Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published in Boston, quickly becoming a bestseller and a powerful tool in the abolitionist movement. The book vividly portrayed the cruelty of slavery and helped shift public opinion in the North. Its impact was so profound that Abraham Lincoln reportedly called Stowe “the little lady who made this great war.”

Black students at the University of Michigan, supported by faculty and allies, launched a campus-wide strike demanding increased Black student enrollment and support services. Known as the Black Action Movement (BAM I), the strike lasted until April 2, when the university administration agreed to key demands, including a goal of 10% Black student enrollment. The protest marked a pivotal moment in the fight for racial equity in higher education.

Spike Lee, a pioneering African American filmmaker, was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Known for his provocative and socially conscious films, such as Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X, and BlacKkKlansman, Lee has used cinema to explore race, politics, and identity in America. His work has had a lasting impact on the film industry and on generations of Black filmmakers.

Ota Benga, a Congolese man who had been exhibited in the Bronx Zoo’s Monkey House in 1906 alongside primates, died by suicide. Benga, a Mbuti man, was brought to the U.S. under false pretenses and displayed as a so-called “missing link” in a disturbing example of scientific racism. His treatment sparked protests from Black clergy and activists at the time. After years of trauma and cultural dislocation, Benga ended his life in Virginia, where he had struggled to build a new identity. His story remains a haunting symbol of dehumanization and racial injustice.

Born Rosetta Nubin in Cotton Plant, Arkansas, Sister Rosetta Tharpe would become a pioneering gospel singer and electric guitarist whose influence shaped the future of rock and roll. Her fusion of spiritual lyrics with rhythmic swing captivated audiences. She rose to national prominence after performing “Rock Me” with Cab Calloway and the Cotton Club Revue, and her career took off following a record deal with Decca Records. Tharpe was later featured in LIFE magazine and is credited as a foundational influence on artists like Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Little Richard.

Allan Rohan Crite was born in North Plainfield, New Jersey. Raised in Boston’s South End, his artistic journey began at age six when his mother gave him art supplies to keep him occupied while she wrote poetry. His talent blossomed, and with the encouragement of his teacher, Miss Brady, he attended the Children’s Art School. Crite went on to become one of the most celebrated African American painters of the 20th century, known for portraying the spiritual and everyday lives of Black communities in America—especially in urban Boston. He called himself a “reporter” of his people’s culture and history.

On this day, the Mississippi legislature denied adequate funding to Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College, one of the first Black land-grant institutions in the United States. Despite its promise to provide higher education for African Americans, the state’s failure to support the college reflected the broader efforts to suppress Black advancement through underfunding and neglect of educational institutions. This decision was part of a pattern of systemic discrimination in the post-Reconstruction South.

Martin R. Delany published The Condition, Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of the Colored People of the United States, the first major work articulating a Black nationalist philosophy. In it, Delany argued that African Americans would never achieve full freedom or equality in the United States and proposed emigration as a path to self-determination. He famously wrote, “The claims of no people, according to established policy and usage, are respected by any nation, until they are presented in the attitude of independence.” His work laid the intellectual groundwork for future Black nationalist and Pan-Africanist movements.