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Civil War Hero
Robert Smalls was a Civil War hero and Reconstruction congress man.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
5
1839
Truman sends Congress Anti-Lynching Message
President Truman sent Congress a special message urging adoption of a civil rights program, including a fair employment practices commission and anti-lynching and anti-poll tax measures.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies
Feb
2
1948
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
Segregation Movements
Tennessee started modern segregation movement with Jim Crow railroad car and was followed by Florida (1887), Mississippi (1888), Texas (1889), Louisiana (1890), Alabama, Kentucky, Arkansas and Georgia (1891), South Carolina (1898), North Carolina (1899), Virginia (1900), Maryland (1904), Oklahoma
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
24
1881
1st Black chariman of P.C.G.E.P.
Archibald J. Carey, Chicago minister and attorney, appointed first Black chairman of Presidents Committee on Government Employment Policy.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
3
1957
A commemorative stamp of Martin Luther King, Jr. is issued by the U.S. Postal Se
A commemorative stamp of Martin Luther King, Jr. is issued by the U.S. Postal Service as part of its Black Heritage USA commemorative series. The stamp of the slain civil rights leader is the second in the series.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
13
1979
Compensation For States
President Lincoln, in message to Congress, recommended the use of federal bonds to provide compensation for states that abolished slavery before 1900.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
1
1862
Black Woman named "American Mother of the Year."
Emma Clarissa Clement, a black woman and mother of Atlanta University President Rufus E. Clement, was named American Mother of the Year by the Golden Rule Foundation. She was the first Afro-American woman to receive the honor.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Illinois Math and Science Academy
May
1
1946
Leopold Sedar Senghor, poet, politician, is elected President of Senegal.
Leopold Sedar Senghor, poet, politician, is elected President of Senegal.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) Boston Metropolitan Chapter
Sep
5
1960
President George Bush nominated conservative black Clarence Thomas to replace Th
President George Bush nominated conservative black Clarence Thomas to replace Thurgood Marshall.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
2
1991
Blacks Education Attempt Denied
The Blair Bill provided federal support for education and allocated funds to reduce illiteracy among the freedmen was defeated in the Senate, 37-31.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
20
1890
Slavery is abolished in U.S. territories
Slavery is abolished in U.S. territories by Congress
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
18
1862
1st Black to argue impeachment
Cheryl Mills, White House Deputy Counsel, becomes the first Black to argue a case before a U.S. Senate impeachment hearing in the case of Pres. William Clinton.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
20
1999
Mary McLeod Bethune Born
Mary McLeod Bethune, educator and civil rights leader, born in Mayesville, South Carolina.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
10
1875
Blanche Kelso Bruce elected to US Senate
Blanche Kelso Bruce elected to a full six-year term in the U.S. Senate by the Mississippi legislature.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Feb
3
1874
Marchers led by Martin Luther King
Thousands of marchers, led by Martin Luther King Jr. completed first leg of five-day Selma-to-Montgomery march. Marchers were protected by federalized Alabama National Guardsmen and U.S. Army troops. Selma-to-Montgomery march ended with rally of some fifty thousands at Alabama capitol. One of the
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
7
1965
Joseph Hayne Rainey
Joseph Hayne Rainey was the first Black elected to Congress to represent South Carolina. He was sworn in on this day to fill an unexpired term.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
12
1870
Congressman William L
Congressman William L. Dawson elected chairman of House Expenditures Committee. He was the first Black to head a standing committee of Congress.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
18
1949
Denzel Washington Born
Actor Denzel Washington was born on this day in Mount Vernon, NY. Washington will star in such films as Malcolm X, Glory, Much Ado about Nothing, and A Soldiers Story. He will have a start in television in his role on popular show St. Elsewhere. He will win an Academy Award for best supporting
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
28
1954
The Fight For Meredith's Education
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered Board of Higher Education of Mississippi to admit Meredith to the university or be held in contempt.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
24
1962
Eleanor Holmes
Eleanor Holmes (later Eleanor Norton) is born in Washington, DC. A graduate of the Yale University School of Law, Norton will become chairperson of the New York City Commission on Human Rights, and a Georgetown University law professor before being elected a non-voting delegate to Congress
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
13
1937
Founder of the NAACP, Arthur Spingarn was born, 1878
Founder of the NAACP, Arthur Spingarn was born, 1878
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Association of Latino Professionals For America (ALPFA) Boston Professional Chapter
Dec
1
1878
Democrats suppressed Black vote
Democrats suppressed Black vote by fraud and violence and carried Mississippi election. The Mississippi Plan staged riots, political assassinations, massacres and social and economic intimidation was used later to overthrow Reconstruction governments in South Carolina and Louisiana.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
2
1875
Defense Department limited electronic surveilance
Defense Department limited electronic surveilance after disclosure of civil disturbance information collection plan which directed the gathering of information on civil rights groups.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) Boston Professional Chapter
Mar
1
1971
Congress passed the first Enforcement Act which
Congress passed the first Enforcement Act which provided stiff penalties for public officials and private citizens who deprived citizens of the suffrage and civil rights. The measure authorized the use of the U.S. Army to protect the rights of Blacks.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by New York University
May
31
1870
Ku Klux Klan
First national meeting of the Ku Klux Klan held at the Maxwell House in Nashville, Tenn.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
24
1867
Congress refused to accept the first recorded
Congress refused to accept the first recorded petitions from American Blacks.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies
Jan
30
1797
Ten thousand students, led by Jackie Robinson,
Ten thousand students, led by Jackie Robinson, Harry Belfonte and A. Phillip Randolph, participated in the Youth March for Integrated Schools in Washington. Daisy Bates, head of the Arkansas chapter of the NAACP, and the nine students who integrated Little Rockss Central High School were awarded
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Oct
25
1958
Booker T
Booker T. Washington dined at the White House with President Roosevelt and was criticized in the South.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by APEX Museum
Oct
16
1901
Hiram R.Revels First Speech
Hiram R. Revels made his first speech in the Senate, opposing the readmission of Georgia without adequate safeguards for Black citizens. This was the first official speech by a Black in Congress.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
16
1869
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