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Mitchell, Arthur Wergs (1883-1968)
In 1934, Arthur Wergs Mitchell became the first African American Democrat elected to Congress from any state. Mitchell served four terms as a Representative in Congress for the state of Illinois (1935-1943). Mitchell was born near Lafayette Alabama on December 22, 1883 and was educated at
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Source: Black Past
Dec
22
1883
Dinah Washington
Dinah Washington was a popular singer from the 1950s who sang jazz, blues, R&B and pop. Her birth name was Ruth Lee Jones. She was born on August 29, 1924 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and moved to Chicago at a very young age. Her first exposure to music stemmed from the church, where she learned to
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Source: Black History Resources
Sponsored by National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA) Boston Professional Chapter
Aug
29
1924
Coleman, Bessie (1892–1926)
In 1921, Bessie Coleman became the first black woman to gain an international permit to fly. After learning French, she attended the famous flight school Ecole d’Aviation des Frères Caudron in Northern France. No schools in America would train a black person. She was inspired to fly by the stories
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies
Poage, George Coleman (1880–1962)
George Poage ran track in the 1904 Olympic games and was the first African American to ever win an Olympic medal. Poage was born in Hannibal, Missouri on November 6, 1880, but spent most of his childhood growing up in La Crosse, Wisconsin. As a teen, he excelled both in academics and
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Source: Black Past
Apr
11
1962
William A. Harper
William A. Harper, student of Henry O. Tanner at the Art Institute of Chicago, one of the most gifted African American artist of the early 20th century, born
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
27
1873
People United To Save Humanity (PUSH) founded at
People United To Save Humanity (PUSH) founded at Chicago meeting by Rev Jesse Jackson.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Pride Academy
Dec
18
1971
Ida B. Wells Barnett
Ida Wells was born a slave on July 16, 1862, in Holly Springs, Mississippi, to James and Elizabeth (Warrenton) Wells. The oldest in a family of four boys and four girls, she acquired from her parents a love of liberty and self-sufficiency that characterized her
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
25
1931
Jackson, Jessie Louis, Sr. (1941- )
Long before he became a minister, head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s Operation Breadbasket, Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity), and founder of the Rainbow Coalition, Jesse Louis Jackson impressed his family and close friends as a person destined for greatness.  Born
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Source: Black Past
Oct
8
1941
Bonds, Margaret (1913-1972)
Margaret Bonds was a pianist and composer noted for her musical adaptations of Shakespeare and collaboration with Langston Hughes.  Bonds was the first African American soloist to appear with the Chicago Symphony and played an important role in the development of twentieth century classical and
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Source: Black Past
Apr
26
1972
Till, Emmett Louis (1941-1955)
Emmett Till was a fourteen year-old African American boy who was tortured and killed in Money, Mississippi in 1955 after allegedly insulting a white woman.  Born in Chicago, Illinois, Till lived with his mother, Mamie Till. His father, Louis Till, died while serving in the U.S. Army in Italy in
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Prospanica Boston Professional Chapter
Police officers and Blacks exchanged sniper fire
Police officers and Blacks exchanged sniper fire on Chicagos West Side. One youth was killed and nine policemen were injured.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Oct
8
1969
Hayes, Charles Arthur (1918-1997)
African American Congressman, Charles Arthur Hayes, will forever be remembered for his commitment to legislate equal rights for black labor workers.  After noticing racism aimed toward black workers in his hometown of Cairo, Illinois, Hayes moved to Chicago and started unionizing activities in
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Source: Black Past
Brazeal, Aurelia Erskine (1943- )
Ambassador Aurelia Erskine Brazeal was a career diplomat and the first black woman to be named ambassador by three Presidents. In 1990, President George H.W. Bush appointed her ambassador to the Federated States of Micronesia.  Three years later President Bill Clinton named her ambassador to
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by New York University
Pioneer in surgery, Dr Daniel Hale Williams, found
Pioneer in surgery, Dr Daniel Hale Williams, founds Provident Hospital in Chicago, IL . At the same time, he founded Provident Hospital School of Nursing because Emma Reynolds, African America, had been denied admission to every school of nursing in Chicago
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Pride Academy
Jan
23
1891
Charles Henry Turner
Born: 2/3/1867 Cincinnati, OhioDied: 2/14/1923 Chicago, IllinoisCharles Henry Turner was an American research biologist, educator, zoologist, and comparative psychologist born in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1892, Turner became the first African American to receive a graduate degree at the University of
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by NSBE Boston
Death of B.O.Davis Sr.
Death of B.O. Davis Sr. (93), first Black general, in Chicago.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
26
1970
Race riot, Dixmoor, a Chicago suburb
Race riot, Dixmoor, a Chicago suburb. (8/15-16).
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
15
1964
Hunter, Alberta (1895-1984)
Alberta Hunter was born in Memphis, Tennessee, but left for Chicago, Illinois at age 11 after her father died. She peeled potatoes in a boarding house until she could find a job singing blues, the first opportunity was at a Chicago brothel, as entertainment for the prostitutes and their
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by APEX Museum
Second annual report of the NAACP
Second annual report of the NAACP listed total receipts from May through December, 1911, of $10,317.43. Organization had local chapters in Chicago, Boston and New York.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by New York University
Jan
1
1912
Philips, 1st Black nominated president
Rev. Channing E. Philips of Washington, D.C., became first Black nominated for president by a major national party. Philips was nominated as favorite son candidate by District of Columbia delegation at Democratic convention in Chicago and received 671/2 votes.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
28
1968
Toomer, Jean (1894-1967)
Jean Toomer was born into an elite black family in Washington, D.C. in 1894. Abandoned by his father as a newborn and losing his mother to appendicitis as a teenager, Toomer spent his formative years in the home of his grandparents, P.B.S. and Nina Pinchback. P.B.S. Pinchback served as a state
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Source: Black Past
Chicago's first African American mayor, Harold Washington, was born.
Chicagos first African American mayor, Harold Washington, was born.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Christo Rey New York High School
Apr
15
1922
Black Panther Leaders Killed
Two Black Panther leaders Fred Hampton and Mark Clark - killed in Chicago police raid. Civil rights leaders said the two men were murdered in their
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
4
1969
Brown, Odessa (1920-1969)
Odessa Brown, for whom the Children’s Clinic in Seattle is named, was born April 30, 1920, in Des Arc, Arkansas.  She moved to Seattle in 1963 after receiving training as a licensed beautician at the C. J. Walker Beauty School in Chicago.  A mother of four, she supported her family by working as
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Source: Black Past
Oct
15
1969
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
Sponsored by Museum of African American History in Massachusetts
Mar
27
2002
Scottie Pippen
Scottie Pippen is a retired American basketball player who played along with Michael Jordan on the team Chicago Bulls. He was born on September 25, 1965, in Hamburg, Arkansas to Ethel and Preston Pippen. His mother and father stood at 6 feet and 6 feet 1 inch respectively, and Pippen was the
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Source: Black History Resources
Sep
25
1965
Ida Bell Wells-Barnett
Born: 7/16/1862 Holly Springs, MississippiDied: 3/25/1931 Chicago, IllinoisIda Bell Wells-Barnett, more commonly known as Ida B. Wells, was an African-American journalist, newspaper editor, suffragist, sociologist, Georgist, and an early leader in the Civil Rights MovementBusiness
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Musician Herbie Hancock born
Contemporary jazz composer and musician Herbie Hancock was born in Chicago, Illinois.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
12
1940
Rush, Bobby L. (1946- )
Bobby Lee Rush was born in Albany, Georgia on November 23, 1946. He graduated from Marshall High School in that city at the age of seventeen and soon afterwards enlisted in the United States Army.  Rush served in the Army from 1963 to 1968 when he was honorably
Read more
Source: Black Past
Nov
23
1946
Webb, Wellington E. (1941- )
Wellington Webb was born in Chicago in 1941.  He came to Denver at a very early age and before entering politics he was a forklift operator. Webb’s public service career began in 1972 when he was elected to the Colorado House of Representatives. In 1977, he was selected by President James Carter to
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Source: Black Past
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