KRLemmons African American History

June 5 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – June 5 *

1783 – Oliver Cromwell, an African American soldier who served in
the Revolutionary War, receives an honorable discharge
signed by George Washington. Cromwell, who will claim to
have been with Washington when he crossed the Delaware and
in the battles of Yorktown, Princeton, and Monmouth, is
cited by Washington as having earned “the Badge of Merit
for six years’ faithful service.”

1872 – The Republican National Convention meets in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. The meeting marks the first significant
participation of African American delegates: Robert B.
Elliot (chair of the South Carolina delegation); Joseph
Rainey, and John R. Lynch of Mississippi, who each make
addresses to the convention.

1920 – Marion Motley is born in Leesburg, Georgia. He will become
a NFL running back and all-time AAFC rusher for the
Cleveland Browns, ending his career with the Pittsburgh
Steelers. He will enter the NFL in 1946, making him one
of only four African Americans to desegregate the NFL in
the modern era. One of the largest running backs of his
era, Motley will rush for 4,720 yards in his career and
average an astounding 5.7 yards per carry, the highest in
pro football history. He will also be selected to the first
Pro Bowl in 1951. He will be enshrined in the NFL Hall of
Fame in 1968. He will join the ancestors in Cleveland, Ohio
on June 27, 1999.

1940 – The American Negro Theatre is organized in Harlem by
Frederick O’Neal, Abram Hill, and members of the McClendon
Players. Among the plays it will produce is “Anna Lucasta”,
which will be presented on Broadway in 1944 and feature
Canada Lee, Ossie Davis, and Ruby Dee.

1952 – Jersey Joe Walcott defeats Ezzard Charles for the
heavyweight boxing title.

1956 – A three-judge federal court rules that racial segregation on
Montgomery city buses is unconstitutional, ending the
Montgomery bus boycott.

1959 – U.S. Supreme Court undermines the legal foundations of
segregation in three landmark cases, Sweatt v. Painter,
McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents and Henderson v. United
States.

1969 – A race riot occurs in Hartford, Connecticut.

1973 – Doris A. Davis of Compton, California, becomes the first
African American female to govern a metropolitan city.

1973 – Cardiss R. Collins of Chicago, Illinois is elected to
Congress. She will succeed her late husband and spend over
twenty years in the U.S. House of Representatives.

1983 – Yannick Noah becomes the first Frenchman to win the French
Open since World War II.

1988 – Clarence M. Pendleton, Jr. joins the ancestors at the age of
58. He was the first African American chairman of the
United States Civil Rights Commission (1981-88). Following
President Ronald Reagan’s desires, he led the commission
toward a “color-blind” approach to matters of civil rights.

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

KRLemmons African American History

May 15 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – May 15 *

1795 – John Morront, the first African American missionary to work
with Indians, is ordained as a Methodist minister in
London, England.

1802 – Jean Ignace joins the ancestors in Baimbridge, Guadeloupe.
He dies in the revolt against the Napoleonic troops sent to
the Caribbean island to reimpose slavery.

1891 – The British Central African Protectorate (now Malawi) is
established.

1918 – In a World War I incident that will later be known as “The
Battle of Henry Johnson,” the African American attacks
advancing Germans, frees sentry Needham Roberts, and forces
the retreat of the enemy troops. Johnson and Roberts will
be awarded the Croix de Guerre, France’s highest military
award. They are the first Americans ever to win the award.

1923 – “The Chip Woman’s Fortune” by Willis Richardson opens at the
Frazee Theatre on Broadway. The play, staged by the
Ethiopian Art Theatre of Chicago, is the first dramatic work
by an African American playwright to be presented on
Broadway.

1934 – Alvin Francis Poussaint is born in the village of East Harlem
in New York City. After being educated at Columbia College,
Cornell University Medical School, and the University of
California’s Neuropsychiatric Institute, he will become a
psychiatrist and educator specializing in African American
psychological and social issues. He will begin his career
teaching at Tufts Medical School and Harvard Medical School.
He will then join Operation Push. He will be a consultant
for the television series, “The Cosby Show” and “A Different
World, hired to ensure that the story lines present positive
images of African Americans. He will later become Associate
Dean and professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School
(1993).

1938 – Diane Nash is born in Chicago, Illinois. She will become an
civil rights activist and one of the founders of the Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in 1960. She will be part
of the first group of civil rights activists who will refuse
to pay bail for protesting under the “Jail, No Bail”
strategy employed in the South. She will later marry fellow
civil rights activist James Bevel and take his last name as
her middle name. She and her husband will receive the Rosa
Parks award from the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference in 1965.

1942 – The 93rd Infantry is activated at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. It
is the first African American division formed during World
War II and is assigned to combat duty in the South Pacific.

1946 – Camilla Williams appears in the title role of Madama
Butterfly with the New York City Opera. She is the first
African American female concert singer to sign a contract
with a major American opera company.

1953 – Former Heavyweight Champion, Jersey Joe Walcott, is knocked
out by Rocky Marciano at Chicago Stadium at two minutes, 25
seconds of the first round.

1970 – Two African American students (Phillip Lafayette Gibbs and
James Earl Green) at Jackson State University in
Mississippi are killed when police open fire during student
protests.

1983 – James VanDerZee joins the ancestors in Washington, DC at the
age of 96. He had been a prominent photographer who
recorded and contributed to the Harlem Renaissance. Over
his long career, which extended into his 90s, he captured
the images of many famous African Americans.

1992 – Mary M. Monteith (later Simpkins) joins the ancestors in
Columbia, South Carolina. She was a civil right activist
who had been a state secretary of the NAACP and
instrumental in the fight to desegregate South Carolina
public schools.

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

KRLemmons African American History

September 23 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – September 23          *

1667 – In Williamsburg, Virginia, a law was passed, barring
slaves from obtaining their freedom by converting to
Christianity.

1862 – A draft of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation is
published in Northern Newspapers.

1863 – Mary Church (later Terrell) is born in Memphis,
Tennessee. She will become an educator, civil and
woman’s rights advocate, and U.S. delegate to the
International Peace Conference.  She will also be the
first African American to serve on the school board in
the District of Columbia.

1926 – John Coltrane, brilliant jazz saxophonist and composer who
will be considered the father of avant-garde jazz, is
born in Hamlet, North Carolina.

1930 – Ray Charles (Robinson) is born in Albany, Georgia. Blind
by the age of six, he will study music and form his own
band at the age of 24. A recorded performance at the
Newport Jazz Festival in 1958 will establish his career
as one of the premier soul singers in the United States.
Among Charles’s achievements will be three Grammys and
Kennedy Center honors in 1986. He will join the ancestors
on June 10, 2004 after succumbing to liver disease.

1952 – Jersey Joe Walcott, loses his heavyweight title in the
13th round, to Rocky Marciano, in Philadelphia
Pennsylvania.  Pay Television for sporting events begins
with the Marciano-Walcott fight, coast to coast, in 49
theatres in 31 cities.

1954 – Playwright George C. Wolfe is born in Frankfort, Kentucky.
He will become critically acclaimed for the controversial
plays, “The Colored Museum”, “Jelly’s Last Jam”, and
“Spunk”.

1957 – Nine African American students, who had entered Little
Rock Central High School in Arkansas, are forced to leave
because of a white mob outside.

1961 – President Kennedy names Thurgood Marshall to the United
States Circuit Court of Appeals.

1962 – Los Angeles Dodger, Maury Wills, steals record setting
base #97 on his way to 104.

1979 – Lou Brock steals record 935th base and becomes the all-
time major league record holder.

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