KRLemmons African American History

September 19 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – September 19 *

1865 – Atlanta University is founded.

1868 – White Democrats attack demonstrators, who are marching
from Albany to Camilla, Georgia, and kill nine African
Americans. Several whites are wounded.

1931 – Benjamin Franklin Peay is born in Camden, South Carolina.
He will become a rhythm and blues singer better known as
Brook Benton. He will amass 16 gold records and be best
known for the songs “A Rainy Night in Georgia” and “It’s
Just a Matter of Time.” He will join the ancestors on
April 9, 1988.

1945 – Freda Charcelia Payne is born in Detroit, Michigan. She
will become a singer whose hits will include “Band of
Gold” in 1970.

1947 – Lawrence “Larry” Brown is born in Clairton, Pennsylvania.
He will become a Washington Redskins’ running back and
the third NFL player to rush over 4,000 yards in his
first four professional seasons.

1956 – The first international conference of Black Writers &
Artists meets at the Sorbonne, in Paris, France.

1965 – Debbye Turner is born in Honolulu, Hawaii. She will become
Miss America in 1990, becoming the third African American
woman to wear the crown.

1981 – More than 300,000 demonstrators from labor and civil
rights organizations protest the social policies of the
Reagan administration in a Solidarity Day March in
Washington, DC.

1989 – Gordon Parks’s film “The Learning Tree” is selected among
the first films to be registered by the National Film
Registry of the Library of Congress. The National Film
Registry was formed by an act of Congress the previous
year to recognize films that are “culturally,
historically, or aesthetically significant.” Parks’s
1969 movie joins other classic films such as
“Casablanca,” “Gone With the Wind,” and “The Wizard of
Oz.”

1989 – The first issue of Emerge magazine goes on sale. Emerge,
founded by Wilmer C. Ames, Jr., covers domestic and
international news and issues from an African American
perspective.

1994 – U.S. troops peacefully enter Haiti to enforce the return
of exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

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

KRLemmons African American History

August 6 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – August 6 *

1795 – Absalom Jones is ordained a deacon in the Protestant
Episcopal Church.

1816 – Peter Salem, Battle of Bunker Hill hero, joins the
ancestors in Framingham, Massachusetts.

1861 – Congress passes The First Confiscation Act, authorizing
the appropriation of the property, including slaves, of
rebel slaveholders.

1925 – African American lawyers organize the National Bar
Association and name George H. Woodson of Des Moines,
Iowa, as President, and Wendell Gree of Chicago,
Illinois, as Secretary.

1930 – Anna Marie Wooldridge is born in Chicago, Illinois. She
will become a jazz vocalist, songwriter, and actress
known as Abbey Lincoln. She will be widely respected for
her writing skills. She will be one of many singers
influenced by Billie Holiday. She will have a very long
and productive career. With Ivan Dixon, she will co-star
in “Nothing But a Man” (1964), an independent film written
and directed by Michael Roemer. She also will co-star with
Sidney Poitier and Beau Bridges in 1968’s “For Love of
Ivy.” She will also appear in the 1956 film “The Girl
Can’t Help It.” She will continue to perform and
will often be found at the Blue Note in New York City. She
will perform until 2007. She will join the ancestors on
August 14, 2010.

1934 – United States troops leave Haiti, which it had occupied
since 1915.

1941 – An African American private and a white military policeman
are shot to death on a bus in North Carolina during a
fight between African American and white soldiers. This
is the first of a series of serious racial incidents
(between African American and white soldiers and African
American soldiers and white civilians) which will
continue throughout the war.

1952 – Satchel Paige, at age 46, becomes the oldest pitcher to
complete a major-league baseball game. Paige, pitching
for the Cleveland Indians, shuts out the Detroit Tigers
1-0 in a 12-inning game.

1962 – Jamaica becomes independent after 300 years of British
rule.

1965 – The Voting Rights Act is signed by President Lyndon B.
Johnson in the same room that Abraham Lincoln signed the
Emancipation Proclamation. Rosa Parks, Martin Luther
King, Jr., and a host of others witness the signing of
the act, which suspends the use of literary tests and
calls for federal examiners to ensure fair elections in
the South.

1965 – David Maurice Robinson is born in Key West, Florida.. He
will become a NBA center (San Antonio Spurs), NBA Rookie
of Year (1990), and will lead the NBA in scoring in 1994.
He will help lead the Spurs to the NBA Championship in
1999.

1969 – The Learning Tree, directed by Gordon Parks, Jr., premieres.
The film is the first directed by an African American in
modern times.

1973 – Stevie Wonder is nearly killed in an automobile accident
near Durham, North Carolina, where he was to perform in a
benefit concert. Wonder suffers severe brain contusions
and a broken skull and will be in a coma for ten days as a
result of his injuries.

1984 – Carl Lewis wins 2nd (long jump) of 4 gold medals in the
Summer Olympics.

1988 – Once accused by African American artists of racism, MTV,
the 24-hour cable music channel, premieres “Yo! MTV Raps.”
It will become one of the station’s most popular programs.

1994 – In Wedowee, Alabama, an apparent arson fire destroys
Randolph County High School, which had been the focus of
tensions over the principal’s stand against interracial
dating.

1996 – U.S. Officials announce that the Air Force had punished 16
officers in connection with the crash that killed Commerce
Secretary Ron Brown and 34 others the previous April.

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

KRLemmons African American History

September 19 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – September 19         *

1865 – Atlanta University is founded.

1868 – White Democrats attack demonstrators, who are marching
from Albany to Camilla, Georgia, and kill nine African
Americans. Several whites are wounded.

1931 – Benjamin Franklin Peay is born in Camden, South Carolina.
He will become a rhythm and blues singer better known as
Brook Benton. He  will amass 16 gold records and be best
known for the songs “A Rainy Night in Georgia” and “It’s
Just a Matter of Time.” He will join the ancestors on
April 9, 1988.

1945 – Freda Charcelia Payne is born in Detroit, Michigan. She
will become a singer whose hits will include “Band of
Gold” in 1970.

1947 – Lawrence “Larry” Brown is born in Clairton Pennsylvania.
He will become a Washington Redskins’ running back and
the third NFL player to rush over 4,000 yards in his
first four professional seasons.

1956 – The first international conference of Black Writers &
Artists meets at the Sorbonne, in Paris, France.

1965 – Debbye Turner is born in Honolulu, Hawaii. She will become
Miss America in 1990, becoming the third African American
woman to wear the crown.

1981 – More than 300,000 demonstrators from labor and civil
rights organizations protest the social policies of the
Reagan administration in a Solidarity Day March in
Washington, DC.

1989 – Gordon Parks’s film “The Learning Tree” is selected among
the first films to be registered by the National Film
Registry of the Library of Congress. The National Film
Registry was formed by an act of Congress the previous
year to recognize films that are “culturally,
historically, or aesthetically significant.”  Parks’s
1969 movie joins other classic films such as
“Casablanca,” “Gone With the Wind,” and “The Wizard of
Oz.”

1989 – The first issue of Emerge magazine goes on sale.  Emerge,
founded by Wilmer C. Ames, Jr., covers domestic and
international news and issues from an African American
perspective.

1994 – U.S. troops peacefully enter Haiti to enforce the return
of exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

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