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“The Yellow Rose of Texas”: The Ironic Origins of a Popular Song
While many Americans are familiar with the song, The Yellow Rose of Texas, few know the story of Emily West, the African American woman who was the inspiration for its creation.  In the excerpt below from a longer article that first appeared in 1996, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) Boston Metropolitan Chapter
Frenchtown, Houston, Texas (1922- )
Frenchtown, a community built in 1922 in Houston, Texas, was constructed by hundreds of Creole descendants of free French, Spanish, and African people living in southwestern Louisiana in the eighteenth century. Coming to Houston for economic opportunities, they settled and created this community
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Association of Latino Professionals For America (ALPFA) Boston Professional Chapter
Mae Jemison: Astronaut, Physician
Born: October 17, 1956
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Oct
17
1956
Actress Phylicia Rashad born
Actress Phylicia Rashad was born in Houston, Texas.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Pride Academy
Jun
17
1948
Four national chain stores announced
Four national chain stores announced on October 17 that counters in about 150 stores in 112 cities in North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Texas, Tennessee, Missouri, Maryland, Florida and Oklahoma had been integrated.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
1
1960
Sweatt v. Painter (1950)
SWEATT v. PAINTER, 339 U.S. 629
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Source: Black Past
After the Underground Railroad: Finding the African North Americans who Returned from Canada
The Underground Railroad which fugitive slaves followed from the antebellum South to Canada is now a well-known story. But what of those who returned?  In his ongoing research, University of Texas at El Paso historian Adam Arenson explores this little-known aspect of nineteenth- century African
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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
The 1928 Bunion Derby: America’s Brush with Integrated Sports
In the following account sports historian Charles Kastner describes the Bunion Derby, the 1928 cross country footrace that captured the nation’s attention in the spring of 1928 and the remarkable group of black runners who participated in that event. For a detailed discussion of the race, see
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Source: Black Past
May
26
1928
Barbara Jordan dies
Barbara Charline Jordan was born February 21, 1936, in Houston, Texas. Jordan was elected to the Texas Senate in 1966, becoming the first female African-American to do so. In 1972, she was elected president pro-tempore of the Texas Senate - the first African-American elected to preside over
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Eastern Bank
Jan
17
1996
(1850) Samuel Ringgold Ward, “Speech on the Fugitive Slave Bill”
Samuel Ringgold Ward (1817-1864), was one of the most prominent of the anti-slavery speakers in the nation by the 1850s. Born into slavery in Maryland, he escaped with his mother to New Jersey. In 1834 when he was 17 Ward was attacked by a pro-slavery mob in New York and was temporarily
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Source: Black Past
Apr
5
1850
Wooten, Howard A. (1920-1948)
Tuskegee Airman Howard Adolphus Wooten was born on April 20, 1920 in Lovelady, Texas to parents Johnnie C. Morris Wooten and Howard L. Wooten.  His father was the principal of the “colored school” in Lovelady, a town 100 miles north of Houston, and his mother also was a teacher
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Museum of African American History in Massachusetts
Aug
20
1948
(1920) Archibald Grimke, “The Shame of America, or the Negro’s Case Against the Republic”
Archibald Grimke was born enslaved in Charleston, South Carolina in 1849.  After the Civil War, Archibald and his younger brother Francis, enrolled at Lincoln University.  Archibald graduated in 1872 and then entered Harvard Law School.  After graduation he practiced in Boston.  By the 1880s Grimke
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Source: Black Past
Browder v. Gayle (1956)
June 5, 1956
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Source: Black Past
Nigeria
Nigeria, one-third larger than Texas and the most populous country in Africa, is situated on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa. Its neighbors are Benin, Niger, Cameroon, and Chad. The lower course of the Niger River flows south through the western part of the country into the Gulf of Guinea. Swamps
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
Cullen, Countee (1903-1946)
Although the facts regarding his birthplace and biological parents are inconclusive, Countee Cullen’s formative years were spent in New York City. The adopted son of Reverend Dr. Frederick A. Cullen, pastor of Salem Methodist Episcopal Church and president of the Harlem branch of the National
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Source: Black Past
Griggs v. Duke Power Co. (1971)
December 14, 1970, Argued
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Museum of African American History in Massachusetts
House Judiciary Committee opened hearings to
House Judiciary Committee opened hearings to decide whether to recommend the impeachment of President Nixon in the Watergate controversy. Two Blacks Rep. John Conyers of Michigan and Rep. Barbara Jordan of Texas were members of the committee.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association (MBLA)
May
9
1974
(1865) Henry Highland Garnet, “Let The Monster Perish”
On February 12, 1865, Rev. Henry Highland Garnet, a former slave and now pastor of the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., became the first African American to speak in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. His sermon was delivered on Sunday, February 12, 1865 within days
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA) Boston Professional Chapter
Feb
12
1865
Whitehead, Arch Colson “Colson” (1969- )
Born Arch Colson Whitehead on November 6, 1969, novelist Colson Whitehead spent his formative years in Manhattan, New York with his parents, Arch and Mary Anne Whitehead, who owned a recruiting firm, and three siblings. Of his childhood, he has said that he preferred reading science fiction and
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Museum of African American History in Massachusetts
Nov
6
1969
Boxer Sugar Ray Leonard born
Sugar Ray Leonard
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Source: Blackfacts.com
May
17
1956
Mason, Bridget "Biddy" (1818 - 1891)
Bridget “Biddy” Mason, born a slave in Mississippi in 1818, achieved financial success that enabled her to support her extended family for generations despite the fact that she was illiterate. In a landmark case she sued her master for their freedom, saved her earnings, invested in real
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) Boston Professional Chapter
Jan
19
1856
The Harlem Renaissance in the American West
In the following article historians Bruce Glasrud and Cary Wintz discuss their new book, The Harlem Renaissance in the American West which argues that the literary and artistic outpouring by African Americans during the third decade of the 20th Century was a national phenomenon which included the
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Source: Black Past
Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Baltimore (1863-- )
Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Church was the first African American Catholic Church in the United States.  The building, located on the corner of Calvert and Pleasant Street in Baltimore, Maryland, was originally constructed in 1836 for the congregation of the First Universalist Church.  By
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Source: Black Past
(1949) Ralph J. Bunche, “The Barriers of Race Can be Surmounted”
In his years as a Howard University professor in the 1930s, Ralph J. Bunche subscribed to Marxist ideas.  However by 1949 Bunche was Acting United Nations Mediator for Palestine and had become much more conservative.  His then contemporary views were reflected in a commencement address given at
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by APEX Museum
May
30
1949
First Congregational Church, Atlanta, Georgia (1867- )
The First Congregational Church of Atlanta, Georgia, the largest Congregational church in the South, began as a “gathered church” on May 26, 1867. After being baptized, local formerly enslaved African Americans joined members of the mostly white congregation that met at the Storrs
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by NSBE Boston
May
26
1867
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
Pratt , Edwin T. (1930-1969)
Edwin Thomas Pratt had been a leader in Seattle, Washington’s civil rights movement for a decade when he was assassinated at the front door of his home on January 26, 1969. At the time, Pratt was Executive Director of the Seattle Urban League. His murder remains
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Source: Black Past
761st Tank Battalion (1942-45)
The 761st Tank Battalion was formed in the spring of 1942 and was the first African American tank battalion to see combat in the Second World War. Commanding this battalion was a white Lt. Colonel, Paul L. Bates.  As the unit fell under the scrutiny of other white officers who were critical of
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by New York University
Algeria
Nearly four times the size of Texas and the largest country on the continent, Algeria is bordered on the west by Morocco and Western Sahara and on the east by Tunisia and Libya. The Mediterranean Sea is to the north, and to the south are Mauritania, Mali, and Niger. The Saharan region, which is
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
Sponsored by Diversity In Action
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