brown became Houstons first black mayor narrowly defeating businessman Rob Mosbacher.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
6
1997
Southwestern Christian College (1948- )
Southwestern Christian College, a junior college with a four year Bible degree program, was largely the brainchild of George P. Bowser (1874-1950), an influential African American preacher in Churches of Christ. A former Methodist minister, Bowser received biblical and ministerial training at
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Source: Black Past
Congressman Denny Heck, Olympia, Washington
On November 6th, 2012, the residents of Washington’s new 10th Congressional District elected Denny Heck to be the district’s first member of the United States House of Representatives. Since taking office, Congressman Hecks top priorities have been creating jobs, growing our economy and keeping the
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Source: Black Past
Adams, Henry [Louisiana] (1843 - ?)
Henry Adams was a Louisiana leader who advocated the emigration of southern freed blacks to Liberia after emancipation. Born a slave in Newton County, Georgia on March 16, 1843, Henry Adams was originally born as Henry Houston but changed his name at the age of seven.  His enslaved family was
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Intellitech
Mar
16
1843
True Reformers Bank, The (1888-1910)
The Savings Bank of the Grand Fountain United Order of True Reformers was the first bank owned by African Americans in the United States. It was founded on March 2, 1888 by Reverend William Washington Browne and opened on April 3, 1889. Although the True Reformers bank was the first black-owned
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Source: Black Past
Barbara Jordan
Barbara Jordan (21 Feb 1936 – 17 Jan 1996) was the leader of the Civil Rights Movement and an American politician. She was not just a democrat but the first African-American, man or woman, to be elected post Reconstruction to the Texas Senate. On her death, Jordan became the first African-American
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Source: Black History Resources
Sponsored by National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA) Boston Professional Chapter
Andrew Young elected to Congress
On this date in 1972, Barbara Jordan of Houston and Andrew Young of Atlanta, become the first African Americans from the south elected to Congress since Reconstruction.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Illinois Math and Science Academy
Nov
17
1972
John Edward Jacob
Born in Trout, Louisiana on this day, John Edward Jacobs was raised in Houston, Texas. Jacobs served the Urban League in many capacities and in 1982 replace Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. as its president.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Diversity In Action
Dec
16
1934
Lawrence v. Texas (2003)
March 26, 2003, Argued
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Source: Black Past
Boxer Sugar Ray Leonard born
Sugar Ray Leonard
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Source: Blackfacts.com
May
17
1956
Prigg v. Pennsylvania (1842)
Home
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Source: Black Past
Mar
1
1842
Easley v. Cromartie (2001)
* Governor Michael F. Easley is hereby substituted for former Governor James B. Hunt, Jr., pursuant to this Courts Rule
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Prospanica Boston Professional Chapter
Douglass, Frederick
Douglass, Frederick dŭg´ləs [key], c.1817–1895, American abolitionist, b. near Easton, Md. The son of a black slave, Harriet Bailey, and an unknown white father, he took the name of Douglass (from Scotts hero in The Lady of the Lake ) after his second, and successful, attempt to escape from
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
Henderson v. United States Et. Al. (1950)
April 3, 1950, Argued
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by NSBE Boston
Gabourey Sidibe
Gabourey Sidibe, nicknamed Gabby, is an Academy Award nominated actress who made her acting debut in 2009. She was born on May 6, 1983 in Brooklyn, New York. Her mother, Alice Tan Ridley, is a special education teacher turned R&B singer who performed on the television show “America’s Got
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Source: Black History Resources
May
6
1983
Wheat, Alan Dupree (1951 - )
Alan Dupree Wheat, the first black Congressman from Kansas City, Missouri, was born in San Antonio, Texas, on October 16, 1951. He attended schools in Wichita, Kansas, and in Seville, Spain, before graduating from Airline High School in Bossier City, Louisiana, in 1968. In 1972 Wheat received
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Source: Black Past
Washington, Walter Edward (1915-2003)
Walter Edward Washington, attorney and politician, was born in Dawson, Georgia, on April 15, 1915 to Willie Mae and William L. Washington.  After his mother’s death in 1921, Washington moved with his father to Jamestown, New York.  Washington excelled academically and athletically in the public
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by New York University
Oct
27
2003
Edwards, Isaiah (1913-1994)
Isaiah Edwards was a community activist and advocate in Seattle’s Central Area.  Isaiah Edwards and his wife, Marie, moved from Topeka, Kansas, to Seattle in 1942 to work at Boeing.  Edwards worked for 40 years at Boeing as a maintenance dispatcher without missing a day, and also found time for
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Source: Black Past
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