The NAACP launched one of its first coordinated legal challenges against educational segregation by filing a lawsuit on behalf of Thomas Hocutt, a Black student seeking admission to the University of North Carolina’s pharmacy program. Although the case was dismissed due to a technicality—when a Black college president refused to certify Hocutt’s academic records—it marked the beginning of the NAACP’s legal campaign that would eventually dismantle segregation in higher education.

Beginning in mid-March 1980, a wave of racially motivated violence tied to Ku Klux Klan activity broke out across several U.S. states, including Georgia, Tennessee, California, Indiana, and North Carolina. In the weeks that followed, scores of people were injured during protests, counter-protests, and Klan-organized events. The incidents underscored ongoing racial tensions in post-Civil Rights America and spurred calls for stronger legal action against hate groups.

Leon H. Washington founded the Los Angeles Sentinel, which would grow to become one of the most influential African American newspapers in the western United States. Created during the Great Depression, the paper gave voice to Black communities, covered civil rights issues, and highlighted local and national Black achievements. It remains a cornerstone of Black journalism and advocacy today.

Max Yergan, a pioneering missionary and YMCA secretary, received the Spingarn Medal for his outstanding work in South Africa. His efforts in education, cultural exchange, and interracial cooperation were celebrated as a symbol of what African Americans could offer to the African continent. The NAACP lauded Yergan’s achievements as “representing the gift of cooperation…American Negroes may send back to their Motherland.”

On this date, the Fifty-fifth U.S. Congress (1897–1899) convened with only one Black representative: George H. White of North Carolina. He was the last African American to serve in Congress during the post-Reconstruction era. White’s departure in 1901 marked the beginning of a nearly 30-year absence of Black representation in the U.S. Congress, a result of widespread voter suppression and Jim Crow laws in the South.

Lester Young, the iconic tenor saxophonist known for his smooth tone and laid-back style, died in New York City at the age of 49. A key figure in the Count Basie Orchestra and a major influence on modern jazz, Young’s lyrical playing helped shape the sound of the swing era and influenced generations of musicians. His nickname “Pres” (short for President), given by Billie Holiday, reflected his towering status in jazz history.