KRLemmons African American History

November 24 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – November 24 *

1874 – Stephen A. Swails is re-elected president pro tem of the
South Carolina State Senate.

1874 – Robert B. Elliott is elected Speaker of the lower house
of the South Carolina legislature.

1880 – Southern University is established in New Orleans,
Louisiana.

1880 – More than 150 delegates from Baptist Churches in eleven
states organize the Baptist Foreign Mission Convention
of the United States at a meeting in Montgomery,
Alabama. The Rev. William H. McAlphine is elected
president.

1883 – Edwin Bancroft Herson is born in Washington, DC. He will
become a pioneering physical education instructor,
coach, and organizer of the Negro Athletic Association,
and the Colored Inter-Collegiate Athletic Association.
Inducted into the Black Sports Hall of Fame in 1974, he
will be widely considered “the Father of Black Sports.”

1935 – Ronald V. Dellums is born in Oakland, California. He
will become a Berkeley city councilman, where he will be
a vocal champion for minority and disadvantaged
communities. In 1970, he will stage a successful
campaign for the 9th district seat in the U.S. House of
Representatives. Among his leadership roles will be
Chairman of the District of Columbia Committee.

1938 – Oscar Robertson is born in Charlotte, Tennessee. He will
attend the University of Cincinnati, where he will be a
two-time NCAA Player of the Year and three-time All-
American. He will go on to play for fourteen years in
the NBA (Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks) and earn
All-NBA honors 11 times and lead the Royals and the Bucks
to ten playoff berths. Robinson, along with Lew Alcinder
(Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), will lead the Bucks to their only
NBA Championship. Robertson will conclude his career
with 26,710 points (25.7 per game), 9,887 assists (9.5
per game) and 7,804 rebounds (7.5 per game). He will be
voted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1979, following
his retirement in 1974 and be voted one of “The 50
Greatest Players in NBA History.”

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

KRLemmons African American History

November 23 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – November 23 *

1867 – The Louisiana constitutional convention (forty-nine
white delegates and forty-nine African American
delegates) meets in Mechanics Institute in New
Orleans, Louisiana.

1897 – J.L. Love receives a patent for the pencil sharpener.

1897 – Andrew J. Beard receives a patent for the “jerry
coupler,” still is use today to connect railroad
cars.

1905 – Henry Watson Furness, an Indiana physician, is named
minister to Haiti. He will be the last African
American minister to Haiti during this period in
history.

1934 – “Imitation of Life” premieres in New York City. Starring
Claudette Colbert, Louise Beavers, and Fredi Washington,
it is the story of a white woman and an African American
woman who build a pancake business while the latter’s
daughter makes a desperate attempt to pass for white.

1944 – Eugene Washington is born in LaPorte, Texas. He will become a
professional football player, playing wide receiver. He will
play for the Minnesota Vikings (1967–1972) and the Denver
Broncos (1973–1974). He will wear #84 for Minnesota and Denver.
He will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in
2011.

1965 – Mike Garrett, a University of Southern California
running back with 4,876 total yards and 3,221 yards
rushing, is announced as the Downtown Athletic Club’s
Heisman Trophy winner of 1965. He is the University of
Southern California’s first Heisman Trophy winner. He
will go on to play eight years in the pros, first with
the Kansas City Chiefs and later with the San Diego
Chargers, and be elected to the National Football Hall
of Fame in 1985.

1980 – One thousand persons from twenty five states gather in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and form the National Black
Independent Party.

1988 – Al Raby, the civil rights leader who convinced Martin
Luther King, Jr. to bring his movement to Chicago,
joins the ancestors succumbing to a heart attack.

1988 – South African President Pieter Botha gives a reprieve
to the Sharpeville Six.

1991 – Evander Holyfield retains the heavyweight boxing title,
by KO over Bert Cooper in the seventh round.

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