Day: May 7, 2015

* Today in Black History – May 7 *

1867 – African American demonstrators stage a ride-in to protest
segregation on New Orleans streetcars. Similar
demonstrations occur in Mobile, Alabama, and other cities.

1878 – J.R. Winters receives a patent for the fire escape ladder.

1884 – Henrietta Vinton Davis performs scenes from Shakespeare
with Powhatan Beaty at Ford’s Opera House in Washington,
DC, site of the assassination of President Abraham
Lincoln. Vinton’s career will span a total of 44 years
and will include her involvement with Marcus Garvey’s
UNIA, including a vice-presidency of Garvey’s Black Star
Line.

1885 – Dr. John E. W. Thompson, a graduate of the Yale University
Medical School, is named minister to Haiti.

1931 – Literary critic and editor Darwin Theodore Troy Turner is born
in Cincinnati, Ohio. He will be admitted to the University of
Cincinnati at the age of 13. He will receive a bachelor’s
degree three years later, earn a master’s in English from
Cincinnati at the age of 18 and a doctorate from the
University of Chicago when he was 25. He will begin his
teaching career at Clark College in Atlanta in 1949. He will
teach at Morgan State College and Florida A&M University and
will be chairman of the English department at North Carolina
A&T College before joining the Iowa faculty in 1972. At the
time he joins the ancestors on February 11, 1991, he will be
the University of Iowa Foundation Distinguished Professor of
English. His major works will include “Black American
Literature: Essays, Poetry Fiction and Drama” (1969) and
“Voices from the Black Experience: African and Afro-American
Literature” (1972). He will join the ancestors on February 11,
1991, after succumbing to a heart attack.

1936 – Jimmy Lee Ruffin, Sr. is born in Collinsville, Mississippi. The
older brother of the Temptations’ lead singer David Ruffin, he
will become a singer on the Motown label and will best
known for the hit “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted.” He
will also record “Hold on to My Love,” “There Will Never be
Another You,” and “I’ll Say Forever My Love.” He will join
the ancestors on November 17, 2014.

1941 – “Natural Man,” a play by Theodore Browne, premieres in New
York City. It is a production of the American Negro
Theatre, founded by Abram Hill and Frederick O’Neal.

1945 – Baseball owner Branch Rickey announces the organization of
the United States Negro Baseball League, consisting of six
teams.

1946 – William Hastie is inaugurated as the first African American
governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

1959 – 93,103 fans pack the Los Angeles Coliseum for an exhibition
game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York
Yankees. It is “Roy Campanella Night.” The star catcher
for the Dodgers, paralyzed in an automobile accident, is
honored for his contributions to the team for many years.
“Campie” will continue to serve in various capacities with
the Dodger organization for many years.

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