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Forty-fifth Congress (1877-79) convened
Forty-fifth Congress (1877-79) convened. One U.S. senator, Blanche K. Bruce, Mississippi. Three U.S. congressmen: Richard H. Cain, Joseph H. Rainey, Robert Smalls, South Carolina. Jackson College (Miss.) established.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Oct
15
1877
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
White Democrats attacked demonstrators
White Democrats attacked demonstrators, who were marching from Albany to Camilla, Ga., and killed nine Blacks. Several whites were wounded.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAP) Boston Chapter
Sep
19
1868
Composer and violinist, Clarence C White, dies, 1880
Composer and violinist, Clarence C White, born
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
10
1880
Civil Rights Movement
On this day the African American community of Montgomery, Alabama voted unanimously to end its 385 day bus-boycott.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) Boston Metropolitan Chapter
Dec
20
1956
Col Frederick D Gregory becomes the first African American to lead a space missi
Col Frederick D Gregory becomes the first African American to lead a space mission.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
22
1989
North American Slave Narratives
North American Slave Narratives documents the individual and collective story of the African American struggle for freedom and human rights in the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The project received a two-year grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to fund the
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Greater Boston Veterans Collaborative
Jan
0
0
Political Upset
Lt. Gov. Mervyn Dymally defeated in California election. Senator Edward W. Brooke defeated in Massachusetts election.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
7
1978
COINTELPRO Memorandum
A memorandum sent to field offices of the FBI set goals for what was termed as a new counterintelligence program against African American Nationalist groups. The objective was to block attempts by targeted groups to coalesce, grow and exist. The agencey believed unity was the first step toward
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
3
1968
The First Black Psychic!
Shirley Ajayi was the first African American given a part on a television show as a psychic! The show lasted for about one year[actually six months] in Chicago, Illinois since the show was seasonal! Shirley started her career the minute her predictions came true! She was renamed Aura and hired to
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
28
1986
African American Shakespearean actor Morgan Smith
African American Shakespearean actor Morgan Smith dies in Sheffield, England. Smith had emigrated to England in 1866.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
22
1882
U.S. Supreme Court (Guinn v United States) said
U.S. Supreme Court (Guinn v United States) said grandfather clauses in the Oklahoma and Maryland constitutions violated the Fifteenth Amendment.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA) Boston Professional Chapter
Jun
21
1915
Debbye Turner is crowned Miss America. She is the third African American to win
Debbye Turner is crowned Miss America. She is the third African American to win the crown since the inception of the pageant in 1921.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
16
1989
Rev. George Leile
Rev. George Leile was the first African American to be ordained a Baptist minister in America. He was an early pastor of the First African Baptist Church of Silver Bluf, South Carolina. Curiously, he supported the British during the American Revolutionary war because of the Britishs promise to free
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1770
Jimmy Winkfield wins his second Kentucky Derby
Jimmy Winkfield wins his second Kentucky Derby in a row. African American jockeys have won 15 of 28 Derby races.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Eastern Bank
May
1
1902
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
More than one hundred delegates from six states
More than one hundred delegates from six states held a Black convention in Philadelphia. John Mercer Langston, one of the first Blacks to win public office, elected clerk of Brownhelm Township, Lorain County, Ohio. In 1856 he was elected clerk of the township of Russia, near Oberlin. In 1857 he was
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Oct
16
1855
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
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
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
Dr. Ralph Bunche receives the Nobel Peace Prize
Dr. Ralph Bunche receives the Nobel Peace Prize for his work as a mediator in the Palestine crisis. He is the first African American to be so honored.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
20
1950
Columbia University graduate and Harvard University law student Barack Obama bec
Columbia University graduate and Harvard University law student Barack Obama became the first African American named president of the Harvard Law Review.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by New York University
Feb
5
1990
Doris A. Davis of Compton, California becom
Doris A. Davis of Compton, California becomes the first African American woman to govern a metropolitan city.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
5
1973
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
First black CPA
Jesse B. Blayton became the first black certified public accountant in the United States.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by APEX Museum
Jan
0
2000
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell was the first African American to hold the highest U.S. Military post. In August 1989 he was named chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
0
1989
Baseball Great Jackie Robinson born
In Cairo, Georgia on this date baseball great Jackie Robinson was born. The fifth African American to play major league baseball with a white team, Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, ending five decades of segregated baseball. At the time of his retirement in October 1972, Robinson is
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Eastern Bank
Jan
31
1919
Walter F. Craig
1986 Max Robinson
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1986
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
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
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