KRLemmons African American History

March 5 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – March 5 *

1770 – Crispus Attucks joins the ancestors after becoming the first
of five persons killed in the Boston Massacre. Historians
have called him the first martyr of the American Revolution.

1897 – The American Negro Academy is founded by Alexander Crummel.
The purpose of the organization is the promotion of
literature, science, art, the fostering of higher education,
and the defense of the Negro.

1920 – Leontine Turpeau Current Kelly is born in Washington, DC. In
1984, she will become the first African American woman to be
named a bishop of a major religious organization, the United
Methodist Church.

1938 – Fred “The Hammer” Williamson is born in Gary, Indiana. He
will become a professional football player after training in
college to be an architect. He will play for the San
Francisco 49’ers from 1962 to 1964, the Kansas City Chiefs
from 1964 to 1967 (played in Super Bowl I), and the Oakland
Raiders from 1967 to 1971. After football, he will become a
sportscaster on ABC’s Monday Night Football with Howard Cosell
for one year. He will then become active in Hollywood as an
actor, director, producer, and writer.

1954 – Marsha Warfield is born in Chicago, Illinois. She will become
an actress and comedian and best known for her role as “Roz
Russell” on NBC’s “Night Court” from 1986 to 1992.

1981 – The United States government grants the city of Atlanta $1
million to finance mental health and social programs in the
wake of a mysterious series of abductions and slayings
involving at least twenty two African American youths.

1985 – The Mary McLeod Bethune commemorative stamp is issued by the
U.S. Postal Service as the eighth stamp in its Black Heritage
USA series.

1991 – Reggie Miller, of the Indiana Pacers begins a NBA free throw
streak of 52 games.

1999 – Avery C. Alexander, a patriarch of the New Orleans’ civil
rights movement, who was arrested 20 times before he lost
count, joins the ancestors at the age of 88. A Baptist
minister and six-term Democratic state representative,
Alexander championed anti-discrimination, voter registration,
labor, closer police oversight and environmental regulation.
In the 1950s, he served as an adviser to Gov. deLesseps “Chep”
Morrison, helping African Americans get their first chance at
political patronage in menial, janitor-level jobs. He went on
to become the first African American to hold seats on parish
and state Democratic Party committees. In 1963, New Orleans
police dragged him by his heels down the steps of City Hall
after he led an unsuccessful effort to integrate its
cafeteria.

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

KRLemmons Resources

March 4 Woman: Barbara McNair, Actress, Singer, TV Host

Today’s Woman is Barbara McNair: Actress, Singer, and one of the first African American women to host a TV show.  Information about this multitalented woman can be found at these links:

NYTimes Obituary: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/06/arts/television/06mcnair.html?_r=0

TV Biography:                                                              http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/barbara-mcnair/bio/141186

 

 

KRLemmons African American History

March 4 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – March 4 *

1837 – The second major African American newspaper, the “Weekly
Advocate” changes its name to the “Colored American.”

1869 – The forty-second Congress convenes (1871-73) with five
African American congressmen: Joseph H. Rainey, Robert
Carlos Delarge, and Robert Brown Elliott from South Carolina;
Benjamin S. Turner, of Alabama; Josiah T. Walls of Florida.
Walls is elected in an at-large election and is the first
African American congressman to represent an entire state.

1889 – The fifty-first Congress convenes. Three Black congressmen:
Henry P. Cheatham of North Carolina; Thomas E. Miller of
South Carolina; and John Mercer Langston of Virginia.

1897 – Willie Covan is born in Atlanta, Georgia. He will become one
of the earliest successful tap dancers, appearing in the
original production of “Shuffle Along” as well as with the
Four Covans.

1901 – The congressional term of George H. White, last of the post
Reconstruction congressmen, ends.

1922 – Theater legend Bert Williams joins the ancestors at the age of
46 in New York City. He was considered the foremost African
American vaudeville performer, teaming first with George
Walker in 1895, most notably in “In Dahomey,” and later as a
soloist with the Ziegfeld Follies.

1932 – Miriam Zenzi Makeba, “Empress of African Song,” is born in
Prospect Township, South Africa. Although exiled from her
homeland, Makeba will become an internationally known
singer and critic of apartheid. Throughout her life and
singing career, She will use her voice to to draw the attention
of the world to the music of South Africa and to its oppressive
system of racial separation. After appearing in the
semi-documentary antiapartheid film, “Come Back, Africa,” she
will attract international attention. This will include
meeting Harry Belafonte, who will become her sponsor and
promoter in the United States. Because her music always
contained a political component – the denunciation of
apartheid, her South African passport will be revoked in 1960.
Her career in the United States will be crippled by her
marriage to Stokely Carmichael (later Kwame Ture’), who was
active in the Black Panther Party. Her career will continue
to flourish in Europe. She will later become a United Nations
delegate from Guinea and will continue to record and perform.
She will return to her homeland, South Africa, in 1990 and in
1991, will make her first performance there in over thirty
years. She will join the ancestors on November 10, 2008 after
succumbing to a heart attack suffered after singing her hit
song “Pata Pata” during a concert organized to support writer
Robert Saviano in his stand against the Camorra, a mafia-like
organization in the Campania region of Italy.

1934 – Barbara McNair is born in Racine, Wisconsin. She will become a
singer and actress, and will host her own television program
(The Barbara McNair Show). The glamorous actress will
moonlight as a pop singer between TV and film roles during
the 1960s. She will be a classy addition to Berry Gordy’s
talent roster when his firm attempts to diversify its appeal.
She will cut a pair of albums for Motown in 1966 and 1969.

1944 – Robert Dwayne “Bobby” Womack is born in Cleveland, Ohio. He
will become a Rhythm and Blues performer, guitarist and
songwriter.

1954 – The first African American sub-cabinet member is appointed.
President Eisenhower names J. Earnest Wilkins of Chicago as
the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor.

1968 – Joe Frazier defeats Buster Mathis for the world heavyweight
boxing championship by knockout in the eleventh round.

1968 – Martin Luther King, Jr. announces plans for the Poor People’s
Campaign in Washington, DC. He says that he will lead a
massive civil disobedience campaign in the capital to pressure
the government to provide jobs and income for all Americans.
He tells a press conference that an army of poor white, poor
African Americans and Hispanics will converge on Washington
on April 20 and will demonstrate until their demands were met.

1981 – A jury in Salt Lake City convicts Joseph Paul Franklin, an
avowed racist, of violating the civil rights of two black men
who were shot to death.

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

KRLemmons Resources

March 3 Woman: Juanita Kidd Stout, Pioneer Judge in Pennsylvania

The woman for March 3 is Juanita Kidd Stout, the first African American woman to serve on a state supreme in Pennsylvania.  Find out more about this woman by clicking on the links below:

NYTimes Obituary: http://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/24/us/j-k-stout-pioneering-judge-in-pennsylvania-is-dead-at-79.html

Library of Congress American Memory: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/awhhtml/awmss5/judg_attys.html

KRLemmons African American History

March 3 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – March 3 *

1820 – In an attempt to resolve the conflict between pro and
antislavery forces, the Missouri Compromise becomes law. In
the final law, Missouri joins the Union as a slave state
while Maine joins as a free one. The measure prohibits
slavery to the north of the southern boundary of Missouri.

1821 – Thomas L. Jennings receives a patent for an invention to “dry
scour” (dry clean) clothes. It is the earliest known patent
granted to an African American.

1865 – Congress establishes the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and
Abandoned Lands, commonly known as the Freedman’s Bureau, to
provide health and education to newly freed slaves displaced
by the Civil War.

1865 – Congress charters Freedmen’s Savings and Trust Bank with
business confined to African Americans.

1869 – The University of South Carolina is opened to all races. Two
African Americans, B.A. Boseman and Francis L. Cardozo were
elected to a seven-man board of trustees.

1896 – The South Carolina legislature passes a measure creating the
Colored Normal Industrial, Agricultural and Mechanical
College (later South Carolina State) in Orangeburg.

1931 – Cab Calloway records the classic “Minnie The Moocher,” a song
that would be forever linked to him. The song combined
scat-singing with nonsense syllables and lyrics of drug use,
recounting how Minnie and her cocaine-using lover, Smokey
Joe, went to Chinatown, where “he showed her how to kick the
gong around” – slang for opium smoking.

1962 – Jacqueline Joyner (later Kersee) is born in East Saint Louis,
Illinois. She will become an Olympic champion, winning two
medals (silver in 1984 and gold in 1988) in the heptathlon
and another gold medal in the long jump at the 1988 Games in
Seoul, South Korea.

1967 – Grenada gains partial independence from Great Britain.

1988 – Juanita Kidd Stout becomes the first African American woman to
serve on a state supreme court when she is sworn in as an
associate justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

1991 – Motorist Rodney King is severely beaten by four Los Angeles
police officers after a high-speed chase in a scene captured
on home video by George Holliday.

1998 – Larry Doby, the second African American to play major league
baseball and the first African American to play in the
American League (Cleveland Indians), is selected for
induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

2013 – Bobby Rogers, an original member of Motown’s group, “The Miracles,”
joins the ancestors. His passing was confirmed by the group’s
longtime front man, Smokey Robinson. Robinson, Rogers and the
rest of the Miracles were a cornerstone act for writer-producer
Berry Gordy’s infant Motown Records, putting songs such as “Shop
Around,” “Tracks of My Tears” and “The Tears of a Clown” on the R&B
and pop charts throughout the 1960s. After Robinson left the group,
the Miracles had a No. 1 hit with “Love Machine” in 1976. When the
group disbanded in the late 1970s, Rogers started an interior design
business. The Miracles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame in 2012.

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

KRLemmons African American History

March 2 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – March 2 *

1807 – “The importation of slaves into the United States or the
territories thereof” after January 1, 1808 is banned by
Congress. Although abolitionists will hail the ban, it will
not significantly affect the U.S. supply of slaves. Illegal
importation will continue through Florida and Texas. The law
also has no provision to restrict the internal slave trade,
and the reproduction rate of American slaves is high enough
to allow an active trade. Therefore the domestic slave trade
continues to prosper after 1808.

1867 – Howard University is chartered by Congress in Washington, DC.
Also founded or chartered are Talladega College in Talledega,
Alabama, Morgan State College in Baltimore, Maryland, Johnson
C. Smith College in Charlotte, North Carolina, and St.
Augustine’s College in Raleigh, North Carolina.

1867 – The first of a succession of Reconstruction acts is passed by
Congress. The acts divide the former Confederate states into
five military districts under the command of army generals.

1867 – African Americans vote in municipal election in Alexandria,
Virginia, for perhaps the first time in the South. The
election commissioners refuse to count the fourteen hundred
votes and military officials suspend local elections pending
clarification of the status of the freedmen.

1867 – Elections are ordered for constitutional conventions and
freedmen are enfranchised. Commanders in some states change
the status of African Americans by military orders. Major
General E.R.S. Canby opens the jury box to African Americans.
African Americans are named policemen in Mobile, Alabama.

1885 – George W. Williams, minister, lawyer and historian, is named
minister to Haiti. The appointment is vacated by the new
administration.

1896 – In the battle of Aduwa, Abyssinia (Ethiopia) defeats the
troops of the invading Italians.

1919 – Claude A. Barnett establishes the Associated Negro Press (ANP),
the first national news service for African American
newspapers. The goal of the ANP is to provide national news
releases to African American publishers. The ANP will operate
for the next 48 years and have, at one time, 95% of all
African American newspapers as subscribers.

1921 – Harry Pace establishes Pace Phonograph Corporation to produce
records on the Black Swan label. It is the first African
American owned and operated record company and will record
blues, jazz, spirituals, and operatic arias.

1957 – Mark Dean is born in Jefferson City, Tennessee. He will
receive a BSEE degree from the University of Tennessee in
1979, a MSEE degree from Florida Atlantic University in
1982, and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford
University in 1992. He will become an engineer for the IBM
Corporation. During his career with IBM, he will hold
several engineering positions in the area of computer
system hardware architecture and design. He will work on
establishing the strategy, architecture, design and
business plan for proposed video server offerings and
studyd the technology and business opportunity for settop
boxes. He will also be chief engineer for the development
of the IBM PC/AT, ISA systems bus, PS/2 Model 70 & 80, the
Color Graphics Adapter and numerous other subsystems. He
will become an IBM Fellow and Vice President of Systems in
IBM Research. He will be responsible for the research and
application of systems technologies spanning circuits to
operating environments. Key technologies in his research
team will include cellular systems structures (Blue Gene),
digital visualization, DA tools, Linux optimizations for
Pervasive, SMPs & Clusters, Settop Box integration, MXT,
S/390 & PowerPC processors, super dense servers, formal
verification methods and high speed low power circuits.
His awards will include induction as a member of the
National Academy of Engineering, the Black Engineer of the
Year Award, the NSBE Distinguished Engineer award, the
Black Engineer of the Year President’s Award, induction
into the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame in Akron, OH and
recipient of the Ronald H. Brown American Innovators Award
in Washington, DC. He will be appointed to IBM Fellow in
1995, IBM’s highest technical honor. Only 50 out of
310,000 IBM employees have the level of IBM Fellow. He will
also be a member of the IBM Academy of Technology, serving
on the Technology Council Board. He will receive several
academic and IBM awards, including thirteen Invention
Achievement Awards and six Corporate Awards. He will also
have more than 30 patents or patents pending.

1961 – 180 African American students and a white minister are arrested
in Columbia, South Carolina after anti-segregation march.

1962 – Philadelphia 76er Wilt Chamberlain scores 100 points in an NBA
game against the New York Knicks. It is a feat Chamberlain
will repeat but one which has not been equaled by another NBA
player to date.

1963 – Suzette DeGaetano is born in Mays Landing, New Jersey. As
Suzette Charles, she will represent New Jersey in the 1984
Miss America competition. She will win the preliminary talent
competition but will finish as first runner-up to Vanessa Lynn
Williams. When Williams is asked to resign her crown after
nude photographs of her came to light, Charles will be
declared to be the second Miss America for 1984, making her
the second African American Miss America after Williams.

1980 – Thomas “Hit Man” Hearns wins the vacant USBA Welterweight
title. This is one of five weight classes in which he wins
a boxing title, making him the first African American to win
boxing titles in five different weight classes.

1986 – Sidney Barthelemy is elected mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana,
succeeding Ernest Morial as the second African American mayor
of the city.

1988 – J. Saunders Redding, author, joins the ancestors in Ithaca,
New York at the age of 81.

1990 – Carole Gist, of Detroit, Michigan, is crowned Miss USA. She
becomes the first African American to win the title.

2003 – Hank Ballard, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member, joins the
ancestors after succumbing to throat cancer in Los Angeles,
California. He wrote “The Twist” and other hits.

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

KRLemmons African American Authors, African American Literature, African American Young Adult Literature, Lesson Plans, Resources

Happy Birthday Ralph Waldo Ellison!

Ralph Waldo Ellison, the author of the classic book Invisible Man was born on March 1.  Information on this author can be found by clicking on the following links:

Library of Congress. Type Ralph Ellison in the search box and view hundreds of primary resources on this author at http://loc.gov

PBS: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/ralph-ellison/an-american-journey/587/

NPR: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9977702

Lesson plans/activities on Invisible Man

Random House: http://www.randomhouse.com/highschool/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780679732761&view=tg

PBS: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/lessons_plans/ralph-ellisons-invisible-man/ 

Ms. Effie’s LifeSavers for Teachers: http://mseffie.com/AP/Invisible%20Man.pdf

KRLemmons African American History, Resources

Rebecca Lee Crumpler: First African American Female Doctor

In honor of Women’s History Month, I will regularly post information on famous African American women.  Today’s woman is Rebecca Lee Crumpler, who was born on March 1 and became the first African American woman who earned her M.D. in 1864.

For more information about Dr. Crumpler, visit the following links below:

National Library of Medicine: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/physicians/biography_73.html

PBS:                  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/partners/early/e_pioneers_crumpler.html

KRLemmons African American History

March 1 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – March 1 *

1739 – The British sign a peace treaty with the Black “Chimarrones”
in Jamaica.

1780 – Pennsylvania becomes the first state to abolish slavery.

1841 – Blanche Kelso Bruce, the first African American to serve a
full term in the United States Senate, is born a slave in
Prince Edward County, Virginia. He will join the ancestors on
March 17, 1898.

1864 – Rebecca Lee becomes the first African American woman to
receive an American medical degree, when she graduates from
the New England Female Medical College in Boston. She,
along with Rebecca Cole and Susan McKinney, is one of the
first African American female physicians.

1871 – James Milton Turner is named minister to Liberia and becomes
the first African American diplomat accredited to an African
country. James W. Mason was named minister in March, 1870,
but never took his post.

1875 – The (first) Civil Rights Bill is passed by Congress. The bill,
which gives African Americans equal rights in inns, theaters,
public transportation, and other public amusements, will be
overturned by the Supreme Court in 1883.

1914 – Ralph Waldo Ellison is born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He
will become a well known author, best known for his book
“Invisible Man,” for which he will win the 1953 National Book
Award. He will join the ancestors on April 16, 1994.

1927 – Harry Belafonte is born in New York City. He will become a
successful folk singer, actor, and winner of the first Emmy
awarded to an African American. His commitment to civil and
human rights will lead him to march with Martin Luther King,
Jr. in Montgomery, Selma, and Washington, DC. Among his
achievements will be Kennedy Center Honors in 1989.

1940 – Richard Wright’s “Native Son” is published by Harper and
Brothers.

1949 – Joe Louis retires as heavyweight boxing champion after holding
the title for a record eleven years and eight months.

1960 – Four national chain stores announce on October 17 that
food counters in about 150 stores in 112 cities in North
Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Texas, Tennessee,
Missouri, Maryland, Florida and Oklahoma have been integrated.

1960 – The Alabama State Board of Education expels nine Alabama State
University students for participating in sit-in
demonstrations.

1960 – Montgomery, Alabama, police break up a protest demonstration
on the Alabama State University campus and arrest thirty-five
students, a teacher and her husband.

1960 – San Antonio, Texas, becomes the first major Southern city to
integrate lunch counters.

1960 – Pope John elevates Bishop Laurian Rugambwa of Tanganyika to
the College of Cardinals, the first cardinal of African
descent in the modern era.

1963 – Carl T. Rowan is named United States ambassador to Finland.

1967 – The House of Representatives votes to expel Adam Clayton
Powell, Jr. from the 90th Congress. (The Supreme Court will
rule in 1969 that Powell will have to be seated.)

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