KRLemmons African American History

July 31 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – July 31 *

1874 – Patrick Francis Healy, a Jesuit priest, is inaugurated as
president of Georgetown University in Washington, DC.
Healy is the first African American to head a
predominantly white university and is credited with the
modernization of the university’s curriculum and the
expansion of its campus.

1921 – Whitney Young, Jr. is born in Lincoln Ridge, Kentucky. He
will become dean of Atlanta University’s School of Social
Work before becoming executive director of the National
Urban League. As its leader during the 1960’s, he will
guide the organization through one of the most socially
and politically active decades in America’s history. A
1969 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom,
Young will speak out against government and business’ lack
f commitment to African Americans. During a visit to
Nigeria in 1971, he will join the ancestors on March 11,
1971 after a swimming accident in Lagos.

1931 – Kenny Burrell is born in Detroit, Michigan. He will become
a prolific composer and professional musician specializing
in the guitar. For over forty years, he will be a jazz
professional. Kenny, who will credit Charlie Christian,
Oscar Moore, and Django Reinhardt as influences, as well
as such bluesmen as T-Bone Walker and Muddy Waters, will
play on his first major recording session in Detroit in
1951 with a Dizzy Gillespie combo that will include John
Coltrane, Milt Jackson, and Percy Heath. Even though the
young guitarist will keep heavy company, including that of
such other up-and-coming Detroiters as Tommy Flanagan,
Yusef Lateef, Pepper Adams, and Elvin Jones, he will
remain in Detroit to study at Wayne State University, from
which he will earn a B.A. in music composition and theory
in 1955. He will also study classical guitar with Joseph
Fava during that period and continue to employ finger-
style and other techniques. After the mid-Sixties, he will
lead his own group plus work in “All-Star” settings and
will perform with college bands and orchestras. He will
also perform with professional orchestras such as the
Detroit Symphony and the Buffalo Philharmonic.

1938 – New York Yankees suspend Jake Powell, after he says on
Chicago radio that he would “hit every colored person in
Chicago over the head with a club.”

1960 – At a New York City meeting of the Nation of Islam, the
Honorable Elijah Muhammad calls for the creation of a
Black state in America.

1962 – Wesley Snipes is born in Orlando, Florida. After growing
up in the Bronx, New York City, he will become a film
actor starring in films such as “New Jack City,” “Jungle
Fever,” “Passenger 57,” “Demolition Man,” “Money Train,”
“Rising Sun,” “Major League,” “Sugar Hill,” “White Men
Can’t Jump,” and “King of New York.”

1969 – Racially motivated disturbances in Baton Rouge cause the
governor of Louisiana to mobilize the National Guard.

1981 – Attorney Arnette R. Hubbard is installed as the first
woman president of the National Bar Association, the
largest national group of African American attorneys,
legal scholars, and jurists. Hubbard is a graduate of
John Marshall Law School in Chicago and past president
of the Cook County Bar Association.

1985 – Prince is big at the box-office with the autobiographical
story of the Minneapolis rock star — “Purple Rain.” The
ilm grosses $7.7 million in its first three days of
release on 917 movie screens. The album of the same name
is, at the time, the top LP in the United States, as well.

1988 – Willie Stargell, formerly of the Pittsburgh Pirates, becomes
the 200th man inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame at
Cooperstown, New York.

1990 – Shoal Creek, a private club in Birmingham, Alabama, that
drew criticism for being all-white, announces it had
accepted a Black businessman as an honorary member.

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

KRLemmons African American History

July 26 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – July 26 *

1847 – Twenty-five years after the first free African Americans
arrive at the colony of Cape Mesurado, the commonwealth
of Liberia declares itself an independent republic.
Joseph Jenkins Roberts, a Virginia native, becomes its
first president.

1865 – Catholic priest Patrick Francis Healy passes his final
Ph.D. examinations in philosophy at the University of
Louvrain in Belgium. He becomes the first African
American to earn a Ph.D.

1916 – Spottswood W. Robinson III is born in Richmond, Virginia.
He will pursue a distinguished career in law, in private
practice, as a representative of the NAACP Legal Defense
Fund, dean of the Howard University Law School, and as a
member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. In 1966,
he will be named a U.S. Circuit Judge of the DC Circuit
by President Lyndon B. Johnson, becoming the first African
American jurist on that court. He will later become the
first African American Chief Judge of the District of
Columbia Circuit Court. He will join the ancestors on
October 11, 1998.

1918 – Two days after she moves into a predominantly, though not
exclusively, white Philadelphia neighborhood, an African
American woman’s house is stoned. The incident will set
off four days of riots in which one African American and
three whites are killed.

1926 – The Spingarn Medal is awarded to Carter G. Woodson for
“ten years of devoted service in collecting and
publishing the records of the Negro in America.”

1948 – President Harry S Truman issues Executive Order 9981,
directing “equality of treatment and opportunity for all
personnel without regard to race, color, religion or
national origin” in federal employment and the armed
forces.

1948 – Bob Howard becomes the first African American host of a
network show – CBS’ “The Bob Howard Show.”

1951 – The Army announces that it is disbanding the 24th Infantry
Regiment, its last and oldest all African American
regiment, in order to integrate all White and African
American troops in the Korean War zone.

1998 – Larry Doby, the first African American in major league
baseball’s American League, and Joe Rogan, a player in
the Negro Leagues, are inducted into Baseball’s Hall of
Fame.

2009 – Rickey Henderson, age 50 and Jim Rice, age 56, are inducted
into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
Henderson lead the American League in steals 12 times and
holds the record for steals with 1,406, runs scored with
2,295, unintentional walks with 2,129, and homers leading
off a game with 81. He also set the modern major league
record for stolen bases with 130. Rice batted .298 with
382 home runs and 1,451 RBI from 1974 to 1989. He drove
in 100 or more runs eight times, batted over .300 seven
times, and topped 200 hits four times. Rice is also the
only player in major league history with at least 35 homers
and 200 hits in three consecutive seasons (1977-79).

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

KRLemmons African American History

July 31 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – July 31 *

1874 – Patrick Francis Healy, a Jesuit priest, is inaugurated as
president of Georgetown University in Washington, DC.
Healy is the first African American to head a
predominantly white university and is credited with the
modernization of the university’s curriculum and the
expansion of its campus.

1921 – Whitney Young, Jr. is born in Lincoln Ridge, Kentucky. He
will become dean of Atlanta University’s School of Social
Work before becoming executive director of the National
Urban League. As its leader during the 1960’s, he will
guide the organization through one of the most socially
and politically active decades in America’s history. A
1969 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom,
Young will speak out against government and business’ lack
f commitment to African Americans. During a visit to
Nigeria in 1971, he will join the ancestors on March 11,
1971 after a swimming accident in Lagos.

1931 – Kenny Burrell is born in Detroit, Michigan. He will become
a prolific composer and professional musician specializing
in the guitar. For over forty years, he will be a jazz
professional. Kenny, who will credit Charlie Christian,
Oscar Moore, and Django Reinhardt as influences, as well
as such bluesmen as T-Bone Walker and Muddy Waters, will
play on his first major recording session in Detroit in
1951 with a Dizzy Gillespie combo that will include John
Coltrane, Milt Jackson, and Percy Heath. Even though the
young guitarist will keep heavy company, including that of
such other up-and-coming Detroiters as Tommy Flanagan,
Yusef Lateef, Pepper Adams, and Elvin Jones, he will
remain in Detroit to study at Wayne State University, from
which he will earn a B.A. in music composition and theory
in 1955. He will also study classical guitar with Joseph
Fava during that period and continue to employ finger-
style and other techniques. After the mid-Sixties, he will
lead his own group plus work in “All-Star” settings and
will perform with college bands and orchestras. He will
also perform with professional orchestras such as the
Detroit Symphony and the Buffalo Philharmonic.

1938 – New York Yankees suspend Jake Powell, after he says on
Chicago radio that he would “hit every colored person in
Chicago over the head with a club.”

1960 – At a New York City meeting of the Nation of Islam, the
Honorable Elijah Muhammad calls for the creation of a
Black state in America.

1962 – Wesley Snipes is born in Orlando, Florida. After growing
up in the Bronx, New York City, he will become a film
actor starring in films such as “New Jack City,” “Jungle
Fever,” “Passenger 57,” “Demolition Man,” “Money Train,”
“Rising Sun,” “Major League,” “Sugar Hill,” “White Men
Can’t Jump,” and “King of New York.”

1969 – Racially motivated disturbances in Baton Rouge cause the
governor of Louisiana to mobilize the National Guard.

1981 – Attorney Arnette R. Hubbard is installed as the first
woman president of the National Bar Association, the
largest national group of African American attorneys,
legal scholars, and jurists. Hubbard is a graduate of
John Marshall Law School in Chicago and past president
of the Cook County Bar Association.

1985 – Prince is big at the box-office with the autobiographical
story of the Minneapolis rock star — “Purple Rain.” The
ilm grosses $7.7 million in its first three days of
release on 917 movie screens. The album of the same name
is, at the time, the top LP in the United States, as well.

1988 – Willie Stargell, formerly of the Pittsburgh Pirates, becomes
the 200th man inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame at
Cooperstown, New York.

1990 – Shoal Creek, a private club in Birmingham, Alabama, that
drew criticism for being all-white, announces it had
accepted a Black businessman as an honorary member.

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

KRLemmons African American History

July 26 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – July 26 *

1847 – Twenty-five years after the first free African Americans
arrive at the colony of Cape Mesurado, the commonwealth
of Liberia declares itself an independent republic.
Joseph Jenkins Roberts, a Virginia native, becomes its
first president.

1865 – Catholic priest Patrick Francis Healy passes his final
Ph.D. examinations in philosophy at the University of
Louvrain in Belgium. He becomes the first African
American to earn a Ph.D.

1916 – Spottiswood W. Robinson is born in Richmond, Virginia.
He will pursue a distinguished career in law, in private
practice, as a representative of the NAACP Legal Defense
Fund, dean of the Howard University Law School, and as a
member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. In 1966,
he will be named a U.S. Circuit Judge of the DC Circuit
by President Lyndon B. Johnson, marking the beginning of
a successful judicial career.

1918 – Two days after she moves into a predominantly, though not
exclusively, white Philadelphia neighborhood, an African
American woman’s house is stoned. The incident will set
off four days of riots in which one African American and
three whites are killed.

1926 – The Spingarn Medal is awarded to Carter G. Woodson for
“ten years of devoted service in collecting and
publishing the records of the Negro in America.”

1948 – President Harry S Truman issues Executive Order 9981,
directing “equality of treatment and opportunity for all
personnel without regard to race, color, religion or
national origin” in federal employment and the armed
forces.

1948 – Bob Howard becomes the first African American host of a
network show – CBS’ “The Bob Howard Show.”

1951 – The Army announces that it is disbanding the 24th Infantry
Regiment, its last and oldest all African American
regiment, in order to integrate all White and African
American troops in the Korean War zone.

1998 – Larry Doby, the first African American in major league
baseball’s American League, and Joe Rogan, a player in
the Negro Leagues, are inducted into Baseball’s Hall of
Fame.

2009 – Rickey Henderson, age 50 and Jim Rice, age 56, are inducted
into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
Henderson lead the American League in steals 12 times and
holds the record for steals with 1,406, runs scored with
2,295, unintentional walks with 2,129, and homers leading
off a game with 81. He also set the modern major league
record for stolen bases with 130. Rice batted .298 with
382 home runs and 1,451 RBI from 1974 to 1989. He drove
in 100 or more runs eight times, batted over .300 seven
times, and topped 200 hits four times. Rice is also the
only player in major league history with at least 35 homers
and 200 hits in three consecutive seasons (1977-79).

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