April 1 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – April 1 *

1867 – African Americans vote in a municipal election in Tuscumbia,
Alabama. Military officials set aside the election pending
clarification on electoral procedures.

1868 – Hampton Institute is founded in Hampton, Virginia, by General
Samuel Chapman Armstrong.

1895 – Alberta Hunter is born in Memphis, Tennessee. She will run
away from home at the age of twelve and go to Chicago,
Illinois to become a Blues singer. She will work in a
variety of clubs until the violence in the Chicago club
scene prompts her to move to New York City. There she will
record for a variety of blues labels. She will write a lot
of her own songs and songs for other performers. Her song
“Down Hearted Blues,” will become Bessie Smith’s first
record in 1923. She will perform in Europe and America
until 1956, when she will retire from performing. She will
work for more than twenty years as a nurse in a New York
hospital and in 1977, at the age of 82, surprisingly return
to the stage. She will perform until she joins the
ancestors on October 17, 1984.

1905 – The British East African Protectorate becomes the colony of
Kenya.

1917 – Scott Joplin joins the ancestors in New York City. One of
the early developers of ragtime and the author of “Maple
Leaf Rag,” Joplin also created several rag-time and grand
operas, the most noteworthy of which, “Treemonisha,”
consumed his later years in an attempt to have it published
and performed.

1924 – The British Crown takes over Northern Rhodesia from the
British South Africa Company.

1929 – Morehouse College, Spelman College and Atlanta University
are merged, creating a ‘new’ Atlanta University. Dr. John
Hope of Morehouse College, is named president.

1930 – Zawditu, the first reigning female monarch of Ethiopia,
joins the ancestors. She was the second daughter of Emperor
Menelik II. She had been Empress of Ethiopia since 1916.

1939 – Rudolph Bernard “Rudy” Isley is born in Cincinnati, Ohio.
He will become a singer at the age of six with his brothers
O’Kelly, Ronald and Vernon Isley and form the group, The
Isley Brothers. They will leave Cincinnati in 1956 and go
to New York City to pursue their musical career. Rudolph
and his brothers will obtain fame and success nationally
and internationally earning numerous platinum and gold
albums which contain such classic hits as “Shout,” “Twist
and Shout,” “It’s Your Thing,” “Who’s That Lady,” “Fight
the Power,” “For the Love of You,” “Harvest For The World,”
“Live It Up,” “Footsteps in the Dark,” “Work to Do,” “Don’t
Say Good Night” and many others.

1950 – Charles R. Drew, surgeon and developer of the blood bank
concept, joins the ancestors after an automobile accident
near Burlington, North Carolina at the age of 45.

1951 – Oscar Micheaux joins the ancestors in Charlotte, North
Carolina. Micheaux formed his own film production company,
Oscar Micheaux Corporation, to produce his novel “The
Homesteader” and over 30 other movies, notably “Birthright,”
which was adapted from a novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning
author T.S. Stribling, and “Body and Soul,” which marked the
film debut of Paul Robeson.

1966 – The first World Festival of Negro Arts opens in Dakar,
Senegal, with the U.S. African American delegation having
one of the largest number of representatives. First prizes
are won by poet Robert Hayden, engraver William Majors,
actors Ivan Dixon and Abbey Lincoln, gospel singer Mahalia
Jackson, jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong, and sociologist
Kenneth Clark.

1984 – Marvin Gaye joins the ancestors after being shot to death by
his father, Marvin Gaye, Sr. in Los Angeles, California,
one day before his forty-fifth birthday. The elder Gaye
will plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter, and receive
probation. Marvin Gaye was one of the most talented soul
singers of all time. Unlike most soul greats, Gaye’s
artistic inclinations evolved over the course of three
decades, moving from hard-driving soul-pop to funk and
dance grooves.

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

October 17 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – October 17 *

1711 – Jupiter Hammon is born a slave on Long Island, New York. He
will become a poet and the first published Black writer in
America, a poem appearing in print in 1760. He will be
considered one of the founders of African American
literature. He will be a slave his entire life, owned by
several generations of the Lloyd family on Long Island.
However, he will be allowed to attend school, and unlike
many slaves, will be able to read and write. In 1786,
He will give his “Address to the Negroes of the State of
New York” before the African Society. He will write the
the speech at age seventy-six after a lifetime of slavery,
and it will contain his famous quote, “If we should ever
get to Heaven, we shall find nobody to reproach us for
being Black, or for being slaves.” The speech draws
heavily on Christian motifs and theology. For example, He
will say that Black people should maintain their high
moral standards precisely because being slaves on Earth
had already secured their place in heaven. His speech
also will promote the idea of a gradual emancipation as a
way of ending slavery. It will be thought that he stated
this plan because he knew that slavery was so entrenched
in American society that an immediate emancipation of all
slaves would be more difficult to achieve. The speech will
be later reprinted by several groups opposed to slavery.
It is widely believed that he joined the ancestors in
1806.

1787 – Boston African Americans, led by Prince Hall, submit to
the State Legislature in Boston, Massachusetts, a
petition asking for equal educational rights and
facilities. The petition is not granted.

1806 – Jean Jacques Dessalines, revolutionist and Emperor of
Haiti, joins the ancestors as a result of an
assassination.

1817 – Samuel Ringgold Ward is born on the Eastern Shore of
Maryland. He will be considered one of the finest
abolitionist orators. He will work for the Anti-Slavery
Society of Canada and will travel to Britain to further
the society’s work. His fundraising success in Britain
will provide the society to finance their support of
escaped slaves from the United States. After publishing
a book that will chronicle his anti-slavery achievements,
he will be able to retire to Jamaica, where he will join
the ancestors in 1866.

1871 – President Grant suspends the writ of habeas corpus and
declares martial law in nine South Carolina counties
affected by Ku Klux Klan disturbances.

1888 – The first African American bank, Capital Savings Bank of
Washington, DC, opens for business.

1894 – Ohio National Guard kills 3 members of a lynch mob while
rescuing an African American man.

1909 – William R. Cole is born in East Orange, New Jersey. He
will become a jazz drummer best known as “Cozy Cole.”
He will begin to play professionally as a teenager and
will make his first recording at age 20 with Jelly Roll
Morton’s Red Hot Peppers. Cozy Cole will join Cab
Calloway’s band in 1939 and will join CBS radio in 1943
to play in Raymond Scott’s Orchestra, becoming one of
the first African American musicians on a network
musical staff. In 1958, Cole will make a solo hit
record, “Topsy,” that sells more than a million copies.
He will join the ancestors on January 9, 1981.

1928 – James William “Junior” Gilliam is born in Nashville,
Tennessee. He will become a professional baseball player
for the Brooklyn Dodgers and will be the National League
Rookie of the Year in 1953. a key member of ten NL
championship teams from 1953 to 1978. The Dodgers’
leadoff hitter for most of the 1950s, he will score over
100 runs in each of his first four seasons and lead the
National League in triples and walks once each. He will
be the first switch hitter since the 19th century to
play regularly for the Dodgers for more than three years,
and will later became one of the first Black coaches in
the major leagues. He will join the ancestors on October
8, 1978 in Inglewood, California after succumbing to a
cerebral hemorrhage.

1956 – Mae C. Jemison is born in Decatur, Alabama. She will
grow up in Chicago, become a physician, serve in the
Peace Corps in Africa, and practice medicine in Los
Angeles, before being selected for the astronaut
training program in 1987.

1969 – Dr. Clifton R. Wharton Jr., is elected president of
Michigan State University and becomes the first African
American to head a major, predominantly white university
in the twentieth century.

1985 – Legendary jazz and blues singer Alberta Hunter joins the
ancestors in New York City. She achieved fame in
Chicago jazz clubs in the 1920’s, toured Europe in the
1930’s and, after over 20 years of anonymity as a nurse,
returned to performing in 1977.

1990 – Dr. Ralph Abernathy, civil rights leader, joins the
ancestors.

1991 – The 100th episode of “A Different World” airs on NBC.
The acclaimed show, a spin-off of “The Cosby Show” that
stars Jasmine Guy, Kadeem Hardison, and an ensemble of
young African American actors, is directed by Debbie
Allen.

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

April 1 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – April 1 *

1867 – African Americans vote in a municipal election in Tuscumbia,
Alabama. Military officials set aside the election pending
clarification on electoral procedures.

1868 – Hampton Institute is founded in Hampton, Virginia, by General
Samuel Chapman Armstrong.

1895 – Alberta Hunter is born in Memphis, Tennessee. She will run
away from home at the age of twelve and go to Chicago,
Illinois to become a Blues singer. She will work in a
variety of clubs until the violence in the Chicago club
scene prompts her to move to New York City. There she will
record for a variety of blues labels. She will write a lot
of her own songs and songs for other performers. Her song
“Down Hearted Blues,” will become Bessie Smith’s first
record in 1923. She will perform in Europe and America
until 1956, when she will retire from performing. She will
work for more than twenty years as a nurse in a New York
hospital and in 1977, at the age of 82, surprisingly return
to the stage. She will perform until she joins the
ancestors in 1984.

1905 – The British East African Protectorate becomes the colony of
Kenya.

1917 – Scott Joplin joins the ancestors in New York City. One of
the early developers of ragtime and the author of “Maple
Leaf Rag,” Joplin also created several rag-time and grand
operas, the most noteworthy of which, “Treemonisha,”
consumed his later years in an attempt to have it published
and performed.

1924 – The British Crown takes over Northern Rhodesia from the
British South Africa Company.

1929 – Morehouse College, Spelman College and Atlanta University
are merged, creating a ‘new’ Atlanta University. Dr. John
Hope of Morehouse College, is named president.

1930 – Zawditu, the first reigning female monarch of Ethiopia, joins
the ancestors. She was the second daughter of Emperor
Menelik II. She had been Empress of Ethiopia since 1916.

1939 – Rudolph Bernard Isley is born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He will
become a singer at the age of six with his brothers O’Kelly,
Ronald and Vernon Isley and form the group, The Isley
Brothers. They will leave Cincinnati in 1956 and go to New
York City to pursue their musical career. Rudolph and his
brothers will obtain fame and success nationally and
internationally earning numerous platinum and gold albums
which contain such classic hits as “Shout,” “Twist and
Shout,” “It’s Your Thing,” “Who’s That Lady,” “Fight the
Power,” “For the Love of You,” “Harvest For The World,”
“Live It Up,” “Footsteps in the Dark,” “Work to Do,” “Don’t
Say Good Night” and many others.

1950 – Charles R. Drew, surgeon and developer of the blood bank
concept, joins the ancestors after an automobile accident
near Burlington, North Carolina at the age of 45.

1951 – Oscar Micheaux joins the ancestors in Charlotte, North
Carolina. Micheaux formed his own film production company,
Oscar Micheaux Corporation, to produce his novel “The
Homesteader” and over 30 other movies, notably “Birthright,”
which was adapted from a novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning
author T.S. Stribling, and “Body and Soul,” which marked the
film debut of Paul Robeson.

1966 – The first World Festival of Negro Arts opens in Dakar,
Senegal, with the U.S. African American delegation having
one of the largest number of representatives. First prizes
are won by poet Robert Hayden, engraver William Majors,
actors Ivan Dixon and Abbey Lincoln, gospel singer Mahalia
Jackson, jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong, and sociologist
Kenneth Clark.

1984 – Marvin Gaye joins the ancestors after being shot to death by
his father, Marvin Gaye, Sr. in Los Angeles, California,
one day before his forty-fifth birthday. The elder Gaye
will plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter, and receive
probation. Marvin Gaye was one of the most talented soul
singers of all time. Unlike most soul greats, Gaye’s
artistic inclinations evolved over the course of three
decades, moving from hard-driving soul-pop to funk and
dance grooves

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

 

October 17 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – October 17 *

1711 – Jupiter Hammon is born a slave on Long Island, New York. He
will become a poet and the first published Black writer in
America, a poem appearing in print in 1760. He will be
considered one of the founders of African American
literature. He will be a slave his entire life, owned by
several generations of the Lloyd family on Long Island.
However, he will be allowed to attend school, and unlike
many slaves, will be able to read and write. In 1786,
He will give his “Address to the Negroes of the State of
New York” before the African Society. He will write the
the speech at age seventy-six after a lifetime of slavery,
and it will contain his famous quote, “If we should ever
get to Heaven, we shall find nobody to reproach us for
being Black, or for being slaves.” The speech draws
heavily on Christian motifs and theology. For example, He
will say that Black people should maintain their high
moral standards precisely because being slaves on Earth
had already secured their place in heaven. His speech
also will promote the idea of a gradual emancipation as a
way of ending slavery. It will be thought that he stated
this plan because he knew that slavery was so entrenched
in American society that an immediate emancipation of all
slaves would be more difficult to achieve. The speech will
be later reprinted by several groups opposed to slavery.
It is widely believed that he joined the ancestors in
1806.

1787 – Boston African Americans, led by Prince Hall, submit to
the State Legislature in Boston, Massachusetts, a
petition asking for equal educational rights and
facilities. The petition is not granted.

1806 – Jean Jacques Dessalines, revolutionist and Emperor of
Haiti, joins the ancestors as a result of an
assassination.

1817 – Samuel Ringgold Ward is born on the Eastern Shore of
Maryland. He will be considered one of the finest
abolitionist orators. He will work for the Anti-Slavery
Society of Canada and will travel to Britain to further
the society’s work. His fundraising success in Britain
will provide the society to finance their support of
escaped slaves from the United States. After publishing
a book that will chronicle his anti-slavery achievements,
he will be able to retire to Jamaica, where he will join
the ancestors in 1866.

1871 – President Grant suspends the writ of habeas corpus and
declares martial law in nine South Carolina counties
affected by Ku Klux Klan disturbances.

1888 – The first African American bank, Capital Savings Bank of
Washington, DC, opens for business.

1894 – Ohio National Guard kills 3 members of a lynch mob while
rescuing an African American man.

1909 – William R. Cole is born in East Orange, New Jersey. He
will become a jazz drummer best known as “Cozy Cole.”
He will begin to play professionally as a teenager and
will make his first recording at age 20 with Jelly Roll
Morton’s Red Hot Peppers. Cozy Cole will join Cab
Calloway’s band in 1939 and will join CBS radio in 1943
to play in Raymond Scott’s Orchestra, becoming one of
the first African American musicians on a network
musical staff. In 1958, Cole will make a solo hit
record, “Topsy,” that sells more than a million copies.
He will join the ancestors on January 9, 1981.

1928 – James William “Junior” Gilliam is born in Nashville,
Tennessee. He will become a professional baseball player
for the Brooklyn Dodgers and will be the National League
Rookie of the Year in 1953. a key member of ten NL
championship teams from 1953 to 1978. The Dodgers’
leadoff hitter for most of the 1950s, he will score over
100 runs in each of his first four seasons and lead the
National League in triples and walks once each. He will
be the first switch hitter since the 19th century to
play regularly for the Dodgers for more than three years,
and will later became one of the first Black coaches in
the major leagues. He will join the ancestors on October
8, 1978 in Inglewood, California after succumbing to a
cerebral hemorrhage.

1956 – Mae C. Jemison is born in Decatur, Alabama. She will
grow up in Chicago, become a physician, serve in the
Peace Corps in Africa, and practice medicine in Los
Angeles, before being selected for the astronaut
training program in 1987.

1969 – Dr. Clifton R. Wharton Jr., is elected president of
Michigan State University and becomes the first African
American to head a major, predominantly white university
in the twentieth century.

1985 – Legendary jazz and blues singer Alberta Hunter joins the
ancestors in New York City. She achieved fame in
Chicago jazz clubs in the 1920’s, toured Europe in the
1930’s and, after over 20 years of anonymity as a nurse,
returned to performing in 1977.

1990 – Dr. Ralph Abernathy, civil rights leader, joins the
ancestors.

1991 – The 100th episode of “A Different World” airs on NBC.
The acclaimed show, a spin-off of “The Cosby Show” that
stars Jasmine Guy, Kadeem Hardison, and an ensemble of
young African American actors, is directed by Debbie
Allen.

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

April 1 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – April 1 *

1867 – African Americans vote in a municipal election in Tuscumbia,
Alabama. Military officials set aside the election pending
clarification on electoral procedures.

1868 – Hampton Institute is founded in Hampton, Virginia, by General
Samuel Chapman Armstrong.

1895 – Alberta Hunter is born in Memphis, Tennessee. She will run
away from home at the age of twelve and go to Chicago,
Illinois to become a Blues singer. She will work in a
variety of clubs until the violence in the Chicago club
scene prompts her to move to New York City. There she will
record for a variety of blues labels. She will write a lot
of her own songs and songs for other performers. Her song
“Down Hearted Blues,” will become Bessie Smith’s first
record in 1923. She will perform in Europe and America
until 1956, when she will retire from performing. She will
work for more than twenty years as a nurse in a New York
hospital and in 1977, at the age of 82, surprisingly return
to the stage. She will perform until she joins the
ancestors in 1984.

1905 – The British East African Protectorate becomes the colony of
Kenya.

1917 – Scott Joplin joins the ancestors in New York City. One of
the early developers of ragtime and the author of “Maple
Leaf Rag,” Joplin also created several rag-time and grand
operas, the most noteworthy of which, “Treemonisha,”
consumed his later years in an attempt to have it published
and performed.

1924 – The British Crown takes over Northern Rhodesia from the
British South Africa Company.

1929 – Morehouse College, Spelman College and Atlanta University
are merged, creating a ‘new’ Atlanta University. Dr. John
Hope of Morehouse College, is named president.

1930 – Zawditu, the first reigning female monarch of Ethiopia, joins
the ancestors. She was the second daughter of Emperor
Menelik II. She had been Empress of Ethiopia since 1916.

1939 – Rudolph Bernard Isley is born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He will
become a singer at the age of six with his brothers O’Kelly,
Ronald and Vernon Isley and form the group, The Isley
Brothers. They will leave Cincinnati in 1956 and go to New
York City to pursue their musical career. Rudolph and his
brothers will obtain fame and success nationally and
internationally earning numerous platinum and gold albums
which contain such classic hits as “Shout,” “Twist and
Shout,” “It’s Your Thing,” “Who’s That Lady,” “Fight the
Power,” “For the Love of You,” “Harvest For The World,”
“Live It Up,” “Footsteps in the Dark,” “Work to Do,” “Don’t
Say Good Night” and many others.

1950 – Charles R. Drew, surgeon and developer of the blood bank
concept, joins the ancestors after an automobile accident
near Burlington, North Carolina at the age of 45.

1951 – Oscar Micheaux joins the ancestors in Charlotte, North
Carolina. Micheaux formed his own film production company,
Oscar Micheaux Corporation, to produce his novel “The
Homesteader” and over 30 other movies, notably “Birthright,”
which was adapted from a novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning
author T.S. Stribling, and “Body and Soul,” which marked the
film debut of Paul Robeson.

1966 – The first World Festival of Negro Arts opens in Dakar,
Senegal, with the U.S. African American delegation having
one of the largest number of representatives. First prizes
are won by poet Robert Hayden, engraver William Majors,
actors Ivan Dixon and Abbey Lincoln, gospel singer Mahalia
Jackson, jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong, and sociologist
Kenneth Clark.

1984 – Marvin Gaye joins the ancestors after being shot to death by
his father, Marvin Gaye, Sr. in Los Angeles, California,
one day before his forty-fifth birthday. The elder Gaye
will plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter, and receive
probation. Marvin Gaye was one of the most talented soul
singers of all time. Unlike most soul greats, Gaye’s
artistic inclinations evolved over the course of three
decades, moving from hard-driving soul-pop to funk and
dance grooves.

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

October 17 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – October 17           *

1711 – Jupiter Hammon is born a slave on Long Island, New York. He
will become a poet and the first published Black writer in
America, a poem appearing in print in 1760. He will be
considered one of the founders of African American
literature. He will be a slave his entire life, owned by
several generations of the Lloyd family on Long Island.
However, he will be allowed to attend school, and unlike
many slaves, will be able to read and write. In 1786,
He will give his “Address to the Negroes of the State of
New York” before the African Society. He will write the
the speech at age seventy-six after a lifetime of slavery,
and it will contain his famous quote, “If we should ever
get to Heaven, we shall find nobody to reproach us for
being Black, or for being slaves.” The speech draws
heavily on Christian motifs and theology. For example, He
will say that Black people should maintain their high
moral standards precisely because being slaves on Earth
had already secured their place in heaven. His speech
also will promote the idea of a gradual emancipation as a
way of ending slavery. It will be thought that he stated
this plan because he knew that slavery was so entrenched
in American society that an immediate emancipation of all
slaves would be more difficult to achieve. The speech will
be later reprinted by several groups opposed to slavery.
It is widely believed that he joined the ancestors in
1806.

1787 – Boston African Americans, led by Prince Hall, submit to
the State Legislature in Boston, Massachusetts, a
petition asking for equal educational rights and
facilities.  The petition is not granted.

1806 – Jean Jacques Dessalines, revolutionist and Emperor of
Haiti, joins the ancestors as a result of an
assassination.

1817 – Samuel Ringgold Ward is born on the Eastern Shore of
Maryland. He will be considered one of the finest
abolitionist orators. He will work for the Anti-Slavery
Society of Canada and will travel to Britain to further
the society’s work. His fundraising success in Britain
will provide the society to finance their support of
escaped slaves from the United States. After publishing
a book that will chronicle his anti-slavery achievements,
he will be able to retire to Jamaica, where he will join
the ancestors in 1866.

1871 – President Grant suspends the writ of habeas corpus and
declares martial law in nine South Carolina counties
affected by Ku Klux Klan disturbances.

1888 – The first African American bank, Capital Savings Bank of
Washington, DC, opens for business.

1894 – Ohio National Guard kills 3 members of a lynch mob while
rescuing an African American man.

1909 – William R. Cole is born in East Orange, New Jersey.  He
will become a jazz drummer best known as “Cozy Cole.”
He will begin to play professionally as a teenager and
will make his first recording at age 20 with Jelly Roll
Morton’s Red Hot Peppers. Cozy Cole will join Cab
Calloway’s band in 1939 and will join CBS radio in 1943
to play in Raymond Scott’s Orchestra, becoming one of
the first African American musicians on a network
musical staff.  In 1958, Cole will make a solo hit
record, “Topsy,” that sells more than a million copies.
He will join the ancestors on January 9, 1981.

1928 – James William “Junior” Gilliam is born in Nashville,
Tennessee. He will become a professional baseball player
for the Brooklyn Dodgers and will be the National League
Rookie of the Year in 1953.  a key member of ten NL
championship teams from 1953 to 1978. The Dodgers’
leadoff hitter for most of the 1950s, he will score over
100 runs in each of his first four seasons and lead the
National League in triples and walks once each. He will
be the first switch hitter since the 19th century to
play regularly for the Dodgers for more than three years,
and will later became one of the first Black coaches in
the major leagues. He will join the ancestors on October
8, 1978 in Inglewood, California after succumbing to a
cerebral hemorrhage.

1956 – Mae C. Jemison is born in Decatur, Alabama. She will
grow up in Chicago, become a physician, serve in the
Peace Corps in Africa, and practice medicine in Los
Angeles, before being selected for the astronaut
training program in 1987.

1969 – Dr. Clifton R. Wharton Jr., is elected president of
Michigan State University and becomes the first African
American to head a major, predominantly white university
in the twentieth century.

1985 – Legendary jazz and blues singer Alberta Hunter joins the
ancestors in New York City.  She achieved fame in
Chicago jazz clubs in the 1920’s, toured Europe in the
1930’s and, after over 20 years of anonymity as a nurse,
returned to performing in 1977.

1990 – Dr. Ralph Abernathy, civil rights leader, joins the
ancestors.

1991 – The 100th episode of “A Different World” airs on NBC.
The acclaimed show, a spin-off of “The Cosby Show” that
stars Jasmine Guy, Kadeem Hardison, and an ensemble of
young African American actors, is directed by Debbie
Allen.

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