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Our Nig by Harriet Wilson, the first novel published in the U.S. by an African A
Our Nig by Harriet Wilson, the first novel published in the U.S. by an African American woman, is published. It was lost for years until reprinted with a critical essay by African American scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. in 1983.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by New York University
Sep
5
1859
Former Saint Louis Cardinals first baseman Bill White is named president of the
Former Saint Louis Cardinals first baseman Bill White is named president of the National League. He is the first African American to head a major sports league.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by NSBE Boston
Feb
3
1989
William T. Coleman is named Secretary of Transpor
William T. Coleman is named Secretary of Transportation by President Gerald R. Ford. He is the second African American to hold a Cabinet level position
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
14
1975
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
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
Congressman William Gray
Congressman William Gray is elected Democratic Whip of the House of Representatives, the highest ranking leadership position ever held by an African American in Congress.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
14
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
White conservatives suppressed Black vote
White conservatives suppressed Black vote and captured Tennessee legislative in election marred by assassinations and widespread violence. Campaign effectively ended Radical Reconstruction in North Carolina. The conservative legislature impeached Governor Holden on December 14.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Illinois Math and Science Academy
Aug
6
1870
David Ruggles
David Ruggles dies in Northampton, Mass. Often called the first African American bookseller for his bookstore established in 1834, Ruggles was an abolitionist, and a conductor on the Underground Railroad
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
26
1849
Arthur Ashe
Arthur Ashe makes history by becoming the first African American male to win the mens single title at Wimbledon, defeating Jimmy Connors.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
5
1975
Norma Merrick Sklarek, the first licensed woman
Norma Merrick Sklarek, the first licensed woman architect in the U.S. and the first African American woman to become a fellow in the American Institute of Architects, born.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) Boston Professional Chapter
Apr
15
1928
Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte was shown with actress Janet Leigh and film star Tony Curtis on the cover of Ebony magazine. It was the first time a black person and two Caucasians were seen together on a U.S. magazine cover.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts
Jul
3
1953
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
African American Jordan Freeman dies after killing Major William Montgomery in t
African American Jordan Freeman dies after killing Major William Montgomery in the Battle of Groton Heights
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Pride Academy
Sep
6
1781
War of Independence
Militia Integrated in the War of Independence: The first integrated army in American history was the colonial militia that fought the early battles of the War of Independence. African American minutemen fought on the front lines in the first battles against British authority: African Americans
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
19
1775
MaliVai Washington
Former tennis pro MaliVai Washington was born on June 20, 1969 in Glen Cove, New
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
20
1969
Debi Thomas 1st Black to win winter Olympic medal
Figure skater Debi Thomas becomes the first African American to win a medal (bronze) at the winter Olympic Games.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Museum of African American History in Massachusetts
Feb
27
1988
Larry Doby
Larry Doby is born. He will become the first African American in baseballs American League, playing for the Cleveland Indians. He will be the 1954 RBI leader.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
13
1924
Judge Clarence Thomas is confirmed as the 106th associate justice of the U.S. Su
Judge Clarence Thomas is confirmed as the 106th associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, its second African American.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Greater Boston Veterans Collaborative
Oct
15
1991
Major General Frederick E. Davidson
Major General Frederick E. Davidson first African American to lead an Army division
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
25
1972
Cheryl Adrienne Brown
Cheryl Adrienne Brown wins the Miss Iowa pageant and becomes the first African American to compete in the Miss America beauty pageant.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
14
1970
Little Stephen
Estevanico, Little Stephen, explorer and guide for the Franciscan missionary Marcos de Niza, leads an expedition from Mexico through the American Southwest territory and claims to have signed the Seven Cities of Cibola of the Zuni, a Native American Group, in present-day Arizona and New Mexico.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Greater Boston Veterans Collaborative
Jan
0
1538
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
The first African American nursing school
The first African American nursing school opens at Spelman College in Atlanta, Ga.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
13
1881
Anti-Lynching Bill proposed
Black Congressman George H. White, North Carolina, introduced a bill to make lynching of Americans a federal offense. The bill died in committee. One report contends that in 1900, 105 Africans were lynched in the United States.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
20
1773
Ex-slave left millions in will
The Georgia State Supreme Court sustained the will of the late David Dickson, thus making Amanda Eubanks the wealthiest Negro in America. Dickson, a former slaveholder, willed more than half a million dollars to Eubanks. White relatives of Dickson, a bachelor, had contested the will on the grounds
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
12
1886
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
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
Z. Alexander Looby
Z. Alexander Looby the first African American to serve on the Nashville City Council dies
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts
Mar
24
1972
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
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