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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
Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm begins her campaign
Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm begins her campaign for President of the U.S.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies
Jan
25
1972
George H. White
George H. White, the only African American member of the U.S. House of Representatives, (1896) and the first to introduce an antilynching bill, born. He also founded Whitesboro, N,J, as a haven for African Americans escaping Southern racism.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
18
1852
Death of Mary McLeod Bethune, educator/activist
Death of Mary McLeod Bethune (79), educator and civil rights leader, Daytona
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Source: Blackfacts.com
May
18
1955
Alex Haley, renowned author, dies
American biographer, scriptwriter, author who became famous with the publication of the novel ROOTS, which traces his ancestry back to Africa and covers seven American generations as they are taken slaves to the United States. The book was adapted to television series, and woke up an interest in
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Feb
10
1992
William C. Carter patents an umbrella stand
African-American inventor, William C. Carter, patented an umbrella stand (U.S. patent#323,397).
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Association of Latino Professionals For America (ALPFA) Boston Professional Chapter
Aug
8
1885
Absalom Jones, the first African American Episcopa
Absalom Jones, the first African American Episcopal priest ordained in the U.S. , dies.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by New York University
Feb
13
1818
Grammy Awards
On this day at the Grammy Awards ceremony, African-American musicians won awards in several categories. Lionel Richies Cant Slow Down won best album of 1984. Tina Turners Whats Love Got to Do With It took the best record slot and earned her the title Best Female Pop Vocalist. The Pointer Sisters
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Christo Rey New York High School
Feb
26
1985
Grenadian Prime Minister killed
Grenadas U.S. educated Prime Minister Maurice Bishop killed in a military coup.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Oct
19
1983
Slavery
Hugh Davis, a Virginian is sentenced to be whipped before an assembly of Negroes and others for abusing himself to the dishonor of God and shame of Christians, by defiling his body in lying with a Negro.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1630
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
I Have A Dream
Martin Luther King Jr gives his I Have A Dream speech at the Lincoln Memorial, 1963
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
28
1963
Opera singer Marian Anderson born
Opera singer Marian Anderson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Anderson was entered in the New York Philharmonic Competition at age 17 by her music teacher, and placed first over 299 other singers. Awarded a Rosenwald Fellowship in 1930, Anderson went to Europe for a year of study. She
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAP) Boston Chapter
Feb
27
1902
Phyllis Wheatley Dies
Phyllis Wheatley, the first African-American author to be published in book form, dies in poverty at the age of thirty-one. Wheatley astonished Bostonians with her ability to write poetry while yet being a slave.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Pride Academy
Dec
5
1784
James Theodore Holly
James Theodore Holly, a Black American who emigrated to Haiti in 1861, elected bishop of Haiti. He was consecrated in a ceremony at New Yorks Grace Church on November 8.
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Sponsored by New York University
Nov
3
1874
NAACP Elects Kweisi Mfume
Kweisi Mfume is unanimously elected President and CEO of the NAACP.
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Dec
9
1995
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
Rebel Troops take Kisangani, Zaire
Rebel troops in Zaire take the major city of Kisangani in an effort to overthrow President Mobutu Sese Seko.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
16
1997
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
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
Scottsboro Boys Falsely Accused
The Scottsboro Boys, nine young African Americans, were falsely charged with rape and collectively served more than 100 years in prison. The right of African Americans to serve on juries was established by their case.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
25
1931
Shirley Chisholm
Shirley Chisholm became the first African American Presidential nominee, with 151 votes from the delegates polled.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
13
1972
Blacks Elected to Congress
Sixteen Blacks were elected to Congress. Andrew Young of Atlanta was the first Black elected to Congress from the Deep South since the Reconstruction era. Also elected for the first time were Barbara Jordan (Tex.) and Yvonne Brathwaite Burke (Calif.). Republican Senator Edward W. Brooke of
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
17
1972
Black Scotts
The ancestry of teh British people we know today as the Scotch can be traced back to the ancient Egyptians, who used to visit
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Christo Rey New York High School
Jan
0
770
Andre Ware of the University of Houston becomes the first African American quart
Andre Ware of the University of Houston becomes the first African American quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by APEX Museum
Dec
2
1989
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
Henry Lewis
On this day Henry Lewis becomes the first African American to lead a symphony orchestra in the United States.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Feb
15
1968
Martin Luther King,Jr. Ordained
Martin Luther King ordained as a Baptist minister
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Feb
25
1948
President Edwin Barclay of Liberia, first African
President Edwin Barclay of Liberia, first African president to pay an official visit to an American president, arrived at White House.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
May
26
1943
Ghana became an independent state
March 6th, 1957, the Gold Coast gained its independence from Great
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Illinois Math and Science Academy
Mar
6
1957
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