KRLemmons African American History

December 4 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – December 4 *

1783 – George Washington’s farewell address to his troops is
held at Fraunces Tavern in New York City. The tavern
is owned by Samuel “Black Sam” Fraunces, a wealthy
West Indian of African and French descent who aided
Revolutionary forces with food and money.

1807 – Prince Hall, activist and Masonic leader, joins the
ancestors in Boston, Massachusetts.

1833 – The American Anti-Slavery Society is founded in
Philadelphia by James Barbados, Robert Purvis, James
McCrummell, James Forten, Jr., John B. Vashon and
others.

1895 – Fort Valley State College is established in Georgia.

1895 – The South Carolina Constitutional Convention adopted a
new constitution with “understanding clause” designed
to eliminate African American voters.

1899 – The Fifty-Sixth Congress convenes with only one African
American congressman, George H. White, from North
Carolina.

1906 – Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. is founded on the
campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York,
becoming the first African American Greek-letter
organization.

1909 – The New York “Amsterdam News” is founded by James
Anderson. Originally priced at two cents, it will grow
to a circulation of almost 35,000 by 1990.

1915 – The NAACP leads protest demonstrations against the
showing of the racist movie, “Birth of a Nation.”

1915 – The Ku Klux Klan receives its charter from Fulton
County, Georgia Superior Court. The modern Klan will
spread to Alabama and other Southern states and reach
the height of its influence in the twenties. By 1924,
the organization will be strong in Oklahoma, Indiana,
California, Oregon, Indiana, and Ohio, and have an
estimated four million members.

1927 – President Coolidge commutes Marcus Garvey’s sentence.
Garvey will be taken to New Orleans and deported to his
native Jamaica.

1927 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is awarded to Anthony Overton,
publisher, insurance executive and cosmetics
manufacturer, for his achievements as a businessman.

1927 – Duke Ellington’s big band opens at the famed Cotton Club
in Harlem. It is the first appearance of the Duke’s
new and larger group. He will play the club until 1932.

1943 – Professional baseball’s commissioner Landis announces
that any club may sign Negroes to a playing contract.

1956 – Bernard King, professional basketball player (New York
Knicks, New Jersey Nets), is born.

1958 – Dahomey (Benin), and the Ivory Coast become autonomous
within the French Community of Nations.

1969 – The Pulitzer Prize for photography is awarded to Moneta
Sleet Jr. of Ebony magazine. He is the first African
American male cited by the Pulitzer committee.

1969 – Clarence Mitchell Jr., director of the Washington Bureau
of the NAACP, is awarded the Spingarn Medal “for the
pivotal role he….played in the enactment of civil
rights legislation.”

1969 – Two Black Panther leaders, Fred Hampton(Illinois State
Chairman) and Mark Clark, join the ancestors after
being killed in a Chicago police raid. The two men are
shot while sleeping in their beds. Fred Hampton is
just 20 years old.

1977 – Jean-Bedel Bokassa, ruler of the Central African Empire,
crowns himself.

1981 – According to South Africa, Ciskei gains independence,
but is not recognized as an independent country outside
South Africa.

1982 – Hershel Walker, a University of Georgia running back who
amassed an NCAA record of 5,097 yards in three seasons,
is named the Heisman Trophy winner. He is only the
seventh junior to win the award. He will go on to play
with the New Jersey Generals of the U.S. Football League
and the Minnesota Vikings and Dallas Cowboys in the NFL.

1990 – The Watts Health Foundation reports revenues in excess of
$100 million for the first year in its history.
Established in 1967, the Foundation grew from its initial
site on riot-torn 103rd Street to serve over 80,000
residents of the Greater Los Angeles area with its HMO,
United Health Plan, and its numerous community-based
programs. Led by CEO Dr. Clyde Oden, it is the largest
community-based health care system of its kind in the
nation.

1992 – United States troops land in the country of Somalia.

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

KRLemmons African American History

October 23 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – October 23 *

1775 – The Continental Congress approves resolution prohibiting
the enlistment of African Americans in the Army.

1783 – Virginia emancipates slaves who fought for independence
during the Revolutionary War.

1790 – A major slave revolt occurs in Haiti, which is later
suppressed.

1847 – William Leidesdorff brings his ship Sitka from Sitka,
Alaska, to San Francisco, California. Earlier in the
year, the Danish West Indies Native had launched the
first steamboat ever to sail in San Francisco Bay. The
ventures were one of many activities for Leidesdorff,
which included appointment as United States vice-counsel
for property acquisition in San Francisco.

1886 – Wiley Jones operates the first streetcar system in Pine
Bluff, Arkansas.

1911 – Three organizations, The Committee for Improving the
Industrial Conditions of Negroes in New York, The
Committee on Urban Conditions and The National League
for the Protection of Colored Women merge, under the
leadership of Dr. George E. Hayne and Eugene Kinckle
Jones, to form the National Urban League. Eugene
Kinckle Jones is named executive secretary.

1940 – Edson Arantes do Nascimento is born in a small village
in Brasil called Três Corações in the Brasilian state
of Minas Gerais. He will become a soccer player and at
the age of sixteen will join the Brasilian National
team. He will be known world-wide as Pele’, seen as
the greatest player in history of soccer. After
retiring from his team, the Santos, he will be
recruited to play for the New York Cosmos in 1971,
playing an additional three years. He will score
1,281 goals in his career.

1945 – Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers signs Jackie
Robinson to the club’s Triple A farm team, the Montreal
Royals. In a little under 18 months, Robinson will be
called up to the majors, the first African American to
play major league baseball in the twentieth century.

1947 – The NAACP petition on racism and racial injustice, “An
Appeal to the World,” is presented to the United
Nations at Lake Success, New York.

1951 – The NAACP pickets the Stork Club in support of Josephine
Baker, who had been refused admission to the club a
week earlier. After a city-convened special committee
calls Baker’s charges unfounded, Thurgood Marshall will
call the findings a “complete and shameless whitewash
of the long-established and well-known discriminatory
policies of the Stork Club.”

1966 – “Supremes” Album Tops U.S. Charts. The record “Supremes
A Go Go” becomes the top-selling LP album in the U.S.
It is the first album by an all-female group to reach
that position. One of the most successful groups of
its kind, the Supremes, fronted by Diana Ross, will
have seven albums reach the top 10 during the 1960s.

1968 – Kip Keino of Kenya wins an Olympic Gold Medal for the
1,500 meter run (3 min 34.9 sec).

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