KRLemmons African American History

November 9 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – November 9 *

1731 – Benjamin Banneker is born free in Ellicott Mills (now
Ellicott City), Maryland. He will become the builder
of the first clock made in America. He also will
become the key figure in the design of Washington, DC
after Pierre L’Enfant quit and took his plans for DC
with him. Banneker was able to save the project by
reproducing the plans from memory, in two days, a
complete layout of the streets, parks, and major
buildings. From 1792 to 1802, Banneker will publish
an annual Farmer’s Almanac, for which he did all the
calculations himself. He will join the ancestors in
1806.

1868 – The Howard University Medical School opens with eight
students.

1868 – Arkansas Governor Powell Clayton, declares martial law
in ten counties and mobilizes the state militia in a
Ku Klux Klan crisis.

1923 – Dorothy Dandridge is born in Cleveland, Ohio. She will
try vaudeville and a stint at the Cotton Club before
finding her most noteworthy success as an actress.
She will appear in such works as “Porgy and Bess” and
minor movie roles before her big break in a series of
low-budget movies including “Tarzan’s Perils”. While
simultaneously maintaining a singing career, Dandridge
will have her greatest success in “Carmen Jones”
opposite Harry Belafonte, Pearl Bailey, Diahann
Carroll, and Brock Peters, which will earn her an
Academy Award nomination, a first for an African
American actress. She will join the ancestors on
September 8, 1965.

1925 – Oscar Micheaux’s movie “Body and Soul” is released. It
marks the film debut of Paul Robeson.

1931 – Eugene “Big Daddy” Lipscomb is born. He will become a
professional football star with the old Baltimore
Colts. He will enter the NFL without ever playing
college football. He will be considered one of the
greatest defensive tackles in NFL history. He will
join the ancestors in May, 1963.

1935 – Robert “Bob” Gibson is born in Omaha, Nebraska. He will
become a professional baseball player and pitcher for
the St. Louis Cardinals. He will be the National
League MVP in 1968. During his career, he will amass
3,000 career strike-outs, win the Cy Young Award in
1968 and 1970, win the Baseball Writers Award in 1968,
pitch in the 1964, 1967, and 1968 World Series, and win
Nine Gold Glove Awards. He will enter the National
Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981.

1961 – The Professional Golfers Association eliminates their
Caucasians only rule.

1965 – Willie Mays is named the National League’s Most Valuable
Player.

1970 – William L. Dawson, Democratic congressman and party
leader, in Chicago, Illinois, joins the ancestors at
the age of 84.

1976 – The United Nations General Assembly endorses 10
resolutions condemning apartheid in South Africa,
including one that says the white-only government is
“illegitimate.”

1982 – Sugar Ray Leonard retires from professional boxing for
the first time, because of a recurring eye problem
sustained in a welterweight title match.

1990 – Freedom Bank in New York City, one of the largest
African American-owned banks in the nation, is
declared insolvent. Its losses in 1988-1989 totaled
$4.7 million, and it was expected to lose $2 million
in 1990. A last-minute effort to revive the bank by
raising funds from the local Harlem community will
fail to meet the government-imposed deadline.

Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry.

KRLemmons African American History

November 8 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – November 8 *

1878 – Marshall Walter “Major” Taylor is born in Indianapolis,
Indiana. He will become the world’s fastest bicycle
racer for 12 years,

1920 – Esther Rolle is born in Pompano Beach, Florida. She
will become an actress, primarily on television. She
will win an Emmy Award for her role in “Summer of My
German Soldier”. She will be best-known, however, for
her role as Florida, in the television sit-com, “Good
Times.” Even though Ms. Rolle will play characters who
worked as maids, off-stage, she will be a tireless
crusader against black stereotypes in Hollywood. She
will join the ancestors in 1998 at the age of 78. Note:
At the time of her death, her manager will give her date
of birth as November 8, 1920, though some references
list the year as 1922.

1932 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is awarded to Robert R. Moton,
president of Tuskegee Institute, for his “thoughtful
leadership in conservative opinion and action.”

1938 – Crystal Bird Fauset of Philadelphia, is elected to the
Pennsylvania House of Representatives. She is the first
African American woman elected to a state legislature.

1947 – Minnie Ripperton is born in Chicago, Illinois. She will
study opera under Marion Jeffrey. She will spend months
and months learning how to breathe and listening to and
holding vowels. Eventually, she will begin singing
operas and operettas with a show tune every so often.
Despite her natural talent (a pure five to six octave
soprano) for opera, Minnie will be more attracted to
“Rock N Roll” and the promise of a touring career. She
will eventually discontinue her classical training to
follow her dream of becoming a famous songstress. It
will, however, be her classical training which will
bring her recording success. She will be best known for
her recording of “Loving You.” She will join the
ancestors in July, 1979 at the age of 31 after
succumbing to breast cancer.

1953 – Alfre Woodard is born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She will
become an actress after her education at Boston
University, School of Fine Arts. She will receive a
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television
Miniseries/Movie, an Emmy Award for Best Actress, as
well as ACE and Screen Actors Guild Awards for Best
Actress for her performance in the 1997 HBO original
movie, “Miss Evers’ Boys.” Woodard’s many feature
film credits include “Star Trek: First Contact,”
“Heart and Souls,” “Primal Fear” opposite Richard Gere,
the ensemble film “How to Make An American Quilt,” Spike
Lee’s family drama, Crooklyn,” Dr. Maya Angelou’s “Down
in the Delta” starring Wesley Snipes, and “Passionfish,”
for which she will receive a 1998 Golden Globe
Nomination for Best Actress. In 1984, she will receive
an Academy Award nomination for her performance in
Martin Ritt’s “Cross Creek.”

1959 – Elgin Baylor of the Minneapolis Lakers, scores 64 points
and sets a National Basketball Association scoring record.

1960 – Otis M. Smith is elected auditor general of Michigan and
becomes the first African American chosen in a statewide
election since Reconstruction.

1966 – Edward W. Brooke (Republican, Massachusetts), is elected
to the U.S. Senate and becomes the first African American
senator since Reconstruction and the first African
American senator elected by popular vote.

1966 – Frank Robinson of the Baltimore Orioles, the American
League’s batting and home-run champion, is named the
league’s Most Valuable Player.

1966 – John H. Johnson, publisher of Ebony and Jet magazines,
is awarded the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal “for his productive
imagination…in the perilous field of publishing” and
“for his contributions to the enhancement of the Negro’s
self-image through his publications.”

1983 – W. Wilson Goode of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Harvey Gantt
of Charlotte, North Carolina, and James A. Sharp, Jr. of
Flint, Michigan, are the first African Americans elected
mayor of their respective cities.

2011 – Dwight Arrington Myers, better known as rapper “Heavy D”,
joins the ancestors at the age of 44. He was rushed to a
Los Angeles hospital after collapsing at his Beverly Hills
home.

Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry.

KRLemmons African American History

November 7 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – November 7 *

1775 – Lord Dunmore, the British governor of the colony of
Virginia, issues a proclamation granting freedom to
any slave who is willing to join the British army in
its fight against the American revolutionaries. The
offer applies only to slaves owned by “rebels”. About
800 slaves will eventually accept the offer.

1876 – Edward Bouchet, is the first African American to
receive a Ph.D. from a college in the United States
(Yale University).

1876 – Edward Bannister, the first African American artist to
win wide critical acclaim, is awarded a prize at the
Philadelphia Centennial Exposition for his work, “Under
the Oak”.

1915 – Meharry Medical College is incorporated as a separate
entity in Nashville, Tennessee.

1916 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is awarded to Col. Charles
Young, U.S. Army, for organizing the Liberian
constabulary and establishing order on the frontiers of
Liberia.

1934 – Arthur L. Mitchell, becomes the first African American
Democratic congressman (Illinois), after defeating
Republican Oscar Depriest in a Chicago election.

1938 – Delecta Clark is born in Blythesville, Arkansas. He will
become a rhythm and blues singer better known as “Dee”
Clark. He will move to Chicago as a child and be in the
Hambone Kids with Sammy McGrier and Ronny Strong. They
will recorded for Okeh Records in 1952 – the next year
Clark will sing with the Goldentones. This group will
later become the Kool Gents. Clark will go solo in 1957
and in 1958 enjoyed his first smash with “Nobody for You,”
an Abner release that will reach number three Rhythm &
Blues and just miss the Top 20 on the pop charts. He will
continue a string of R&B winners with “Just Keep It Up,”
“Hey Little Girl,” and “How About That” for Abner in 1959
and 1960. Clark will team with guitarist Phil Upchurch to
write “Raindrops” in 1961, which will become his
signature song. Raindrops will peak at number three
Rhythm & Blues and number two pop, and will be his last
major hit. He will join the ancestors in 1990.

1950 – Alexa Canady is born in Lansing, Michigan. She will
become, at age 30, the first African American female
neurosurgeon in the United States. She will be first in
her class at the Wayne State University School of Medicine.
She will become one of the finest neurosurgeons in the
country, and be highly esteemed for her outstanding
ability as a pediatric surgeon and researcher. Canady
will become the director of neurosurgery at Children’s
Hospital in Detroit and a clinical professor at Wayne
State University.

1955 – In reviewing a Baltimore, Maryland case, the U.S. Supreme
Court bans segregation in public recreational areas.

1963 – Elston Howard, of the New York Yankees, becomes the first
African American to win the American League MVP award.

1967 – Carl Stokes of Cleveland, Ohio, and Richard Hatcher of
Gary, Indiana, become the first African American mayors of
these major United States cities.

1967 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is presented to Edward W. Brooke
for his public service as the first African American U.S.
senator since Reconstruction.

1967 – A report of the Senate Permanent Investigating Committee
says there were seventy-five major riots in 1967, compared
with twenty-one major riots in 1966. The committee
reports that eight-three persons were killed in 1967
riots, compared with eleven in 1966 and thirty-six in
1965.

1970 – A racially motivated civil disturbance occurs in Daytona
Beach, Florida.

1972 – Reverend Andrew Young of Atlanta, Georgia and Barbara
Jordan of Houston, Texas become the first southern
African Americans elected to Congress since Reconstruction.
Also elected for the first time was Yvonne Brathwaite Burke
(California). Republican Senator Edward W. Brooke of
Massachusetts was overwhelmingly endorsed for a second
term.

1978 – Five African Americans are elected to Congress: William Gray
III (Pennsylvania), Bennett Stewart (Illinois), Melvin
Evans (Virgin Islands), Julian Dixon (California) and
George “Mickey” Leland (Texas).

1989 – David Dinkins is the first African American elected mayor of
New York City.

1989 – L. Douglas Wilder is elected as the first African American
governor (D-Virginia) in the United States since
Reconstruction.

1990 – The National Football League withdraws its plans to hold the
1993 Super Bowl in Phoenix due to Arizona’s refusal to
honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday.

1991 – Los Angeles Lakers’ superstar Magic Johnson announces his
retirement from professional basketball after learning he
has tested positive for the AIDS virus.

1999 – Tiger Woods becomes the first golfer since Ben Hogan in
1953, to win four straight tournaments.

1999 – Kenya’s Joseph Chebet wins the New York City Marathon.

2011 – Former Heavyweight Champion, Smokin’ Joe Frazier, succumbs to
liver cancer at the age of 67. Winner of 27 out of 32 fights,
Frazier only lost 4 times in his career, twice to George
Foreman and twice to Muhammad Ali.

Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry.

KRLemmons African American History

November 6 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – November 6 *

1746 – Absalom Jones, a major leader of the African American Pioneer
period, is born into slavery in Sussex, Delaware. Jones will
become a friend of Richard Allen and together they will found
the Free African Society, which would serve as a protective
society and social organization for free African Americans.
.
1844 – Spain grants the Dominican Republic its independence.

1868 – Jonathan Gibbs, minister and educator, is appointed Secretary
of State by the governor of Florida.

1884 – Author and abolitionist William Wells Brown joins the ancestors
in Chelsea, Massachusetts. An escaped slave, Brown’s
autobiography sold 10,000 copies, a record in his day. Brown
also wrote the first known travelogue by an African American
and authored the 1853 work “Clotel”; “Or The President’s
Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States”, the
first fictional work published by an African American.

1900 – James Weldon Johnson and J. Rosamond Johnson compose “Lift
Ev’ry Voice and Sing.” It will become known as the “Negro
National Anthem.”

1920 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is awarded to W.E.B. Du Bois for
“the founding and calling of the Pan African Congress.”

1920 – James Weldon Johnson becomes the first African American
executive secretary of the NAACP.

1928 – Oscar DePriest is elected to the Seventy-First Congress from
Illinois’ First Congressional District (Chicago). Before
becoming a U.S. Representative, DePriest was the first African
American to serve on the Chicago City Council, having been
elected alderman of the Second Ward in 1915. He is the first
African American to win a seat in the United States House of
Representatives in the twentieth century.

1928 – The Atlanta “Daily World” is founded by W.A. Scott Jr. The
newspaper will become a daily in 1933.

1928 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is presented to Charles W. Chestnutt,
the first African American to receive widespread critical
recognition as a novelist. He was cited for his “pioneer work
as a literary artist depicting the life and struggle of
Americans of Negro descent.”

1937 – Eugene Pitt is born in Brooklyn, New York. He will become a
rhythm and blues singer with The Genies – “Who’s that Knockin'”
and lead singer for The Jive Five – “Never Never,” “What Time is
It?,” “I’m a Happy Man” and “My True Story”.

1962 – Edward W. Brooke is elected Attorney General of Massachusetts,
Gerald Lamb is elected Treasurer of Connecticut, and 5 African
Americans are elected to the House of Representatives. Augustus
“Gus” F. Hawkins, becomes the first African American congressman
from the West (Los Angeles, California).

1962 – The U.N. General Assembly adopts a resolution condemning South
Africa for its apartheid policies and recommends member states
apply economic sanctions.

1973 – Coleman Young is elected as the first African American mayor
of Detroit, Michigan.

1973 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is presented to Wilson C. Riles,
the superintendent of public instruction in California, “in
recognition of the stature he has attained as a national leader
in the field of education.”

1973 – The Symbionese Liberation Army ambushes Marcus A. Foster,
superintendent of public schools in Oakland, California, after
a Board of Education meeting. Two members of the group, were
convicted of the slaying, but one of the men has his conviction
overturned, based on a legal technicality.

1973 – Thomas Bradley is elected as the first African American mayor
of Los Angeles, California. His political success was due to
his masterful use of multi-racial coalition. African Americans
at this time were not a large segment of the Los Angeles
population.

1976 – FCC Commissioner Benjamin Hooks is elected NAACP executive
director by the organization’s board of directors, succeeding
Roy Wilkins. He will serve the organization for 16 years,
retiring in 1992. Of his tenure he says, “We have maintained
the integrity of this organization and kept our name out front
and on the minds of those who would turn back the clock.”

1983 – Sgt. Farley Simon, a native of Grenada, becomes the first Marine
to win the Marine Corps Marathon.

1990 – Harvey Gantt, former mayor of Charlotte, NC, loses his Senate
race to incumbent Jesse Helms and the opportunity to become the
first African American senator from the South since
Reconstruction. Barbara-Rose Collins and Maxine Waters are
elected to Congress from their home districts in Michigan and
California, respectively, while Eleanor Holmes Norton is elected
as a non-voting delegate from the District of Columbia.

1990 – Arsenio Hall gets a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.

1992 – Vernon Jordan, along with Warren Christopher, is asked to lead
the White House transition team, by President-elect William
Jefferson Clinton.

Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry.

KRLemmons African American History

November 5 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – November 5 *

1828 – Theodore Sedgwick Wright becomes the first African
American person to get a Theology Degree in the United
States, when he graduates from Princeton Theological
Seminary.

1867 – First Reconstruction constitutional convention opens in
Montgomery, Alabama. It has eighteen African Americans
and ninety whites in attendance.

1901 – Etta Moten (later Barnett) is born in San Antonio, Texas.
She will become an actress starring in “Porgy and Bess”
and have a successful career on Broadway. She will
appear in the movie “Flying Down to Rio”(1933), singing
and dancing the Carioca, and as a singer in “The Gold
Diggers of 1933″(1933). In her later years, she will be
active as an Advisory Board Member of The Black Academy
of Arts and Letters.

1917 – The Supreme Court (Buchanan vs Warley) rules that a
Louisville, Kentucky, ordinance mandating blacks and
whites live in separate areas is unconstitutional.

1926 – Negro History Week is initiated by Carter G. Woodson.

1931 – Ike Turner is born in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He will
become a singer, songwriter/pianist and will join forces
in 1960 with his wife, Tina Turner.

1935 – The Maryland Court of Appeals orders the University of
Maryland to admit African American student, Donald
Murray.

1956 – Art Tatum, joins the ancestors at age 46 in Los Angeles,
California. Despite impaired vision, he received formal
training in music and developed a unique improvisational
style. He was an accomplished jazz pianist who impressed
even classicist Vladimir Horowitz. Perhaps the most
gifted technician of all jazzmen, Tatum had other assets
as well, among them an harmonic sense so acute as to make
him an almost infallible improviser. This aspect of his
style, as well as his great rhythmic freedom, influenced
the young players who became the founders of a new style
called bebop.

1956 – The Nat King Cole Show premiers. The 15-minute show
starring the popular singer will run until June 1957 and
reappear in July in a half-hour format. The first network
variety series hosted by an African American star, it was
canceled due to lack of support by advertisers.

1968 – Eight African American males and the first African American
female, Shirley Chisholm, are elected to the U.S. Congress.
Including previously elected Massachusetts senator Edward
Brooke, it is the largest number of African American
representatives to serve in Congress since the 44th
Congress of 1875-1877.

1970 – The National Guard is mobilized in Henderson, North
Carolina, as a result of racially motivated civil
disturbances.

1974 – George Brown of Colorado and Mervyn Dymally of California
are the first African American lieutenant governors elected
in the 20th century, while Walter Washington becomes the
first African American to be elected mayor of the District
of Columbia, and Harold Ford is elected to Congress from
Tennessee, the first African American from the state.

1974 – The Spingarn Medal is awarded to Damon J. Keith “in tribute
to his steadfast defense of constitutional principles as
revealed in a series of memorable decisions he handed down
as a United States District Court judge.”

1989 – The first memorial to the civil rights movement in the
United States is dedicated at a ceremony in Montgomery,
Alabama. The memorial was commissioned by the Southern
Poverty Law Center, a legal and educational organization
located in Montgomery.

1994 – George Foreman, 45, becomes boxing’s oldest heavyweight
champion by knocking out Michael Moorer in the 10th round
of their WBA fight in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry.

KRLemmons African American History

November 4 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – November 4 *

1872 – Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback is elected as a U.S.
congressman from Louisiana.

1872 – Three African Americans are elected to major offices in
Louisiana elections: C.C Antoine, lieutenant governor;
P.G. Deslonde, secretary of state; W.B. Brown,
superintendent of public education.

1879 – T. Elkins receives a patent on the refrigeration
apparatus.

1953 – Hulan Jack becomes first African American Manhattan
Borough President in New York City.

1958 – World renowned opera singer, Shirley Verrett, makes her
debut in New York City.

1959 – Ernie Banks, Chicago Cubs shortstop, wins the National
League MVP.

1969 – Howard N. Lee and Charles Evers are elected the first
African American mayors of Chapel Hill, North Carolina,
and Fayette, Mississippi respectively.

1971 – Elgin Baylor announces his retirement from the Los
Angeles Lakers. After 14 years in the NBA, Baylor had
scored 23,149 points, the third highest in the league,
and was the fifth-highest career rebounder.

1978 – William Howard Jr. is elected president of the National
Council of Churches, at the age of 32.

1982 – Rayford Logan joins the ancestors in Washington, DC. He
was an educator, historian, and author of numerous books
on African Americans, including the “Dictionary of
American Negro Biography.” Among his honors was a 1980
NAACP Spingarn Medal.

1988 – Bill and Camille Cosby make a $20 million gift to Spelman
College. In his remarks to newly inaugurated President
Johnetta B. Cole, Cosby states, “I want Johnetta Cole to
understand the love that Camille and I have for this
college, the love we have for women who, in spite of odds
against them, come to this school to challenge themselves,
to challenge the school, then to challenge what we call
‘the outside world.'”

1988 – The Martin L. King, Jr. Federal Building is dedicated in
Atlanta, Georgia. It is the first federal building in the
nation to bear the name of the slain civil rights leader.

1999 – Daisy Bates, who is best known for counseling the “Little
Rock Nine,” joins the ancestors at the age of 84. The
“Little Rock Nine” were the students who broke the color
barrier at all-white Central High School in Little Rock,
Arkansas in 1957, Her leadership helped to inch America
toward desegregated schools. She had dedicated her entire
life to service in the civil rights struggle.

Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry.

KRLemmons African American History

November 3 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – November 3 *

1868 – John W. Menard, of Louisiana, is elected as the African
American representative to Congress. Menard defeats a
white candidate, 5,107 to 2,833, in an election in
Louisiana’s Second Congressional District to fill an
unexpired term in the Fortieth Congress.

1874 – James Theodore Holly, an African American who emigrated
to Haiti in 1861, is elected bishop of Haiti.

1883 – Race riots occur in Danville, Virginia, resulting in the
death of four African Americans.

1896 – South Carolina State College is established.

1905 – Artist Lois Mailou Jones is born in Boston, Massachusetts.
She will win her first award in 1926 and have major
exhibitions at the Harmon Foundation, the Salon des
Artistes Francais in Paris, the National Academy of
Design, and many others. Despite her long career, she
will not have a major retrospective of her work until
the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston mounts a show in her
honor in 1973. She will join the ancestors on June 9,
1998.

1920 – “Emperor Jones” opens at the Provincetown Theater with
Charles Gilpin in the title role.

1933 – Louis Wade Sullivan is born in Atlanta, Georgia. He will
become the founder and first dean of the Morehouse
School of Medicine and Secretary of Health and Human
Services, the highest-ranking African American in the
Bush Administration.

1942 – William L. Dawson is elected to Congress from Chicago.

1942 – Black and white advocates of direct, nonviolent action
organized the Congress of Racial Equality in Chicago.
Three CORE members stage a sit-in at Stoner’s Restaurant
in Chicago’s Loop.

1942 – The Spingarn Medal is presented to Asa Philip Randolph
“for organizing the Sleeping Car Porters under the
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and securing
recognition for them; and because of his fearless,
determined mobilization of mass opinion that resulted
in… Executive Order No. 8802, which banned racial
discrimination in defense industries and government work.”

1945 – Irving C. Mollison, a Chicago Republican, is sworn in as
U.S. Customs Court judge in New York City.

1945 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is presented to Paul Robeson
“for his outstanding achievement in the theater, on the
concert stage, and in the general field of racial
welfare.”

1949 – Larry Holmes is born in Easton, Pennsylvania. He will
become a professional boxer and world heavyweight
champion from 1978 to 1985. During his reign, he will
defend his title more times than any other heavyweight
in history, with the exception of Joe Louis.

1953 – Jeffrey Banks is born in Washington, DC. He will become
an influential fashion designer and the youngest designer
to win the prestigious Coty Award, for his outstanding
fur designs.

1962 – Wilt Chamberlain of the NBA San Francisco Warriors, scores
72 points vs the Los Angeles Lakers.

1964 – John Conyers, Jr. is elected to the House of
Representatives from Detroit, Michigan.

1970 – Twelve African Americans are elected to the Ninety-second
Congress, including five new congressmen: Ralph H.
Metcalfe (Illinois), George Collins (Illinois), Charles
Rangel (New York), Ronald Dellums (California), and
Parren Mitchell (Maryland).

1970 – Wilson Riles is elected as the first African American
superintendent of Public Instruction in California.

1970 – Richard Austin is elected as the first African American
secretary of state in Michigan.

1974 – Harold G. Ford is elected U.S. Congressman from Tennessee.

1978 – Dominica is granted its independence by Great Britain.

1979 – Klansmen fire on an anti-Klan rally in Greensboro, North
Carolina, and kill five persons.

1981 – Coleman Young is re-elected mayor of Detroit. Thurman L.
Milner is elected mayor of Hartford, Connecticut. James
Chase is elected mayor of Spokane, Washington.

1983 – Reverend Jesse Jackson announces his candidacy for
President of the United States. Although unsuccessful in
this and a later 1988 campaign, Jackson will win many
Democratic state primaries. His candidacy will win him
national attention and a platform for increased
representation by African Americans in the Democratic
Party.

1992 – Carol Moseley Braun is the first African American woman to
be elected to the U.S. Senate.

1992 – James Clyburn is the first African American to represent
South Carolina since Reconstruction. He had previously
served for 18 years as South Carolina’s Human Affairs
Commissioner.

Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle is edited by Rene’ A. Perry.

KRLemmons African American History

November 2 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – November 2 *

1875 – Democrats suppress the African American vote by fraud
and violence and carry Mississippi elections. “The
Mississippi Plan” staged riots, political
assassinations, massacres and social and economic
intimidation will be used later to overthrow
Reconstruction governments in South Carolina and
Louisiana.

1903 – Business and civic leader, Maggie Lena Walker, opens
the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank in Richmond, Virginia,
becoming the first female bank president in the United
States.

1930 – Ras Tafari Makonnen is crowned Negus of Ethiopia, taking
the name Haile Selassie I, 225th Emperor of Solomonic
Dynasty. His coronation will signify to thousands of
Jamaicans and Garveyites in the United States, the
fulfillment of the prophecy of their leader, Marcus
Garvey.

1954 – Charles C. Diggs becomes the first African American
representative to Congress from Michigan. He, along
with William Dawson of Illinois and Adam Clayton Powell,
Jr. of New York, comprise the largest number of African
Americans to date in Congress in the 20th century. Diggs
will leave Congress in 1980 after being convicted of
mail fraud and being censured by Congress.

1954 – NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is presented to Dr. Theodore K.
Lawles for his research on skin-related diseases.

1958 – Willie McGee, baseball player (St. Louis Cardinals and
1985 National League MVP), is born.

1979 – Black activist Joanne Chesimard escapes from a New Jersey
prison, where she was serving a life sentence for the
1973 slaying of a New Jersey state trooper. Chesimard,
who takes the name Assata Shakur successfully flees the
United States to Cuba.

1982 – Katie B. Hall is elected the first African American
congressional representative from Indiana.

1983 – President Ronald Reagan signs a bill to establish a
federal holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr.’s birthday on the third Monday in January. It is
the culmination of the efforts by many civil rights
organizations and entertainers to name King’s birthday
as a national holiday.

Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle is edited by Rene’ A. Perry.

KRLemmons African American History

November 1 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – November 1 *

1787 – The first free school for African Americans, the African
Free School opens in New York City.

1866 – The first Civil Rights Act is passed over the veto of
President Andrew Johnson.

1901 – Grambling State University is founded in Grambling,
Louisiana as the “Colored Industrial and Agricultural
School” under the leadership of Charles P. Adams.

1910 – The first edition of Crisis magazine is published by the
NAACP with W.E.B. Du Bois as its editor.

1927 – Florence Mills joins the ancestors in New York City after
being hospitalized for an appendectomy at the age of 32.
She was one of the most popular entertainers of her day,
appearing in “Shuffle Along” and “From Broadway to Dixie”
as well as having successful tours in the United States
and Europe.

1940 – In the foreword to his book, “The Negro in Art”, Howard
University professor Alain Locke introduces the most
extensive retrospective of African American art published
to date. The selections appearing in the book span almost
300 years and include the work of 100 black artists from
Europe and the United States including Joshua Johnston,
Edward Bannister, Henry O. Tanner, Romare Bearden, Hale
Woodruff, Palmer Hayden, Allan Crite, James A. Porter,
and James Lesesne Wells, among others.

1942 – John H. Johnson publishes the first issue of Negro Digest.

1945 – The first issue of Ebony magazine is published in Chicago,
Illinois. The second publication of John H. Johnson’s
fledgling company, Ebony will be the catalyst for a
communications empire that will eventually include
magazines, book publishing, and radio.

1946 – Dr. Charles S. Johnson becomes the first African American
president of Fisk University.

1951 – Jet magazine is founded by John H. Johnson, publisher of
Ebony magazine.

1981 – Antigua & Barbuda gain independence from Great Britain.

1998 – John Kagwe of Kenya wins the New York City Marathon for
the second consecutive year.

1999 – Former Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton, the NFL’s
all-time leading rusher, joins the ancestors after
succumbing to bile duct cancer at the age of 45.

Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry.

KRLemmons African American History

October 31 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – October 31 *

1893 – Football player, William Henry Lewis, is named as an All-
American, playing for Harvard College. This is the second
year in a row he is named to the All American Team. He is
the first African American athlete to be named All
American.

1900 – Ethel Waters is born in Chester, Pennsylvania. She will
become a famous blues singer, the first woman to perform
W.C. Handy’s “St. Louis Blues,” and an actress known for
her roles in the movie “Cabin in the Sky” and such
stageplays as “Member of the Wedding”, for which she
will be nominated for a New York Drama Critics Award.
She will join the ancestors on September 1, 1977.

1935 – John Henry Lewis wins the world light heavyweight crown
in St. Louis, Missouri by defeating Bob Olin. He will
become the first American-born light heavyweight champion
to retire undefeated.

1945 – Educator, Booker T. Washington, is inducted into the Hall
of Fame for Great Americans.

1950 – Earl Lloyd becomes the first African American to play in
an NBA game when he takes the floor for the Washington
Capitols in Rochester, New York. Lloyd is actually one
of three African Americans to become NBA players in the
1950 season. The other two are Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton
and Chuck Cooper. Lloyd will play 9 solid NBA seasons
from 1950 to 1960.

1953 – John Harding Lucas II is born in Durham, North Carolina.
He will become a professional basketball player and play
guard for the Houston Rockets and Milwaukee Bucks. He
will become a NBA coach after retiring as a player. He
will coach the San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers and
Cleveland Cavaliers, each for less than two seasons,
compiling a 174 – 258 overall record. Prior to accepting
the head coaching position for the Cavaliers, he will be
an assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets for three
seasons.

1969 – A racially motivated civil disturbance occurs in
Jacksonville, Florida. The disturbance is caused by
tensions between whites and Blacks during civil rights
demonstrations.

Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry.