Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec
| January |
January
1
Back to Top |
Kwanzaa
Ends
Emancipation Proclamation 1863
African Benevolent Society (Education) 1808
Haiti Independence Act 1804
New Year's Day |
| January 2 |
William
Lloyd Garrison began publishing "The Liberator",
Abolitionist newspaper, in Boston Mass 1831
John Hope Franklin, historian, born 1915 |
| January 3 |
William Tucker,
first Black child born in America, baptized
in Jamestown 1624 |
| January 4 |
The first Black
baseball league, National Negro Baseball League,
organized 1920 |
| January 5 |
George Washington
Carver, scientist, died (1864 - 1943) |
| January 6 |
|
| January 7 |
W.B. Purvis patented
the fountain pen 1890
Marian Anderson, first Black person to appear in Metropolitan
Opera in Verdi's Masked Ball 1955 |
| January 8 |
Fannie M. Jackson,
pioneer and educator, first Black woman college
graduate in US born (1836 - 1913) |
| January 9 |
|
| January 10 |
James Varicick,
first A.M.E. Zion Bishop, born 1768
Edward Brooke, Mass. Senator takes office 1967
Lincoln declared Blcks should be educated in D.C. |
| January 11 |
|
| January 12 |
Congressional Black
Caucus organized in 1971
Mordecai W Johnson, educator, born (1890 - 1976) |
| January 13 |
Convention of the
Colored National Labor Union, the first Black
labor convention, 1869 |
| January 14 |
John Oliver Killens,
novelist, born 1916
Ernest Just, a Black biologist, served as V.P. of American
Zoologists, 1930
[My mom, Jacqueline Isbell, born this date] |
January 15
Back
to Top |
Martin Luther King,
Jr., civil rights leader, born, 1929 - 1968 |
| January 16 |
Lucius D. Amerson
sworn in as first Black sheriff of the South
in the 20th century (Macon County, Ala.) |
| January 17 |
Paul Cuffee, merchant,
shipbuilder and Black nationalist, born 1759 |
| January 18 |
Dr Daniel H. William
performed first successful open hear operation,
born 1856
Robert C. Weaver became first Black presidential cabinet member
when sworn in as Secretary of Housing and Urban Affairs, 1966
(Johnson Administration) |
| January 19 |
|
| January 20 |
W.R. Pettiford,
Founder of Alabama Penny Savings Bank, born
1847 |
| January 21 |
Martin Luther King
Jr. holiday
Freedom Journal, first Black paper 1827 |
| January 22 |
Nat Turner born
1800 |
| January 23 |
Dr. Daniel Hale
Williams founded Provident Hospital in Chicago,
1889
Paul Robeson, athlete, lawyer, singer, died in Philadelphia
1976 |
| January 24 |
Martin Delaney,
ethnologist, died 1812-1885
Jackie Robinson, first Black elected to the Baseball Hall of
Fame, 1962 |
| January 25 |
Sojourner Truth
addressed the first Black Women's Rights
Convention, Akron Ohio, 1851 |
| January 26 |
54th Regiment (Black)
infantry formed 1863
Executive Order 9981, to end segregation in US Armed Forces
signed by President Harry Truman, 1948 |
| January 27 |
|
| January 28 |
John Brown organized
raid on Arsenal at Harper's Ferry, 1858
Philadelphia's Free Africa Society organized, 1787 |
| January 29 |
Francis L. Cardoza
elected State Treasurer of South Carolina,
1872 |
| January 30 |
William
Wells Brown published first Black drama, "Leap to
Freedom" 1858 |
| January 31 |
|
| February |
February 1
Back
to Top |
Black college students
staged a sit-in at a segregated lunch counter
in Greensboro, N. C., 1960
Langston Hughes, poet and author, born 1902-1967 |
| February 2 |
|
| February 3 |
Geraldine McCullough
wins Widener Gold Medal for Sculpture, 1965
15th Amendment (Black suffrage) passed 1870 |
| February 4 |
24th Amendment
abolished Poll tax, 1864 |
| February 5 |
|
| February 6 |
First organized
emigration of U.S. Blacks back to Africa, from
New York to Sierra Leone, 1820
Peabody Fund established to promote Black education in South,
1867 |
| February 7 |
President Truman
appointed Irwin C. Mollison judge of the US
Customs Court, 1945
Eubie Blake, famed pianist, born in Baltimore 1883-1983
Freedman's Aid Society, founded to promote education among
Blacks |
| February 8 |
|
| February 9 |
Paul Lawrence Dunbar,
1st poet to use Black dialect in his verse,
died 1872-1906
Leroy "Satchel" Paige elected to
the Baseball Hall of Fame, 1971 |
| February 10 |
Southern Christian
Leadership Conference founded, 1957
Andrew Brimmer, the first Black person to serve on the
Federal Reserve Board, [born?] 1966
Leontyne Price, world renowned soprano, born 1927 |
| February 11 |
Nelson Mandela,
leader of movement for democracy in South Africa,
released from prison after 27 years, 1990
Clifford Alexander, Jr. first Black Secretary of State, confirmed
1977 |
| February 12 |
Lincoln's birthday
NAACP founded after riot in Springfield, Ill., 1909 |
| February 13 |
First
Black pro Basketball team, "The Renaissance," organized
1923 |
| February 14 |
Frederick Douglass,
Abolitionist, born 1817 - 1895
Morhouse College, founded in Atlanta, 1867 |
February 15
Back
to Top |
|
| February 16 |
|
| February 17 |
|
| February 18 |
|
| February 19 |
First Pan-African
Congress organized in Paris by WEB DuBois,
1919 |
| February 20 |
|
| February 21 |
Malcolm X assassinated,
1925 - 1965 |
| February 22 |
|
| February 23 |
WEB DuBois, author
and historian, born 1868-1963 |
| February 24 |
Bishop Daniel A
Payne, reformer and educator of AME Church,
born 1811 |
| February 25 |
Hiram R. Revels,
first Black US Senator, took oath of office
1870 |
| February 26 |
|
| February 27 |
Marion Anderson,
singer, born in Philadelphia 1897.
Charlotte Ray, first Black woman lawyer, graduated Harvard
U, 1872 |
| February 28 |
Phillis Wheatly,
poetess, died 1753-1784 |
| March |
March 1
Back
to Top |
Howard University,
Washington DC, charted, 1867 |
| March 2 |
Freedman's Bureau
founded for Black Education, 1865 |
| March 3 |
Richard Allen
founded AME Church, 1794
Garrett Morgan, inventor, born 1877 - 1963 |
| March 4 |
Crispus Attucks
died, 1723 - 1770 |
| March 5 |
|
| March 6 |
Dred Scott decision
(Blacks are not citizens of the U.S.), 1857 |
| March 7 |
|
| March 8 |
|
| March 9 |
Harriet
Tubman, "engineer" of
the Underground Railroad died, 1821 - 1913 |
| March 10 |
|
| March 11 |
Benjamin Banneker
with L'Enfant began to lay out Washington in
the District of Columbia, 1789 |
| March 12 |
Jeanne Baptiste
Pointe de Sable founded settlement now known
as Chicago, Ill, 1773 |
| March 13 |
Eli Whitney patented
the cotton gin, based on the ideas and plans
of a slave, 1794
Fanie Lou Hamer, freedom fighter, died 1977
Absalom Jones ordained first Black priest in Episcopal Church |
| March 14 |
African Methodist
Episcopal Zion Church founded, 1821, New York |
March 15
Back
to Top |
Freedom's Journal,
first Black newspaper, published by John Russwurm
and Samuel Cornish, 1827 |
| March 16 |
Norbert Rillieux,
inventor of sugar refining, born 1806- 1894 |
| March 17 |
The Phoenix Society
founded 1833, New York |
| March 18 |
|
| March 19 |
Jan Matzeliger
invented the first machine to manufacture entire
shoe, 1883 |
| March 20 |
Patience Singleton
friend of compiler of most of these facts born |
| March 21 |
Nambia gained its
independence, 1990
Alonzo Pietro, pilot, sailed with Columbus, 1492
Selma Freedom March, 1965 |
| March 22 |
|
| March 23 |
|
| March 24 |
|
| March 25 |
Scottsboro Boys
arrested, Point Rock, Alabama, 1931 |
| March 26 |
Thomas J Martin
awarded patent for fire extinguisher, 1872
William Hastie, first Black federal judge, appointed 1937
Richard Allen, AME Church Bishop, (born? died?) 1760 - 1831 |
| March 27 |
March 28 New York
State abolished slavery, 1799
Ohio passed law restricting the movement of Blacks, 1804 |
| March 29 |
|
| March 30 |
15th amendment
gave Blacks the right to vote, 1870 [Hah!] |
| March 31 |
|
| April |
April 1
Back
to Top |
Dr Charles Richard
Drew, scientist, discovered blood plasma.
North Caroline Mutual opened doors for business, 1899 |
| April 2 |
|
| April 3 |
Dr Matthew Ricketts,
first Black man elected to Nebraska State Legislature
(from Omaha), born 1858 [actually, this may
be 1958--anyone have any info?] |
| April 4 |
Dr Martin Luther
King Jr, civil rights leader, assassinated
1929 - 1968 |
| April 5 |
Booker T Washington,
educator and founder of Tuskegee Institute,
born 1856 - 1915 |
| April 6 |
Matthew Henson
explorer in expedition of six to reach North
Pole, 1909 |
| April 7 |
Billie Holiday,
blues singer, born 1917 in E. Baltimore |
| April 8 |
|
| April 9 |
Paul Robeson, actor,
scholar, singer, born 1898 - 1976 |
| April 10 |
|
| April 11 |
Spelman College
founded 1881
Percy L Julian, chemist whose research helped create drugs
for treatment of arthritis, born 1899 |
| April 12 |
Civil War began
at Fort Sumter, Charleston SC 1861 |
| April 13 |
|
| April 14 |
|
April 15
Back
to Top |
|
| April 16 |
Congress passed
bill ending slavery in Washington, DC, 1862
soc.culture.african.american on Internet begins, 1990
(Internet can be accessed on Invention Factory BBS in
NYC, NY) |
| April 17 |
|
| April 18 |
Alex Haley, author
of _Roots_, awarded Pultizer Prize, 1977 |
| April 19 |
Cheyney State University
founded, 1837 |
| April 20 |
Harriet Tubman
starts Underground Railroad, 1853 |
| April 21 |
|
| April 22 |
First slave revolt
occurs in South Carolina, 1526 |
| April 23 |
National Urban
League founded, 1913
Granville T Woods, inventor of automatic air-brake and over
40 other inventions, [born? died?] 1856 - 1910 |
| April 24 |
United Negro College
Fund established, 1944 |
| April 25 |
|
| April 26 |
|
| April 27 |
|
| April 28 |
George B Vashon,
first Black to enter NY State Bar, 1847
Samuel Lee Gravely appointed first Black admiral in US Naval
history, 1971 |
| April 29 |
Col Frederick Gregory,
first Black astronaut, piloted space shuttle
Challenger, 1985 [is this right?]
Macon B. Allen and Robert Morris Jr, first Blacks to practice
law, open practice, 1845
Duke Ellington, musician and jazz composer, born 1899-1975
First day of LA riots, sparked by acquittal of four white cops
in the beating of Rodney King, which would result in at least
50 deaths, thousands injured and estimates of up to $1 billion
in property damage, 1992 |
| April 30 |
|
| May |
May 1
Back
to Top |
Gwendolyn Brooks,
first Black awarded a Pulitzer Prize (poetry),
1950
Howard University chartered, 1867
[Webmaster was born] |
| May 2 |
First game of National
Negro Baseball League played in Indianapolis,
1920
Elijah McCoy, inventor, held over 50 patents, born 1844- 1929 |
| May 3 |
|
| May 4 |
CORE begins freedom
rides from Washington, DC to force desegregation
of southern bus terminals, 1961 |
| May 5 |
Robert
S. Abbott published first issue of the newspaper "Chicago
Defender" 1905 |
| May 6 |
First Black Masonic
Lodge founded Prince Hall, Boston, 1787 |
| May 7 |
William Penn began
monthly meetings for Blacks advocating emancipation,
1700
The Liberty Ship George Washington Carver, named after the
scientist, launched 1943 |
| May 8 |
|
| May 9 |
John Brown, abolitionist,
born 1800 |
May 10 Smith v Allwright (excluding Blacks from
primary voting is
illegal), 1944
May 11 Ira Aldridge, Great 19th century Black actor,
famous
throughout the world, born 1807-1867
May 12 Segregated street cars integrated in Louisville,
Ky.,
following sit-in staged by a Black teenager, 1871
May 13 Slavery abolished in Brazil, 1888
Joe Louis, world heavyweight boxing champion (1937-1949),
born 1914
May 14
May 15
May 16 Sammy Davis, Jr, entertainer, dies (1925-1990)
Denmark abolishes slave trade, 1792
May 17 School desegregation law, Brown v Board of
education, 1957
May 18
May 19 Malcolm X, political and religious activist,
born 1925-1965
May 20 Elias Neau founded school for slaves in New
York, 1704
May 21 Leo Pinckney, the first American draft[ed?]
during World
War I, 1917
(Thomas) Fast Waller, Jazz pianist and composer, born 1904-
1943
May 22 Claude McKay, Novelist and Poet, died 1948
Langston Hughes, poet laureate, died 1957
May 23
May 24 Lincoln University, Penn, the first Black
college in the US
founded by Prebyts, 1854
May 25 Henry O. Tanner, artist, died 1859-1937
Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, dancer and entertainer, born
in
Richmond VA, 1878
May 26
May 27 Blind Tom Bethune, pianist and composer,
born 1849
Victoria E Matthews, educator, born in New York, 1861 -
1898
May 28 Eliza Ann Gardner, underground railway conductor,
born 1831
May 29
May 30 Countee Cullen, poet, born in Baltimore,
1903
May 31 National Negro Committee (now NAACP) held
first conference,
New York, 1909
June
| Back to Top
June 1 Sojourner Truth begins travel as abolitionist
speaker, 1843
Slavery abolished in all US possessions, 1862
June 2 Harriet Tubman led Union Army guerillas into
Maryland,
freeing more than 700 slaves, 1863
James Augustine Healey became the first Black Catholic
Bishop in the US, 1875
June 3 Dr Charles Richard Drew, pioneer of blood
plasma research,
born, 1904-1950
Poor Peoples March on Washington, 1968
June 4 Mississippi Valley State University founded
1951
June 5
June
6 First annual convention of "people of
color" held in
Philadelphia 1831
Stokely Carmichael launched "Black Power" movement, 1966
June 7 Gwendolyn Brooks, poet, born 1917
Mary Church Terrell wins struggle to end segregation in
Washington DC restaurants, 1953
June 8 Homer A Plessy refused to move to segregated
railroad coach
in New Orleans, initiating Plessy v Ferguson, 1892
First Civil Rights Act passed, 1886
June 9
June 10 Richard Allen founded the Bethel African Methodist
Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, 1794
Hattie McDaniel, first Black person ever to win an Oscar
(Best Supporting Actress, Gone With The Wind, in 1940),
born 1898-1952
June 11
June 12 Medgar Evers, civil rights activist, assassinated
1926-1963
June 13 Oscar J Dunn elected Lieutenant Governor
of Louisiana, 1868
Thurgood Marshall appointed to the Supreme Court, 1967
June 14 Harriet Beecher Stowe, White abolitionist
and author of
Uncle Tom's Cabin, born 1811-1896
Congress ruled that Black soldiers must receive equal pay,
1864
June 15 Henry O Flippea became the first Black graduate
of West
Point, 1877
Congress of racial Equality (CORE), founded 1943
Josiah Henson, abolitionist [born? died?] 1789-1883
June 16 Denamrk Vessy led slave rebellion in South
Carolina, 1822
June 17 James Weldon Johnson, writer poet, first
Black admitted to
Florida Bar, co-author of "Lift Every Voice
And Sing"
(Black National Anthem), born 1871-1938
June 18 Slave revolt leaders Denmark Vesey and Peter
Poyas arrested
in Charleston, SC, 1822
Nannie Burroughs founded national training School for
Women, 1909
June 19 Tennessee University opened as Tennessee
A and L State
College, 1912
June 20 Dr Lloyd A Hall, pioneer in food chemistry,
born Illinois,
1894
June 21 Henry O Tanner, artist, born 1859-1937
June 22 WEB DuBois becomes first Black member of
National Institute
of Letters, 1943
June 23 Wilma Rudolph, former polio victim who became
the world
famous track star, winning three gold medals in the
Olympic Games, born 1940.
June 24
June 25 Fair Employment Practices Commission established
1941
Abraham Lincoln signed bill providing schools for Black
children [no date given]
June 26 Blacks and Whites riot over racial segregation
in ST
Augustine 1964
June 27 Paul Lawrence Dunbar, poet and novelist,
born 1872-1906
June 28 Supreme Court handed down Bakke decision,
affecting racial
quotas in education and industry, 1978
June 29 Carter Woodson wins Springarn Medal for
his research of
Black history, 1926
June 30
July
| Back to Top
July 1
July 2 Vermont became the first US territory to
abolish slavery,
1777
Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, born in Baltimore
1908
Civil Rights Act passed, 1964
July 3
July
4 Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong, trumpet
king, born 1900
Booker T Washington opened Tuskegee Institute in Alabama
1881
July 5
July 6
July 7 Althea Gibsaon won women's single tennis
championship at
Wimbledon, 1957
July 8
July 9 Dr Daniel Hale Williams (1858-1931) performed
first
successful open heart surgery at Provident Hospital in
Chicago, 1893
July 10 Mary McLeod Bethune, educator, born 1875-1955
July 11 Niagra Movement founded by WEB DuBois, 1905
July 12 George Washington Carver, noted scientist,
born 1864
July 13 Congress outlawed slavery in Northwest Territory,
1787
July 14
July 15 Public schools for Blacks open in Philadelphia,
1822
July 16 V.A. Johnson, first Black female to practice
before US
Supreme Court, born 1882
July 17
July 18 Lemuel Haynes, first Black to serve as minister
to a White
congregation, born 1753
July 19
July 20
July 21 National Association of Colored Women founded
by Mary
Church Terrell in Washington DC, 1896
July 22 President Lincoln read first draft of Emancipation
Proclamation to Cabinet, 1861
July 23 Louis Tompkins Wright, physician, born 1891
- 1952
July 24
July
25 Charles Cordone won Pulitzer Prize for his play "No
Place
to Be Somebody" 1970
First warship named for a Black person, the SS Leonard Roy
Harmon, launched in Quincy Mass, 1943
July 26
July 27
July 28 The 14th Amendment, making Blacks American
citizens,
adopted 1868
July 29 First National Convention of Black Women
held in Boston
Mass, 1895
July 30
July 31 Whitney Young, former Executive Director
of the National
Urban League, born 1921
Father Patrick Francis Healy, first Black man to receive a
PhD, named President of Georgetown University, 1874
August
| Back to Top
August 1 Slavery declared unlawful in British Empire,
1834
Benjamin E Mays [highschool of compiler of most of these
facts], educator and former President of Morehouse
college, born 1895
August 2 James Baldwin, writer, born NY 1924
Marcus Garvey presented his "Back To Africa" program
in New
York City, 1920
August 3
August 4 Dr Daniel H Williams, pioneer in surgery,
died 1931
Henry A Rucker appointed Collector of Internal Revenue for
Georgia 1897
August 5 James A Healy, first Black bishop in America,
born 1830
August 6 Voting Rights Bill signed by President
Lyndon Johnsom 1965
August 7 Ralph J Bunche, diplomat and winner of
Nobel Peace Prize,
born 1904-1971
August 8
August 9 Mattheco Henson, first Black to reach North
Pole, born 1866
Jesse Owens wins four gold medals in Berlin, 1936
August 10 Ira Aldridge, famed Shakespearean actor,
dies 1867
August 11 J Rosamond Johnson, author, actor and
co-composer (with his
James Weldon Johnson) of "Lift Every Voice And Sing",
born in Jacksonville FL, 1873-1954
Watts Riots in Southeast LA, 1965
August 12 Dedication of Frederick Douglas' home
in Washington DC as
national shrine, 1922
August 13 First issue of Baltimore Afro-American
Newspaper, 1892
August 14 Ernest E Just, biologist and pioneer of
cell division,
born 1883-1941
August 15 Freed American slaves established country
of Liberia, on
the West coast of Africa, 1824
August 16 Louis E Lomax, author, born 1922-1970
August 17 WB Purvis patented the electric railway
switch, 1897
Marcus Garvey, Black Nationalist, born 1887-1940
August 18
August 19 Benjamin Banneker published his first
Almanac, 1791
NAACP Youth Council begins sit-ins at lunch counters,
Oklahoma City, 1963
August 20 Wilberforce University established in
Ohio, 1856
First Black slaves brought by the Dutch to the colony of
Jamestown, 1619
August 21 William Count Basie, jazz pianist, big
band and orchestra
leader, born in Red Bank NJ, 1904
Nat Turner began revolt in Southampton, VA, 1831
August 22 Fisk University established, 1867
August 23 National Negro Business League, founded
1900
August 24 Edith Sampson, first Black delegate to
United Nations
appointed by President Harry S. Truman, 1950
August 25 Althea Gibson, tennis champion, born in
South Carolina,
1927
National Association of Colored Nurses, founded 1908
August 26
August 27 W. E. B. DuBois, editor author and civil
rights leader
dies in Ghana, 1963
August
28 Martin Luther King Jr makes "I Have
A Dream" speech at
Lincoln Memorial, 1963
March On Washington, 1963
August 29 Sheridan Broadcasting Corp purchases Mutual
Black
Network, making it the first completely Black owned
radio network in the world, 1979
E. Franklin Frazier, sociologist, born 1894-1962
August 30 Roy Wilkins, 2nd Executive Director of
NAACP, born 1901-
1981
Gabriel Prosser's slave revolt is betrayed, Virginia, 1800
August 31
September
| Back to Top
September 1 Robert T Freeman was the first Black
to graduate from
Harvard Dental School, 1867
September 2
September 3 Frederick Douglass escapes from slavery
disguised as a
sailor, 1838
September 4 Lewis H Latimer, inventor and engineer,
born 1848-1928
September 5 John W Cromwell, Sec. American Negro
Academy, born 1846
George Washington Murray elected to Congress from South
Carolina, 1895
September 6
September 7 Integration began in Washington, DC
and Baltimore, MD
public schools, 1954
September 8 Roy Wilkins, second Executive Director
of NAACP, dies
1901-1981
September 9 Richard Wright, noted author of _Native
Son_ and _Black
Boy_, born 1908-1960
Association for the study of Negro Life and History
founded by Carter G Woodson, 1915
September 10 Congressman John R Lynch presided over
the Republican
National Convention, 1884
September
11 "Duke" Ellington won Springarn
Medal for his musical
achievements, 1959
September 12
September 13 Lewis Latimer invented and patented
an electric lamp with
a carbon filament, 1881
Alain L Lovke, philosopher, born 1886-1954
September 14 President FD Roosevelt signed Selective
Service Act,
allowing Blacks to enter all branches of the US
Military Service, 1940
September 15 The first National Negro Convention
began in
Philadelphia, 1830
September 16 Slavery abolished in all French territories,
1848
Claude A Barnett founded Associated Negro Press, born
1889 [very unclear which one of these two events
occurred the way this is worded in my source]
September 17 Hampton Institute founded, 1861
September 18 Congress passed Fugitive Slave Law
as part of the
Compromise of 1850
September 19 Atlanta University founded 1865
September 20 First Negro Convention of Free Men
agreed to boycott
slave-produced goods, 1830
September 21 Atlanta Life Insurance Co founded,
1905
September 22 Xavier University, first Black Catholic
College in US,
opened in New Orleans, LA, 1915
September 23 Mary Church Terrell, civil rights activist,
born 1863-1954
September 24 Desegregation of Central High School,
Little Rock Ark, 1957
September 25 Secretary of Navy authorized enlistment
of slaves as Union
sailors, 1861
September 26 Maggie L Walker, business and civic
leader, first Black
president in US, born 1867-1934
September
27 WC Handy published "Memphis Blues" the
first Blues Song,
1912
September 28
September 29 WGPR-TV Detroit, first Black-owned
station in US, began
broadcasting in 1975
President JF Kennedy authorized use of federal troops in
integration of University of Mississippi, 1962
September 30
October
| Back to Top
October 1 James Meredith became first Black student
at University
of Mississippi--after 3000 federal troops quelled riots
against his admission, 1962
Morgan State College founded in Maryland, 1872
October 2 Thurgood Marshall sworn in as the first
Black Supreme
Court Justice, 1967
Robert H Lawerence, astronaut, 1935-1967
October 3 Bethune-Cookman College opened in Daytona
Beach FL, 1904
October 4
October 5 Autherine Lucy Foster born in 1929.
Yvonne Braithwaite Burk born in 1932.
October 6 Fannie Lou Hamer, freedom fighter, born
1917
October 7 William Sill, with The Underground Railroad,
born 1821 - 1902
October 8
October 9 Frank Robinson became the first Black
major league
baseball manager (Cleveland Indians), 1974
October 10
October 11 A. Miles patented the elevator, 1887
NAACP organized the Legal Defense and Education Fund, 1939
October 12 Lincoln University founded, 1854
Rita Frazier Normandeau of NYC born 1946 Newport News, VA
October 13 Garrett Morgan invented and patented
the gas mask, 1914
Edith Sampson, first Black female US delegate to the
United Nations, born 1901
Arna W Bontemps noted poet and librarian of Fisk
University, born 1902 - 1973
October 14 Harry Blair received a patent for his
corn planting
machine, 1834
October 14 Martin Luther King Jr. is the youngest
man to win the
Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
October 15
October 16 Harpers Ferry Insurrection, 1859
October 17 First bank for blacks organized: The
Capital Savings
of Washington, D.C.
October 18 Paul Robeson won Spingarn Medal for his
singing and
acting achievements, 1945
October 19 US Navy opened to Black women, 1944
Henry O Tanner, painter, won Medal of Honor at Paris
Exposition, 1900
Byrd Prillerman, co-founder of West Virginia State College,
born 1859
October 20 NC Mutual Life Insurance Company organized,
1898
October 21
October 22
October 23
October 24
October 25 Benjamin O Davis Dr became the first
Black general in US
Army, 1940
October 26 Mahalia Jackson, gospel singer, born
1911 - 1972
October 27 Ruby Dee born in 1927.
October 28
October
29 Supreme Court ordered end to all school desegregation "at
once", 1969
October 30
October 31
November
| Back to Top
November 1 First issue of Ebony magazine published
by John H
Johnson, 1945
WEB DuBois began publication of NAACP monthly magazine,
"Crisis", 1910
November 2
November 3 JH Hunter patented the portable weighing
scales, 1896
November 4 T. Elkins patented the refrigerating
apparatus, 1879
November 5 George Brown became first Black Lt. Governor
in US
(Colorado), 1974
Shirley Chisholm became first Black woman elected to
Congress, representing Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn,
NY, 1968
Theo Wright becomes first Black to obtain Theology Degree
in US, 1836
Negro History Week initiated by Carter G Woodson, 1926
November 6
November 7 L Douglas Wilder became first Black Governor
in the US
(Virginia), 1989
November 8 Edward W. Brooke elected first Black
US Senator in 85
years (R-Mass), 1966
November 9 Benjamin Banneker, inventor, mathematician,
astronomer,
and one of the planners of Federal City (now
Washington DC), born 1731-1806
Medical School at Howard University opened with eight (8)
students, 1868
November 10 Granville T Woods patented the electric
railway, 1891
November 11 D McCree patented the portable fire
escape, 1890
Hanging of Nat Turner, leader of the Southampton VA Slave
Revolt, 1831
November 12
November 13 Janet Collins, ballerina, first Black
dancer to appear
with the Metropolitan Opera Co. (in Verdi's Aida),
1951
Black Renaissance begins Harlem NY, 1922 [How the hell
did they figure this out?]
November 14 Booker T. Washington died, 1856 - 1915
November 15 Inventor Granville T Woods patented
his Synchronous
Multiplier Railway Telgraph, 1887
November 16
November 17
November 18 Klu Klux Klan member convicted of 1963
church bombing
that killed four young Black girls in Birmingham, Ala
November 19
November 20 Garrett Morgan invented and patented
the traffic signal,
1923
Howard University founded in Washington DC, 1865
November 21 Shaw University founded in Raleigh NC,
1865
November 22 Black Muslim movement initiated in Detroit,
1930
November
23 Andrew J Beard invented the "jerry
coupler," still used
today to connect railroad cars, 1897
November 24
November 25 Segregation in buses and terminals banned
by Interstate
Commerce Commission, 1955
November 26 National Negro Medical Association founded,
1895
Sojourner Truth dies, 1883
November 27
November 28 Richard Wright, novelist and author
of Native Son, dies,
1908 - 1960
November 29 Thurgood Marshall, first Black Supreme
Court Judge, born
1908
November 30
December
| Back to Top
December 1 Arthur Spingarn, founder of NAACP, born
1878
December 2 Charles Wesley, historian, [born? died?]
1891
December 3
December 4 Alpha Phi Alpha, first Black Greek Letter
Fraternity,
founded 1906
December 5 Montgomery Bus Boycott initiated by the
actions of Rosa
Parks, 1955
Phillis Wheatley, one of the first Black female poets in
America, dies 1784
National Council of Negro Women founded by Mary McLeod
Bethune, 1935
December 6
December 7
December 8 Sammy Davis, Jr, entertainer, born 1925
- 1990
December 9
December 10 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Dr Martin
Luther King Jr,
1964
December 11
December
12 National Negro Anthem, "Lift Every
Voice and Sing,"
composed by James Weldon and James Rosamond Johnson,
1900
December 13
December 14
December 15
December 16 Negro Methodist Episcopal Church founded
in Jackson, TN,
1890
Andrew Young named Ambassador and Chief US Delegate to
the United Nations, 1976
December 17
December 18 Congress passed 13th Amendment abolishing
slavery, 1865
December 19 Carter G Woodson, historian and father
of Black History
Month, born 1875-1950
December 20 Mother Matelda Beasley, nun, born 1834-1903
South Carolina secedes from the union, initiating the
Civil War, 1860
December 21
December 22 Henry Highland Garnet, abolitionist,
born 1815-1882
December 23 Alice H. Parker received a patent for
the gas heating
furnace, 1919
December 24
December 25 Operation PUSH (People United to Save
Humanity) organized
by Rev Jesse Jackson, 1971
December 26 Kwanzaa begins
December 27
December 28
December 29
December 30 Dr Miles V Lynk, physician, published
the first Black
medical journal, 1892
December 31
Back
to Top
