On this day, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all enslaved people in Confederate states to be free. However,... Continue →
A law took effect in Arkansas prohibiting the employment of free Black individuals on boats and ships navigating the state's rivers. This legislation... Continue →
Kofi Annan began his term as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations, making history as the first Black person and the first sub-Saharan... Continue →
On January 1, 1960, Cameroon gained independence from France, becoming the Republic of Cameroon. This marked a significant moment in the broader wave... Continue →
On January 1, 1956, Sudan officially declared its independence from joint British-Egyptian rule. The event marked the emergence of Sudan as a... Continue →
On January 1, 1808, the African Benevolent Society for Education was founded in New York City. Created by free African Americans, the society aimed... Continue →
On this day, a federal law went into effect prohibiting the importation of enslaved Africans into the United States. While slavery itself remained... Continue →
On this day in 1961, James B. Parsons made history as the first African American appointed to a lifetime position on the federal bench in the United... Continue →
Sharon Pratt Dixon was sworn in as mayor of the District of Columbia. Dixon succeeded Marion Barry who was convicted of cocaine possession in the... Continue →
On this date in 1990, David Norman Dinkins officially began his tenure as the 106th mayor of New York City, making history as the city's first... Continue →
On this date in 1970, Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, a prominent educator, minister, and civil rights leader, was named president of the Atlanta Board of... Continue →
On this date in 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) launched a voter registration drive in... Continue →
On this date in 1915, Historian John Hope Franklin was born. He was a highly influential historian, scholar, and educator, best known for his work on... Continue →
On this date in 1898, Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander was born on, in Philadelphia, PA, and she made history as a trailblazing African American woman... Continue →
On this date in 1872, the Mississippi Legislature convened, and John R. Lynch, at the age of 24, was elected Speaker of the Mississippi House of... Continue →
On this day, free Black residents of Philadelphia, led by Reverend Absalom Jones and joined by 70 other free Black men, submitted a historic petition... Continue →
On this date in 1984, Rev. Jesse Jackson successfully negotiated the release of U.S. Navy Lt. Robert Goodman, a pilot who had been shot down over... Continue →
On this date in 1969, Louis Stokes made history when he was sworn in as the first African American congressman from Ohio. He represented Ohio's 21st... Continue →
On this date in 1969, Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. was seated by Congress after a long political battle. Powell, a Democratic congressman from... Continue →
On this date in 1966, Floyd B. McKissick, a civil rights attorney from North Carolina, was named the national director of the Congress of Racial... Continue →
On this date in 1966, Sammy Younge Jr. was a 21-year-old civil rights activist and a student at Tuskegee Institute who was tragically shot and killed... Continue →
On this date in 1961, Adam Clayton Powell Jr. was elected Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, making him one of the most powerful... Continue →
On this date in 1947, the **NAACP's 1947 report** highlighted the extreme racial violence that African Americans, particularly returning Black... Continue →
On this date in 1947, Congressman William L. Dawson of Illinois made history as the first African American to chair a standing committee of the U.S.... Continue →
On this date in 1947, the total population of the United States was approximately 150,697,361. The Black population was about 15,042,286, making up... Continue →
On this date in 1621, First African American, William Tucker, born. William Tucker is recognized as the first recorded African American born in the... Continue →
Congressman William H. Gray is elected chairman of the House Budget Committee, the highest congressional post held by an African American.
Prince Hall, founder of the first African American Masonic lodge petitioned the Massachusetts legislature for fund to return to Africa. The plan is... Continue →
Dr. Melvin H. Evans was inaugurated as the first elected governor of the United States Virgin Islands on January 4, 1971. Prior to his election,... Continue →
On this date, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) was officially organized by 13 African American members of the United States House of... Continue →
Archie A. Alexander, architectural engineer and former governor of the Virgin Islands, died on this day in 1958 at the age of 69. He had been... Continue →
William Levi Dawson was elected as a United States Representative from Illinois on November 3, 1942, and began his congressional service on January... Continue →
William H. Hastie, the first African American to serve as a civilian aide to the U.S. Secretary of War, resigned his position to protest the ongoing... Continue →
Amidst a wave of violence and political unrest aimed at suppressing Black voters and Republican officials during Reconstruction, President Ulysses S.... Continue →
The Ohio legislature passed the first in a series of "Black Laws" designed to restrict the rights and movement of free Black people in the North.... Continue →
The Peabody Fund was established by philanthropist George Peabody to support education in the post-Civil War Southern United States, particularly for... Continue →
On January 6, 1971, Cecil A. Partee was elected President Pro Tempore of the Illinois State Senate, becoming the first African American to hold this... Continue →
On this day, Congressman Robert Brown Elliott delivered one of the most powerful and eloquent speeches in defense of Senator Charles Sumner’s civil... Continue →
In Boston, Massachusetts, abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison released the first issue of The Liberator, an anti-slavery newspaper that would become... Continue →
The first organized emigration to Africa begins as 86 free African Americans depart New York Harbor aboard the Mayflower of Liberia. Their... Continue →
Michael Griffith, a 23-year-old African-American man, was chased by a group of white teenagers in the Howard Beach neighborhood of Queens, New York.... Continue →
Breaking significant racial and gender barriers, Shirley Franklin took office as the 58th mayor of Atlanta. Her election marked a historic moment as... Continue →
On January 7, 1868, the Mississippi Constitutional Convention convened in Jackson, Mississippi, as part of the Reconstruction efforts following the... Continue →
The Arkansas constitutional convention convened in Little Rock with a racially mixed delegation—eight Black and forty-three white delegates. This... Continue →
The original lawsuit was filed in 1952 by John Hall and supported by the NAACP, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education... Continue →
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) denied the license renewal application of the Alabama Educational Television Commission due to persistent... Continue →
The African National Congress (ANC) was established in Bloemfontein, South Africa, to unite African people and spearhead the struggle for political,... Continue →
Congress passed legislation granting African American men the right to vote in the District of Columbia, overriding President Andrew Johnson's veto.... Continue →
On this day, U.S. federal troops and local militias suppressed the 1811 German Coast Uprising in Louisiana, one of the largest slave revolts in U.S.... Continue →
Charles Deslondes, a free man of color from Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti), led one of the largest slave revolts in U.S. history in the Territory... Continue →
After months of resistance, the Georgia House of Representatives, facing mounting legal pressure and national scrutiny, finally voted to seat Julian... Continue →
Ahmed Sékou Touré, the first President of Guinea, was born on this day. A key figure in the African independence movement, Touré led Guinea to... Continue →
Frank Holoman, born on July 10, 1934, in McCaskill, Arkansas, was elected to the California State Assembly in 1972, representing the Los Angeles area... Continue →
On this day, Julian Bond, a founding member and communications director of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), was denied his seat... Continue →
On this day, Adelbert H. Roberts became the first African American to serve in the Illinois General Assembly in at least twenty-five years. His... Continue →
On this day, the Georgia state legislature reconvened and readmitted Black representatives and senators who had been wrongfully expelled in 1868.... Continue →
With the Confederacy facing imminent defeat and suffering from severe troop shortages, General Robert E. Lee proposed the use of enslaved African... Continue →
Charles W. Anderson Jr. became the first African American elected to the Kentucky General Assembly in the 20th century. Representing Louisville, his... Continue →
William D. McCoy, an African American diplomat from Indiana, was appointed as the United States Minister (a role akin to ambassador) to Liberia. His... Continue →
Out of 106 representatives, 31 were Black. Additionally, 5 of the 33 senators were Black. This marked a significant moment in the Reconstruction Era,... Continue →
On this day, thirteen African American members of the U.S. House of Representatives formally organized the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). The... Continue →
On this day, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Sipuel v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma that states must provide equal... Continue →
Wilder, a Democrat and former lieutenant governor, won the Virginia gubernatorial race by just 7,000 votes. His election was especially significant... Continue →
Arizona Governor Evan Mecham rescinded a gubernatorial decree by former Governor Bruce Babbitt that had established Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday... Continue →
Robert C. Weaver made history as the first Black person appointed to a United States presidential cabinet when President Lyndon B. Johnson named him... Continue →
On this day, P.B.S. Pinchback, the first African American to serve as governor of a U.S. state, formally stepped down from his role as governor of... Continue →
On this day, Lawrence Douglas Wilder was sworn in as Governor of Virginia, becoming the first African American elected as governor of a U.S. state.... Continue →
William T. Coleman was named Secretary of Transportation by President Gerald R. Ford, becoming the second African American to serve in a... Continue →
Harvey B. Gantt, born on this day in 1943, became the first African American student to enroll at Clemson University in South Carolina in 1963. He... Continue →
Julian Bond, an influential civil rights leader, legislator, and co-founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), was born in... Continue →
Isaac D. Shadd was elected Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives on January 14, 1874. Born in 1837 in Delaware, Shadd was a prominent... Continue →
On this day in 1873, P.B.S. Pinchback, the first African American to serve as governor of a U.S. state (Louisiana), was elected to the U.S. Senate.... Continue →
The South Carolina constitutional convention convened in Charleston, becoming the first official legislative assembly in the Western world with a... Continue →
On this day, North Carolina's constitutional convention convened in Raleigh, marking a significant step during the Reconstruction Era. Of the 133... Continue →
Martin Luther King Jr., one of the most influential leaders in the American civil rights movement, was born in Atlanta, Georgia. He is best known for... Continue →
More than 4,000 delegates representing 100 national organizations gathered in Washington, D.C., for the National Emergency Civil Rights Conference.... Continue →
On this day, the Bahamas installed its first Black government, a milestone in the nation’s progress toward independence. This political shift... Continue →
Lucius D. Amerson was sworn in as sheriff of Macon County, Alabama, becoming the first Black sheriff in the Southern United States in the twentieth... Continue →
Hiram Rhodes Revels, the first African American to serve in the United States Senate, died in Aberdeen, Mississippi at the age of 73. He was elected... Continue →
Jefferson F. Long of Georgia was sworn in as the second Black Congressman in U.S. history. He was also the first Black man to speak on the floor of... Continue →
Union General William T. Sherman issued Special Field Order No. 15, which set aside a strip of coastal land from Charleston, South Carolina, to the... Continue →
The Continental Congress officially approved General George Washington’s decision to allow the enlistment of free Black men into the Continental... Continue →
The Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) of South Africa officially suspended its armed campaign against the apartheid government led by President F.W. de... Continue →
On January 17, 1996, Barbara Charline Jordan passed away. Born on February 21, 1936, in Houston, Texas, Jordan broke multiple barriers throughout her... Continue →
Lawrence Douglas Wilder, the first African American to be elected governor of a U.S. state, was born on this day in Richmond, Virginia. A member of... Continue →
The Third Pan-African Congress convened its first and second sessions on this day in London. Organized by W.E.B. Du Bois and other leading figures,... Continue →
On January 17, 1923, a report revealed that twenty-nine Black individuals were lynched in the United States during the year 1923. This grim statistic... Continue →
On this day, the United States officially succeeded Denmark as the sovereign authority in the Virgin Islands, marking a major shift in the region's... Continue →
Armed white Democrats forcibly seized control of the Texas state government, effectively ending Radical Reconstruction in the state. This marked a... Continue →
Robert C. Weaver made history when he was sworn in as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under President Lyndon B. Johnson. This... Continue →
Congressman William L. Dawson of Illinois was elected chairman of the House Expenditures Committee, becoming the first African American to lead a... Continue →
Colin Luther Powell is sworn in by President George W. Bush as Secretary of State. He becomes the first Black person in U.S. history to hold this... Continue →
Cheryl Mills, serving as White House Deputy Counsel, makes history as the first Black person to argue a case before a U.S. Senate impeachment hearing... Continue →
Celebrated poet and author Maya Angelou became the second poet in U.S. history to recite at a presidential inauguration. She delivered her poem "On... Continue →
Barbara Jordan, a pioneering American politician, was born in Houston, Texas. She became the first African American woman elected to the Texas Senate... Continue →
On this day, Congressman George H. White, a Republican from North Carolina and the last African American in Congress at the time, introduced a bill... Continue →
Hiram R. Revels was elected to the United States Senate by the Mississippi state legislature, becoming the first Black person to serve in the U.S.... Continue →
The Florida Constitutional Convention met in Tallahassee, including eighteen Black delegates and twenty-seven white delegates. This was a pivotal... Continue →
On this day, Congressman George H. White of North Carolina introduced a bill to make lynching a federal crime. As the only Black member of Congress... Continue →
Twelve Black members of the U.S. House of Representatives boycotted President Richard Nixon's State of the Union address to protest his... Continue →
On this day, Carl T. Rowan became the director of the United States Information Agency (USIA), making him the highest-ranking African American in the... Continue →
On this day in 1830, officials in Portsmouth, Ohio, began forcibly deporting Black residents from the town. This action was carried out under Ohio's... Continue →
On this day in 1824, Osai Tutu Kwamina, an Ashanti military leader, successfully led forces to defeat the British at Assamaka in present-day Ghana.... Continue →
On January 22, 1981, Samuel Pierce was appointed Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by President Ronald Reagan.... Continue →
Clarence Willi Norris, the last surviving member of the Scottsboro Boys, died at age 76 while a patient at Bronx Community Hospital. Norris was one... Continue →
The Lodge Bill, also known as the Federal Elections Bill of 1890, which aimed to protect African American voting rights through federal oversight of... Continue →
Haitian liberator Toussaint Louverture entered the city of Santiago in the eastern part of Hispaniola (modern-day Dominican Republic) as part of his... Continue →
The 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, abolishing the use of poll taxes in federal elections. Poll taxes were... Continue →
On January 23, 1821, minister and former slave Lott Cary departed the United States, leading a group of freed African Americans to West Africa under... Continue →
On January 24, 1972, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm officially launched her campaign for President of the United States, becoming the first Black... Continue →
On January 25, 1966, Constance Baker Motley made history by becoming the first African American woman appointed to the federal judiciary. Nominated... Continue →
On January 25, 1890, the National Afro-American League was founded by Timothy Thomas Fortune. As one of the first national civil rights organizations... Continue →
On January 25, 1851, Sojourner Truth delivered a powerful address at the first Black Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio. A formerly enslaved... Continue →
On January 28, 1997, during South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings, former apartheid-era police officers publicly confessed to... Continue →
On January 28, 1986, physicist and astronaut Dr. Ronald McNair was tragically killed when the space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after... Continue →
On January 28, 1970, Arthur Ashe, the first Black man to win Wimbledon, was denied a visa to compete in the South African Open as part of the U.S.... Continue →
On November 8, 1938, Crystal Bird Fauset was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, becoming the first African American woman to serve... Continue →
On January 29, 1991, Nelson Mandela, then deputy president of the African National Congress (ANC), and Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi of the Inkatha... Continue →
On January 29, 1966, Charles H. Mahoney, the first African American appointed as a U.S. delegate to the United Nations, passed away. A lawyer,... Continue →
On January 29, 1913, a major celebration marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation was held in Washington, D.C. The event... Continue →
On January 29, 1872, Francis Lewis Cardozo was elected as South Carolina's State Treasurer, becoming the first African American to hold this... Continue →
Floyd Flake, born on January 30, 1945, is a former U.S. Representative from New York and senior pastor of the Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral in... Continue →
Sharon Pratt Dixon, later known as Sharon Pratt Kelly, was born on January 30, 1944. In 1991, she became the first woman to serve as Mayor of... Continue →
On January 30, 1800, U.S. census data recorded a total population of 5,308,483, with 1,002,037 identified as Black—constituting approximately 18.9%... Continue →
On January 30, 1797, the U.S. Congress refused to accept the first recorded petitions submitted by free African Americans. These petitions called for... Continue →
On January 31, 1865, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution by a vote of 121 to 24. This amendment,... Continue →
On February 1, 1990, the United States Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp honoring Ida B. Wells, the pioneering Black journalist,... Continue →
On February 1, 1965, a peaceful voting rights demonstration in Selma, Alabama, ended with the mass arrest of approximately 700 protesters. The... Continue →
On February 1, 1871, Jefferson Long of Georgia became the first African American to deliver an official speech on the floor of the U.S. House of... Continue →
On February 1, 1870, Jonathan Jasper Wright was elected to the South Carolina Supreme Court, becoming the first African American to serve on the... Continue →
On February 1, 1865, John Sweat Rock, a distinguished Boston lawyer, became the first African American admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme... Continue →
On February 1, 1865, the 38th U.S. Congress passed the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which formally abolished slavery in the United States.... Continue →
Henry McNeal Turner was born on February 1, 1834, in what is now known as Hannah Circuit near Newberry, then part of Abbeville County, South... Continue →
On February 2, 1948, President Harry S. Truman sent a special message to Congress urging the adoption of a civil rights program. His recommendations... Continue →
On February 2, 1862, the U.S. Congress began legislative efforts to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, initiating the process that would... Continue →
On February 3, 1988, Thomas Reed, president of the Alabama chapter of the NAACP, was arrested along with 11 others during a protest at the Alabama... Continue →
On February 3, 1964, an estimated 464,000 Black and Puerto Rican students boycotted New York City public schools in one of the largest civil rights... Continue →
On February 3, 1948, Rosa Ingram and her two teenage sons, aged fourteen and sixteen, were sentenced to death in Georgia for the alleged murder of a... Continue →
On February 3, 1874, Blanche Kelso Bruce was elected to a full six-year term in the U.S. Senate by the Mississippi legislature. He became the first... Continue →
On February 3, 1996, Congressman J.C. Watts of Oklahoma became the first African American chosen to deliver the official Republican response to the... Continue →
On February 3, 1971, the National Guard was mobilized in Wilmington, North Carolina, to quell civil unrest sparked by racial tensions and protests.... Continue →
On February 3, 1969, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) intensified its armed struggle against Portuguese colonial rule. As one... Continue →
On February 3, 1794, during the French Revolution, France formally abolished slavery in all of its colonies, marking a landmark moment in European... Continue →
On February 5, 1990, Barack Obama was elected president of the Harvard Law Review, becoming the first African American to hold the prestigious... Continue →
On February 5, 1958, Clifton R. Wharton Sr. was confirmed as U.S. Minister to Romania, becoming the first African American to head a U.S. embassy in... Continue →
On February 5, 1900, Jefferson Franklin Long, the first African American to represent Georgia in the U.S. House of Representatives, died in... Continue →
On February 5, 1866, Congressman Thaddeus Stevens introduced an amendment to the Freedmen’s Bureau bill that would have authorized the distribution... Continue →
On February 6, 1961, the "Jail-in" movement began in Rock Hill, South Carolina, when nine Black students refused to pay fines for a sit-in and... Continue →
Walter E. Fauntroy was born on February 6, 1933, in Washington, D.C. He later became the first non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of... Continue →
On February 6, 1870, Jonathan Jasper Wright was elected to the South Carolina Supreme Court, becoming the first African American to serve on a state... Continue →
On February 6, 1820, the first organized emigration of free African Americans to Africa began as 86 individuals departed New York Harbor aboard the... Continue →
On February 6, 1820, census data recorded the United States population at 9,638,453, with 1,771,656 identified as Black—accounting for... Continue →
On February 6, 1926, Negro History Week was observed for the first time. Created by historian Carter G. Woodson, the week was established to... Continue →
On February 6, 1974, the Caribbean nation of Grenada achieved independence from Great Britain. Sir Eric Gairy became the country’s first Prime... Continue →
On February 6, 1946, a filibuster in the U.S. Senate effectively killed a bill that sought to make the Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC)... Continue →
On February 6, 1945, Irwin C. Molison was appointed to the United States Customs Court by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He became the first... Continue →
On February 8, 1985, Brenda Renee Pearson, an official court reporter for the U.S. House of Representatives, became the first Black woman to record a... Continue →
On February 8, 1968, South Carolina Highway Patrol officers opened fire on unarmed students during a peaceful protest at South Carolina State College... Continue →
On February 8, 1944, Harry S. McAlpin became the first African American journalist accredited to attend a White House press conference. Representing... Continue →
On February 8, 1925, Marcus Garvey, influential Black nationalist and founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), entered the... Continue →
On February 8, 1894, the U.S. Congress repealed the Enforcement Act of 1871, a key piece of Reconstruction-era legislation that had protected African... Continue →
On February 9, 1967, the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution officially went into effect. While not exclusively a Black history event, the... Continue →
On February 10, 1967, the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution went into effect. It clarified presidential succession and procedures for dealing... Continue →
On February 10, 1966, Andrew Brimmer was appointed to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System by President Lyndon B. Johnson, becoming... Continue →
On February 10, 1964, after 12 days of debate and voting on 125 amendments, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by... Continue →
On February 10, 1989, Ron Brown was elected Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, becoming the first African American to lead a major U.S.... Continue →
On this day, conservative Republicans, supported by military forces, took control of the Florida Constitutional Convention. They drafted a new... Continue →
On this day, Georgia's House of Assembly appointed William Few, Abraham Baldwin, William Pierce, George Walton, William Houston, and Nathaniel... Continue →
Just days before his assassination, Malcolm X delivered a powerful and thought-provoking speech at the London School of Economics (LSE). Addressing... Continue →
On February 11, 1990, Nelson Mandela was released after 27 years of imprisonment in South Africa. One of his greatest pleasures—watching the sun... Continue →
Robert C. Weaver was sworn in as Administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency, marking the highest federal position ever held by a Black... Continue →
On February 11, 1644, eleven Black men in the Dutch colony of New Netherland (present-day New York) submitted a petition for their freedom, marking... Continue →
In response to racial discrimination on public transportation, Black residents in Macon, Georgia, launched a bus boycott on February 11, 1962. The... Continue →
Black rights activist Henry Highland Garnet dies, shortly after being appointed as the U.S. ambassador to Liberia. Garnet was a powerful... Continue →
On February 12, 1865, Henry Highland Garnet became the first Black person to speak in the U.S. Capitol when he delivered a memorial sermon on the... Continue →
On February 12, 1793, the U.S. Congress passed the first Fugitive Slave Law to enforce the Constitution's Fugitive Slave Clause. This law allowed... Continue →
Henry Highland Garnet, a prominent African American minister, abolitionist, and diplomat, died at the age of 66 in Monrovia, Liberia. Garnet was... Continue →
After his home in Queens, New York, was firebombed earlier that morning, Malcolm X delivered what would become his final public speech at the Ford... Continue →
The National Negro Congress was organized in Chicago at a meeting attended by 817 delegates representing over 500 organizations. Asa Philip Randolph,... Continue →
Malcolm X delivered his powerful speech "There Is a Worldwide Revolution Going On" at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City. In this address, he... Continue →
During a United Nations session on Congo, nationalists disrupted the proceedings with a dramatic demonstration in honor of Patrice Lumumba, the slain... Continue →
The New Jersey Legislature approved a law for the gradual emancipation of enslaved African Americans, becoming the last Northern state to initiate... Continue →
Malcolm X delivered his speech “Not Just an American Problem, But a World Problem” at the Corn Hill Methodist Church in Rochester, New York. In... Continue →
The New York City Council passed a groundbreaking bill prohibiting racial discrimination in city-assisted housing developments. This legislation... Continue →
The Virginia House of Delegates voted unanimously to retire "Carry Me Back to Old Virginia" as the official state song. The decision came after... Continue →
Charles A. Hayes, civil rights advocate and U.S. Representative from Illinois, was born in Cairo, Illinois. A labor leader and longtime supporter of... Continue →
The U.S. Congress passed a resolution to readmit Mississippi to representation in Congress, with the condition that the state would never amend its... Continue →
Malcolm X participated in a live radio debate with Gordon Hall, a self-proclaimed expert on extremism, just three days before his assassination. The... Continue →
Four Quakers in Germantown, Pennsylvania, drafted the first recorded formal protest against slavery by an organized white body in English America.... Continue →
On February 18, 1965, The Gambia gained independence from British colonial rule and became a sovereign nation within the Commonwealth. Dawda Jawara... Continue →
The first Pan-African Congress, organized by W.E.B. Du Bois, convened at the Grand Hotel in Paris. It brought together 57 delegates from 16 countries... Continue →
Tennessee Governor William G. Brownlow declared martial law in nine counties to suppress rampant violence and intimidation by the Ku Klux Klan during... Continue →
African Americans in Tampa, Florida, erupted in protest after the death of 23-year-old Melvin Hair, a Black man who died in police custody following... Continue →
John Lewis, a key figure in the American Civil Rights Movement, was born in Troy, Alabama. He would go on to become the founding chairman of the... Continue →
Barbara Jordan was born in Houston, Texas. A trailblazing politician, educator, and civil rights leader, she became the first African American woman... Continue →
On the day following the death of Frederick Douglass, the North Carolina Legislature—then dominated by a coalition of Black Republicans and white... Continue →
Frazier B. Baker, a Black postmaster appointed by President McKinley, was lynched by a white mob in Lake City, South Carolina. The mob set his home... Continue →
Frank E. Petersen Jr. was named the first Black general in the history of the United States Marine Corps. A distinguished aviator and Vietnam War... Continue →
Constance Baker Motley was elected as Manhattan Borough President, becoming the first Black woman to hold the highest elective office in a major... Continue →
Louis Stokes was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He became the first African American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio, serving from... Continue →
Robert Smalls, a formerly enslaved man who became a Civil War hero and later a U.S. Congressman during Reconstruction, died in Beaufort, South... Continue →
On this day, Louisiana Governor Henry C. Warmoth signed one of the nation’s first public accommodations laws, which prohibited racial... Continue →
Kwame Nkrumah, the elected leader and first president of Ghana, was overthrown in a military coup while on a peace mission to Vietnam. Nkrumah, a... Continue →
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 126 to 47 to impeach President Andrew Johnson, primarily for violating the Tenure of Office Act. This was a... Continue →
Adrienne Mitchell, a U.S. Army Specialist, became the first African American woman to die in combat during the Persian Gulf War. She was killed when... Continue →
President Richard Nixon met with the newly formed Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) for the first time, following months of pressure from the group.... Continue →
One day after winning the world heavyweight boxing title, Cassius Clay announced his conversion to Islam and adopted the name Muhammad Ali. The... Continue →
The U.S. Congress passed the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed that the right to vote could not be denied based on “race,... Continue →
President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Andrew Brimmer as the first African American governor of the Federal Reserve Board. A respected economist and... Continue →
A violent race riot erupted in Columbia, Tennessee, after a dispute between a Black Navy veteran and a white shopkeeper. The incident escalated into... Continue →
James E. O’Hara, a pioneering African American congressman from North Carolina, was born on this day. First elected to the U.S. House of... Continue →
At the Wormley Hotel in Washington, D.C., representatives of presidential candidate Rutherford B. Hayes and Southern Democrats held a private... Continue →
Wyatt Outlaw, a prominent Black leader of the Union League and the first African American town commissioner in Graham, North Carolina, was lynched by... Continue →
The U.S. Congress passed the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting the federal and state governments from denying citizens the right... Continue →
Charlotte E. Ray graduated from Howard University School of Law, becoming the first African American woman to earn a law degree in the United States.... Continue →
John W. Menard became the first Black man to speak on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, defending his right to represent Louisiana’s... Continue →
The United States Congress adopted the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the... Continue →
The Dominican Republic declared its independence from Haiti on February 27, 1844, ending 22 years of Haitian rule. Though complex in its racial and... Continue →
Maria W. Stewart, a free Black woman, became the first American-born woman to speak publicly to a mixed audience of men and women, Black and white.... Continue →
The U.S. Congress passed the Second Enforcement Act, also known as the Civil Rights Act of 1871. This legislation gave federal officers the authority... Continue →
The Arkansas legislature passed a law requiring all free Black people in the state to either leave Arkansas or face enslavement. This oppressive... Continue →
In a groundbreaking decision, the Rhode Island General Assembly passed legislation allowing the enlistment of enslaved men into the Continental Army.... Continue →
A violent slave revolt took place in Newton, Long Island (present-day Elmhurst, Queens, New York), resulting in the deaths of seven white colonists.... Continue →
The 1940 United States Census reported a total population of 131,669,275, including 12,865,518 Black Americans—making up 9.8% of the national... Continue →
On this day, Sergeant Cornelius F. Adjetey was shot and killed by colonial police while leading a peaceful protest of ex-servicemen in Accra,... Continue →
The Alabama State Board of Education expelled nine students from Alabama State College for participating in sit-in demonstrations protesting... Continue →
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 307 to 116 to expel Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. of New York, the first Black congressman from the state.... Continue →
On this day, Carl T. Rowan was appointed as the U.S. Ambassador to Finland, becoming one of the first African Americans to serve in such a high-level... Continue →
The U.S. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1875, granting African Americans the legal right to equal treatment in public accommodations such as... Continue →
J. Milton Turner was appointed as U.S. Minister Resident to Liberia, becoming the first Black diplomat formally accredited to an African country.... Continue →
Blanche Kelso Bruce was born into slavery in Prince Edward County, Virginia. He would go on to make history as the first Black man to serve a full... Continue →
Pennsylvania became the first U.S. state to pass a law abolishing slavery with the enactment of the Gradual Abolition Act. This pioneering... Continue →
The British colonial government, unable to defeat the Maroons—communities of formerly enslaved Africans who had escaped and formed independent... Continue →
Martin Luther King, Jr. announced plans for Poor People's Campaign in Washington. He said he would lead a massive civil disobedience campaign in the... Continue →
The Mary McLeod Bethune commemorative stamp is issued by the U.S. Postal Service as the eighth stamp in its Black Heritage USA series.
On March 6, 1857, the Dred Scott decision of the Supreme Court denied Blacks U.S. citizenship and denied the power of Congress to restrict slavery in... Continue →
First cadets graduated from flying school at Tuskegee.
Alexander Thomas Augusta, first African American faculty member of an American medical school, Howard University, is born free
White firemen of the Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railroad struck to protest the hiring of Black firemen.
Through the 12th - three thousand delegates and five thousand observers attended the first Black political convention in Gary, Indiana. The NAACP and... Continue →
Through 12th Manifesto denouncing Supreme Court ruling on segregation in public schools issued by one hundred Southern senators and representatives.
Charles Sumner, a leading abolitionist and U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, died on this day. A fierce advocate for racial equality during and after... Continue →
On this day, twelve Black laborers in New Orleans were brutally attacked by a white mob. The violence, fueled by post-Reconstruction racial tensions... Continue →
The Confederate Congress, meeting in Montgomery, Alabama, adopted the Confederate Constitution, explicitly protecting slavery. The document... Continue →
Mauritius, an island nation in the Indian Ocean with a significant population of African and Afro-descendant heritage, achieved independence from... Continue →
On this day, New York became the first U.S. state to establish a Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC), aimed at combating racial and religious... Continue →
Andrew Young, a key figure in the American Civil Rights Movement, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He would go on to become a close aide to Dr.... Continue →
On this day, Benjamin Banneker, a self-taught Black mathematician, astronomer, and surveyor, was commissioned alongside Pierre Charles L’Enfant to... Continue →
On this day, Maurice Bishop led the New Jewel Movement in a bloodless coup that overthrew the Grenadian government, making him the new Prime... Continue →
In response to rising violence and intimidation by the Ku Klux Klan during Reconstruction, the Arkansas legislature passed a landmark anti-Klan law... Continue →
On March 12, 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis signed legislation permitting the enlistment of enslaved African Americans as soldiers in... Continue →
William Jennings Jefferson was born in Lake Providence, Louisiana. In 1990, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, becoming the first... Continue →
In response to the Pennsylvania Reform Convention of 1837, which denied Black men the right to vote, African Americans in Philadelphia held a large... Continue →
The NAACP launched one of its first coordinated legal challenges against educational segregation by filing a lawsuit on behalf of Thomas Hocutt, a... Continue →
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... Continue →
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... Continue →
Over 267,000 Black and Puerto Rican students boycotted New York City public schools in a powerful follow-up to the February boycott. The protest... Continue →
Rebel troops led by Laurent-Désiré Kabila captured the strategic city of Kisangani during the First Congo War, marking a major turning point in the... Continue →
Hiram R. Revels, the first African American to serve in the U.S. Senate, delivered his historic first speech opposing the readmission of Georgia to... Continue →
Born in Lula, Mississippi, Unita Blackwell rose from humble beginnings as the daughter of sharecroppers to become a pivotal figure in the civil... Continue →
President Theodore Roosevelt appointed a special committee to investigate political unrest and governance issues in Liberia, a nation founded by... Continue →
On this day, 200 Black Americans departed from Savannah, Georgia, to Liberia in West Africa. Motivated by a desire for self-determination and freedom... Continue →
The Forty-sixth Congress convened with Blanche K. Bruce of Mississippi serving as the only Black U.S. Senator. Bruce, a formerly enslaved man, was... Continue →
On this day, students at Howard University seized the administration building in protest, demanding a more Black-oriented curriculum and greater say... Continue →
William Tucker, believed to be the first African child born in the English colonies, was born and baptized in Jamestown, Virginia. His parents,... Continue →
Congressman Thaddeus Stevens introduced a resolution urging enforcement of land redistribution under what would later become the Second Confiscation... Continue →
Black students at the University of Michigan, supported by faculty and allies, launched a campus-wide strike demanding increased Black student... Continue →
Dr. Ralph Bunche was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role as chief United Nations mediator in the 1949 armistice negotiations that ended the... Continue →
On this day, the Mississippi legislature denied adequate funding to Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College, one of the first Black land-grant... Continue →
Led by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., thousands of civil rights activists began a 54-mile march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, to demand equal... Continue →
On March 21, 1990, Namibia officially gained independence from South African rule after decades of colonialism and occupation. The historic event... Continue →
In Sharpeville, South Africa, during a peaceful protest against apartheid pass laws, white South African police opened fire on unarmed Black... Continue →
Patricia Roberts Harris, the first African American woman to serve in a U.S. presidential cabinet, died in Washington, D.C. A groundbreaking diplomat... Continue →
On this day, Rev. Walter Fauntroy, a former aide to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., became the first non-voting congressional delegate from the District... Continue →
Walter Rodney, a Guyanese historian, political activist, and author of the seminal work How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, was born on this day. A... Continue →
On March 24, 1837, Black men in Canada were officially granted the right to vote. This milestone followed the abolition of slavery in the British... Continue →
After four days and 54 miles, the Selma to Montgomery March concluded as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., alongside John Lewis, Coretta Scott King, and... Continue →
Nine African American teenagers, known as the Scottsboro Boys, were falsely accused of raping two white women in Alabama. Despite weak evidence, they... Continue →
Samori Touré, founder of the Wassoulou (Wasulu) Empire in West Africa, signed the Treaty of Bisandugu with French colonial forces. Intended as a... Continue →
On this day, a group of citizens in Kentucky filed a formal petition challenging the violent acts of the Ku Klux Klan. Amid growing Klan terror... Continue →
The Reverend Emmanuel Cleaver made history by becoming the first African American mayor of Kansas City, Missouri. A civil rights activist and United... Continue →
Though not widely publicized at the time, this laid the groundwork for institutional efforts to preserve and document African American life and... Continue →
Though the independence was declared in 1957, Ghana officially became a republic on this date, with Nkrumah sworn in as the first president — a... Continue →
On this day, British colonial officials demanded the sacred Golden Stool of the Ashanti—a symbol of the Ashanti people's soul and sovereignty. The... Continue →
On this day, the United Nations resumed a humanitarian aid program to feed over two million Angolans after the Angolan government lifted a... Continue →
Dr. Eric Williams, the first Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, died in Port of Spain at the age of 79. A pivotal figure in Caribbean politics... Continue →
Barthélemy Boganda, the founding father and first President of the Central African Republic, died in a mysterious plane crash. A former Catholic... Continue →
The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, guaranteeing that the right to vote could not be denied based on "race, color, or previous... Continue →
The National Urban League presented a groundbreaking one-hour national radio program titled “The Negro and National Defense” on the CBS network.... Continue →
Labor leader and civil rights activist A. Philip Randolph testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee, demanding an end to segregation and... Continue →
President Herbert Hoover nominated Judge John J. Parker of North Carolina to the U.S. Supreme Court. The NAACP launched a national campaign opposing... Continue →
The United States recorded a population of 23,191,876 in the 1850 census. Notably, this was the first federal census to include every individual in a... Continue →
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rejected Charles Sumner's argument in Roberts v. City of Boston, a lawsuit filed on behalf of Sarah Roberts,... Continue →
Olaudah Equiano, a formerly enslaved African who became a prominent abolitionist and author, died in London. His autobiography, The Interesting... Continue →
A series of fires and rumors of a planned slave uprising in New York City led to mass hysteria in the spring of 1741. Fueled by racial tensions and... Continue →
Empress Zewditu of Ethiopia, the first and only reigning female monarch of modern Ethiopia, died on this day in 1930. She ruled from 1916 to 1930,... Continue →
In the wake of the Civil War, Black citizens in Tuscumbia, Alabama, voted in a municipal election for the first time. Although this marked a... Continue →
John Mercer Langston was elected clerk of Brownhelm Township in Ohio, making him one of the first African Americans ever elected to public office in... Continue →
Ras Tafari Makonnen was formally proclaimed Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, marking the beginning of a transformative reign. A symbol of... Continue →
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the iconic civil rights leader and advocate for nonviolent resistance, was assassinated by a white sniper while standing... Continue →
Adam Clayton Powell Jr., influential congressman and civil rights leader, died at the age of 63 in Miami. As the first African American elected to... Continue →
Senegal officially gained independence from France on April 4, 1960, marking the end of colonial rule and the beginning of sovereign nationhood.... Continue →
Speaking before the Overseas Press Club in New York City, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. publicly announced his opposition to the Vietnam War.... Continue →
FBI documents released under the Freedom of Information Act revealed the existence of COINTELPRO, a covert government program used in the 1960s to... Continue →
Robert Smalls was born on April 5, 1839, in Beaufort, South Carolina, into the brutal institution of slavery. His mother, Lydia Polite, was enslaved... Continue →
Colin Luther Powell, the first African American U.S. Secretary of State, was born on this day in Harlem, New York. A four-star general in the U.S.... Continue →
On this day, African American explorer Matthew Henson became one of the first people to reach the North Pole, arriving nearly 45 minutes ahead of... Continue →
The first trial of the Scottsboro Nine—nine Black teenagers falsely accused of raping two white women on a freight train—began in Scottsboro,... Continue →
On this day, President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany, officially entering the United States into World War I. At the same... Continue →
Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett, then Principal of the Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia, was appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant as U.S.... Continue →
On this day, Dred Scott and his wife Harriet filed a lawsuit against Irene Emerson in St. Louis, Missouri, seeking their freedom. The Scotts argued... Continue →
The United States issued its first postage stamp honoring an African American—Booker T. Washington. As an educator, author, and founder of Tuskegee... Continue →
The Dunghutti Aboriginal people of New South Wales reached a historic agreement with the Australian government, securing the first successful claim... Continue →
On this day, 16-year-old Lawrence Bradford Jr. of New York City made history as the first African American page appointed to the United States... Continue →
The U.S. Congress passed the Civil Rights Bill of 1866, overriding President Andrew Johnson’s veto. This landmark legislation granted citizenship... Continue →
Paul Bustill Robeson was born in Princeton, New Jersey. A brilliant scholar and All-American football player at Rutgers University, Robeson graduated... Continue →
On this day, the American Anti-Slavery Society officially disbanded in Boston, declaring its mission complete following the passage of the 15th... Continue →
Just days after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the U.S. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1968. Also known as the Fair... Continue →
Nana Annor Adjaye, a respected Ghanaian statesman and Pan-Africanist, passed away in Western Nzima, Ghana. A prominent advocate for African unity and... Continue →
Johnnie Tillmon Blackston (born Johnnie Lee Percy) was born in Scott, Arkansas, on April 10, 1926. She became a pioneering welfare rights activist... Continue →
On this day, Idaho became the 47th U.S. state to officially recognize January 15th as Martin Luther King Jr. Day, aligning with the federal holiday... Continue →
Benjamin L. Hooks, a Memphis lawyer, Baptist minister, and civil rights advocate, became the first African American appointed to the Federal... Continue →
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968—commonly known as the Fair Housing Act—outlawing discrimination in the sale,... Continue →
After being excluded from Congress amid allegations of misconduct, Adam Clayton Powell Jr. was re-elected by Harlem voters with 86% of the vote. This... Continue →
In his final public speech, President Abraham Lincoln proposed limited Black suffrage—specifically for educated African Americans and Black Union... Continue →
Liberian President William R. Tolbert Jr. and twenty-seven government officials were assassinated during a military coup led by Master Sergeant... Continue →
In a speech delivered on this day, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. publicly criticized the Vietnam War, describing it as “rapidly degenerating into a... Continue →
Sir Grantley Herbert Adams, a pioneering political leader and advocate for Caribbean self-governance, was born in Barbados on... Continue →
In response to escalating violence by the Ku Klux Klan during Reconstruction, the North Carolina legislature passed an Anti-Klan Law on April 12,... Continue →
During the American Civil War, Confederate forces under General Nathan Bedford Forrest captured Fort Pillow in Tennessee. Following the fort’s... Continue →
Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, marking the start of the American Civil War. While not directly... Continue →
Richard Allen and Absalom Jones established the Free African Society in Philadelphia, one of the earliest Black mutual aid organizations in the... Continue →
President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated Andrew F. Brimmer, a distinguished economist and former University of Pennsylvania professor, to serve on the... Continue →
On Easter Sunday in Grant Parish, Louisiana, a violent white supremacist mob attacked and killed more than 60 Black men during a dispute over local... Continue →
James Hutton Brew, often called the "Pioneer of West African Journalism," died on this day in 1915. A lawyer, politician, and journalist from the... Continue →
In a pivotal decision on April 14, 1873, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Slaughterhouse Cases that the Fourteenth Amendment only protected... Continue →
South Carolina voters approved a new state constitution by a wide margin—70,758 to 27,228—and elected a new slate of state officers, including... Continue →
On the evening of April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was shot by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth while attending a play at Ford’s... Continue →
The first abolitionist society in the United States, the Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage, was organized in... Continue →
At the All-African People’s Conference held in Accra, Ghana, April 15 was declared African Freedom Day. This landmark event, attended by... Continue →
South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, began public hearings to investigate human rights... Continue →
On April 15, 1980, Zimbabwe officially gained its independence from British colonial rule, ending decades of white minority governance under the name... Continue →
On this day, young Black activists gathered at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, and formally established the Student Nonviolent... Continue →
Harold Washington was born on this day in Chicago, Illinois. He would go on to become the city’s first African American mayor, elected in 1983.... Continue →
President Abraham Lincoln died after being shot the previous evening by John Wilkes Booth. His death came just days after the end of the Civil War... Continue →
On this day, President Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 troops to suppress the Southern rebellion at the outset of the Civil War. However, the... Continue →
The California State Legislature adopted the California Fugitive Slave Law, introduced by Senator Henry A. Crabb. This law empowered slaveholders to... Continue →
On April 16, 1868, Louisiana voters approved a groundbreaking new state constitution that became a major milestone during the Reconstruction era.... Continue →
On April 16, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, officially ending slavery in the U.S.... Continue →
On April 16, 1973, Lelia Foley was elected mayor of Taft, Oklahoma, becoming the first African American woman to hold such a position in the United... Continue →
On April 16, 1869, Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett was appointed as the U.S. Minister Resident (Consul-General) to Haiti, making him the first African... Continue →
On April 18, 1989, Zimbabwe marked the 9th anniversary of its independence from British colonial rule. The country gained official independence on... Continue →
On April 18, 1980, Zimbabwe officially declared its independence from British colonial rule after nearly a century of foreign domination. Formerly... Continue →
On April 18, 1955, the Bandung Conference opened in Bandung, Indonesia, bringing together leaders from 29 African and Asian nations. Known as the... Continue →
On April 18, 1941, Dr. Robert C. Weaver was appointed as director of the Negro Manpower section within the Office of Production Management (OPM),... Continue →
On April 19, 1989, Sierra Leone marked the 18th anniversary of its transition to a republic. Originally gaining independence from British colonial... Continue →
On April 19, 1960, a landmark study by the National Education Association (NEA) revealed that more than 30,000 Black teachers and principals had lost... Continue →
On April 19, 1971, Reverend Walter E. Fauntroy was sworn in as the first elected Congressional delegate from the District of Columbia since... Continue →
On April 19, 1866, thousands of African American citizens in Washington, D.C. held a monumental celebration marking the abolition of slavery in the... Continue →
On April 19, 1971, Sierra Leone officially became a republic, marking a significant step in its post-colonial evolution. The West African nation had... Continue →
On April 20, 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education that busing students was a... Continue →
On April 20, 1909, E. Frederic Morrow was born in Hackensack, New Jersey. A graduate of Rutgers University and later a vice president at Bank of... Continue →
On April 20, 1871, the U.S. Congress passed the Third Enforcement Act, also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, in response to widespread racial terrorism... Continue →
On April 21, 1966, His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia, made a historic state visit to Kingston, Jamaica, and was greeted by... Continue →
On April 21, 1966, U.S. Army Private First Class Milton L. Olive III was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for extraordinary... Continue →
On April 21, 1878, the ship Azor departed Charleston, South Carolina, carrying 206 Black Americans seeking a new life in Liberia. Sponsored by the... Continue →
Charles Mingus Jr. Bio Civil Rights Activist, Pianist, Guitarist, Songwriter (1922–1979) Quick Facts Name : Charles Mingus Occupation : Civil... Continue →
On April 22, 1981, the Joint Center for Political Studies reported a major milestone in Black political representation: 2,991 Black Americans held... Continue →
On April 22, 1966, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I made a historic visit to Jamaica, marking a turning point for the global Rastafari movement.... Continue →
On April 23, 1971, William V.S. Tubman, the 19th President of Liberia, died while still in office after 27 years of leadership—the longest... Continue →
On April 24, 1867, the Ku Klux Klan held its first national meeting at the Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1865 by... Continue →
On April 25, 1944, Dr. Frederick D. Patterson, president of Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), published an open letter in the Pittsburgh... Continue →
On April 25, 1963, interracial groups of Freedom Riders continued their courageous journeys through the Deep South to test compliance with U.S.... Continue →
On April 25, 1960, a federal court in Memphis issued a consent judgment that struck down discriminatory voter suppression practices in Fayette... Continue →
On April 26, 1994, South Africa held its first all-race democratic elections, marking the official end of apartheid and a monumental shift toward... Continue →
On April 26, 1886, William Levi Dawson was born in Albany, Georgia. A graduate of Fisk University and Northwestern University Law School, Dawson went... Continue →
Coretta Scott is born in Marion, Ala. She will marry Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1953 and be an integral part of his civil rights activities. After... Continue →
On April 27, 1964, the Republic of Tanganyika and the People's Republic of Zanzibar united to form the United Republic of Tanzania. This historic... Continue →
On April 27, 1961, Sierra Leone officially gained independence from British colonial rule, becoming a sovereign nation under Prime Minister Sir... Continue →
On April 27, 1972, Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president and a towering figure in African liberation movements, died at the age of 62 while in... Continue →
On April 27, 1960, the Republic of Togo gained full independence from French colonial rule, becoming the first West African nation to achieve... Continue →
On April 27, 1903, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a devastating blow to Black civil rights by upholding Alabama’s constitutional amendments that... Continue →
By April 27, 1903, reports had confirmed that 84 African Americans had been lynched in the United States within that year alone—making 1903 one of... Continue →
On April 28, 1967, the World Boxing Association (WBA) and the New York State Athletic Commission stripped Muhammad Ali of his world heavyweight title... Continue →
On April 28, 1992, a group of young, disillusioned soldiers staged a coup d’état in Freetown, Sierra Leone, overthrowing the government of... Continue →
On April 29, 1968, the Poor People's Campaign officially began when Dr. Ralph Abernathy, who succeeded Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as president of the... Continue →
On April 29, 1992, the city of Los Angeles exploded in unrest following the acquittal of four white LAPD officers charged in the brutal videotaped... Continue →
On April 29, 1922, Parren James Mitchell was born in Baltimore, Maryland. A decorated World War II veteran, Mitchell became a trailblazing civil... Continue →
On April 30, 1828, Shaka kaSenzangakhona, the formidable founder of the Zulu Kingdom, was assassinated by his half-brothers Dingane and Mhlangana.... Continue →
On May 1, 1967, the United States entered what would become one of the most explosive summers of civil unrest in the nation's history. Between May 1... Continue →
On May 1, 1948, U.S. Senator Glenn H. Taylor of Idaho—then running as the Progressive Party's vice-presidential candidate alongside Henry... Continue →
On May 1, 1946, William H. Hastie was confirmed as the governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, making history as the first African American to serve as... Continue →
On May 1, 1941, civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph issued a bold call for 100,000 Black Americans to march on Washington, D.C., in protest of... Continue →
On May 1, 1867, the Reconstruction era entered a pivotal phase as General Philip H. Sheridan ordered the registration of voters in Louisiana, marking... Continue →
On May 1, 1866, one of the most violent racial attacks of the Reconstruction era erupted in Memphis, Tennessee. Over a three-day period, white... Continue →
In the wake of the Civil War’s end, on May 1, 1865, over 10,000 people, many of them formerly enslaved, gathered at a former Confederate prison... Continue →
On May 1, 1950, Kwame Nkrumah led the Convention People's Party (CPP) in launching the “Positive Action” campaign against British colonial rule... Continue →
May 1, 1960 marked the first celebration of International Workers’ Day in Nigeria as it approached full independence from Britain (officially... Continue →
While the infamous Haymarket Affair occurred in Chicago on May 1, 1886, less known is the support it garnered among Black Caribbean labor thinkers,... Continue →
On May 1, 1994, just days after its first multiracial democratic elections, South Africa celebrated its most symbolic Workers’ Day in modern... Continue →
On May 1, 1968, just a month after Dr. King’s assassination, the Poor People’s Campaign officially launched with thousands of activists arriving... Continue →
Though assassinated in February 1965, Malcolm X’s final writings and speeches had a profound impact on African labor leaders who gathered on May 1... Continue →
Under the socialist-leaning People’s Revolutionary Government, led by Maurice Bishop, Grenada declared May 1 a public holiday in 1978 to honor... Continue →
In May 1935, a group of prominent African and Caribbean intellectuals, including C.L.R. James and George Padmore, met in London during May Day... Continue →
While Haiti officially declared its independence from France on January 1, 1804, May 1, 1804 marks the day Jean-Jacques Dessalines publicly... Continue →
On May 2, 2002, during a televised panel and later documented in academic publications, historians emphasized a striking truth: the American... Continue →
On May 2, 1992, the city of Los Angeles began the massive cleanup and rebuilding process following five days of unrest sparked by the acquittal of... Continue →
On May 2, 1968, Reverend Ralph Abernathy officially launched the Poor People’s Campaign with a march on Washington, D.C., just one month after the... Continue →
On May 2, 1963, more than 2,500 African American children, teenagers, and a few white allies were arrested in Birmingham, Alabama, during a mass... Continue →
On May 2, 1803, Denmark Vesey, a formerly enslaved man, purchased his freedom with $600 he had won through a local lottery. While this event occurred... Continue →
On May 2, 1803, Toussaint Louverture, the brilliant leader of the Haitian Revolution, died in a French prison in Fort-de-Joux. Louverture had been... Continue →
On May 2, 1994, just days before officially becoming South Africa’s first Black president, Nelson Mandela cast his ballot in the country's first... Continue →
On May 2, 1863, Black Union soldiers fighting under General David Hunter faced deadly resistance in the South during early Civil War skirmishes.... Continue →
On May 2, 1973, President Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) formally advanced his policy of “Authenticité,” a... Continue →
On May 2, 2005, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf officially launched her campaign for the presidency of Liberia. A Harvard-educated economist and long-time... Continue →
On May 2, 1974, after a high-profile trial, Black activist and scholar Angela Davis was acquitted of all charges related to a 1970 courtroom... Continue →
On May 2, 1865, just weeks after the Civil War ended, Congressman Thaddeus Stevens delivered a fiery speech demanding full citizenship and suffrage... Continue →
On May 2, 1948, the United States Supreme Court issued a landmark civil rights ruling in Shelley v. Kraemer, declaring that courts could not enforce... Continue →
From May 1 to May 3, 1866, one of the earliest post–Civil War race massacres occurred in Memphis, Tennessee. White mobs—including police officers... Continue →
On May 3, 1960, the U.S. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1960, aiming to address racial discrimination in voting. Building on the earlier... Continue →
On May 3, 1963, during the Birmingham Campaign in Alabama, hundreds of young Black protesters faced fire hoses and police dogs under Bull Connor’s... Continue →
Although Jomo Kenyatta died in August, May 3, 1978, marked an important national day of mourning declared in his honor by many African states.... Continue →
Zakaria Mohieddin, a key figure in Egypt's 1952 revolution that ended monarchy rule, died on May 3, 1969. Though not as globally recognized as Gamal... Continue →
On May 3, 1960, the foundations of what would become the Nigeria Labour Congress were laid, unifying various labor movements under a common banner.... Continue →
Though the kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls by Boko Haram in Chibok, Nigeria, occurred on April 14, the #BringBackOurGirls movement reached peak global... Continue →
On May 3, 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a powerful speech in London condemning apartheid in South Africa and linking it to racial... Continue →
On May 3, 1948, Kwame Nkrumah, galvanized by the recent Accra Riots and the failure of colonial reforms, began organizing the political movement that... Continue →
On May 4, 1942, Doris "Dorie" Miller, an African American sailor, was awarded the Navy Cross for his heroic actions during the attack on Pearl... Continue →
On May 4, 1992, Carol Moseley Braun won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Illinois, putting her on the path to become the first African... Continue →
On May 4, 1865, the 1st South Carolina Volunteers, one of the first official African American regiments in the Union Army, was honorably disbanded... Continue →
Kwame Nkrumah, born May 4, 1904, in Nkroful, Gold Coast (now Ghana), became the first Prime Minister and President of independent Ghana. A visionary... Continue →
Born on May 4, 1948, in Monrovia, Liberia, George Weah rose from humble beginnings to become one of Africa’s greatest footballers and later the... Continue →
On May 4, 1994, after South Africa’s historic democratic elections, it was officially confirmed that Nelson Mandela and the African National... Continue →
On May 4, 1839, Prince Alemayehu, the son of Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia, was born — a figure whose life became a poignant symbol of colonial... Continue →
On May 5, 1865, Adam Clayton Powell Sr. was born in Franklin County, Virginia. The son of formerly enslaved parents, Powell would rise to become a... Continue →
On May 5, 1862, Robert Smalls—a 23-year-old enslaved Black man—led one of the most daring escapes of the Civil War. Along with 12 fellow enslaved... Continue →
Jean Cinéas, born on May 5, 1805, was a prominent Haitian jurist and political thinker. A direct descendant of revolutionary leaders, he played a... Continue →
On May 5, 1821, Napoleon Bonaparte died in exile on Saint Helena. His death marked a pivotal shift for Haiti, which had been forced to negotiate... Continue →
The Second Pan-African Congress, led by W.E.B. Du Bois and other leaders, concluded in Brussels, Belgium, around May 5, 1921. This conference was... Continue →
On May 5, 1949, Martiniquan poet and politician Aimé Césaire released his seminal work, Discourse on Colonialism. In this fiery essay, Césaire... Continue →
Samia Nkrumah, daughter of Ghana's first president Kwame Nkrumah and future Parliamentarian, was born on May 5, 1956. Educated internationally, she... Continue →
On May 5, 1963, delegates from across Africa gathered in Addis Ababa to draft what would become the Organization of African Unity (OAU). Although... Continue →
Although Bobby Sands, the Irish hunger striker, died on May 5, 1981, the event resonated across racial lines. Black activists in the U.S., South... Continue →
On May 5, 1994, the first democratically elected South African Parliament opened after the fall of apartheid, with Nelson Mandela preparing to assume... Continue →
On May 5, 2010, the African Union officially launched the "Great Green Wall" project, a massive effort to combat desertification across the Sahel... Continue →
On May 6, 1872, Robert Smalls, a formerly enslaved African American who became a Civil War hero, was nominated for the U.S. House of Representatives... Continue →
On May 6, 1954, British runner Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute mile barrier, an achievement that stunned the world. His feat rippled far beyond... Continue →
On May 6, 1957, amidst heavy resistance, African American students known as the “Clinton 12” continued attending Clinton High School in Tennessee... Continue →
On May 6, 1877, federal troops were withdrawn from Louisiana, effectively marking the end of Reconstruction in the South. This event dealt a... Continue →
On May 6, 1875, Mississippi authorities intensified Black Codes to limit African American freedom, despite Reconstruction amendments guaranteeing... Continue →
On May 6, 1960, Nigeria conducted one of its last parliamentary elections under British colonial rule. These elections paved the way for the... Continue →
On May 6, 1984, South African anti-apartheid leader Mamphela Ramphele was officially banned and confined to the town of Tzaneen. A medical doctor and... Continue →
On May 6, 1954, women in the Gold Coast (modern Ghana) organized a massive demonstration against colonial injustices. Inspired by the growing... Continue →
Born on May 6, 1921, Sophie Masite would grow up to become one of South Africa’s pioneering Black women politicians. She later became the first... Continue →
On May 6, 1994, following South Africa's first fully democratic elections, Nelson Mandela addressed the international community, affirming a... Continue →
On May 6, 1830, growing opposition against Haitian President Jean-Pierre Boyer erupted into widespread unrest. Boyer had initially unified Haiti but... Continue →
On May 6, 1901, Afro-Mexican entrepreneur William Henry Ellis, born into slavery in Texas but passing as Mexican to navigate racial barriers,... Continue →
On May 7, 1976, William H. Hastie was inaugurated as the first Black governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, marking a pivotal moment in U.S.... Continue →
On May 7, 1885, Dr. John E. W. Thompson—an African American graduate of Yale University Medical School—was appointed U.S. Minister Resident and... Continue →
On May 7, 1955, Reverend George W. Lee, one of the first Black people registered to vote in Humphreys County, Mississippi since Reconstruction, was... Continue →
On May 7, 1877, federal troops withdrew from South Carolina, signaling the end of Reconstruction and the dismantling of Black political power in the... Continue →
On May 7, 1963, thousands of Black schoolchildren in Birmingham, Alabama, continued to march for civil rights, following the first mass arrests the... Continue →
On May 7, 1960, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act of 1960. Though limited compared to later legislation, it was a key step... Continue →
Joseph Jenkins Roberts, a free Black man from Virginia, set sail for Liberia on May 7, 1840. He would become Liberia’s first Black governor and... Continue →
On May 7, 1919, reports of the Amritsar Massacre (April 13) reached wider Black audiences in the Caribbean and Africa. British colonial forces killed... Continue →
May 7, 1945, marked the end of World War II in Europe. Black soldiers from the U.S., Britain, France, and African colonies celebrated VE Day with the... Continue →
On May 7, 1954, Kwame Nkrumah led the Convention People's Party (CPP) to a major victory in Gold Coast (Ghana) elections. The win showed overwhelming... Continue →
On May 7, 1963, African leaders were deep in negotiations in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to form the Organization of African Unity (OAU). The OAU,... Continue →
On May 7, 1986, Liberian President Samuel Doe declared emergency measures to suppress rising opposition. His authoritarian leadership, initially... Continue →
On May 7, 1994, Nelson Mandela finalized preparations for his inauguration as South Africa’s first Black president after centuries of colonialism... Continue →
On May 7, 2002, Brazil launched a major government initiative focused on increasing Afro-Brazilian visibility, rights, and representation. Known as... Continue →
On May 8, 1945 — the same day World War II officially ended in Europe — a peaceful demonstration in the Algerian town of Sétif turned into a... Continue →
On May 8, 1876, Truganini, a Nuenonne woman of the Palawa people and one of the most well-known Aboriginal Tasmanians, died in Hobart at the age of... Continue →
By May 8, 1792, the Haitian Revolution—the only successful slave revolt in history—was gaining unstoppable momentum. Black insurgents, many... Continue →
By May 8, 1970, Steve Biko and the South African Students\' Organisation (SASO) had successfully catalyzed the Black Consciousness Movement.... Continue →
On May 8, 1996, South Africa’s Constitutional Assembly formally adopted a new constitution, hailed as one of the most progressive in the world. It... Continue →
At a May 8, 1923 session of the Fourth Pan-African Congress held in London, W.E.B. Du Bois and other leaders called for African self-rule and an end... Continue →
On May 8, 1902, Walter Tull was born in Folkestone, England. Tull broke racial barriers in early 20th-century Britain, becoming one of the first... Continue →
On May 8, 1945 — the same day Europe celebrated the end of World War II — thousands of Malagasy people in Madagascar rose up against French... Continue →
On May 9, 1977, Dr. Mabel Murphy Smythe was confirmed as the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Cameroon, becoming one of the few African... Continue →
On May 9, 1974, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee began historic impeachment hearings to determine whether to recommend the removal of President... Continue →
On May 9, 1862, Union General David Hunter issued General Order No. 11, declaring the emancipation of all enslaved people in Georgia, Florida, and... Continue →
On May 9, 1942, tensions over racial discrimination, police brutality, and economic inequality exploded into a violent race riot in Harlem, New York.... Continue →
On May 9, 1960, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Enovid, the first birth control pill. While often discussed in the context of broader... Continue →
On May 9, 1872, during the Equal Rights Party convention, Victoria Woodhull nominated famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass for Vice President of the... Continue →
On May 9, 1899, the African Political Organization (APO) was founded in Cape Town, South Africa. Initially formed to fight discriminatory laws... Continue →
Marcus Garvey officially launched the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) on May 9, 1916, in Kingston, Jamaica. His vision was clear: a... Continue →
On May 9, 1921, representatives from the South African Native National Congress (later the African National Congress or ANC) traveled to London to... Continue →
May 9, 1945, marked celebrations across Europe for the end of World War II. Thousands of African soldiers from colonies such as Nigeria, Senegal,... Continue →
On May 9, 1950, Eslanda Robeson, anthropologist, journalist, and activist (and wife of Paul Robeson), delivered powerful advocacy at the United... Continue →
On May 9, 1980, Zimbabwe, newly independent from British colonial rule, was formally admitted into the United Nations. Led by Prime Minister Robert... Continue →
On May 9, 2002, South Africa hosted the inaugural summit of the African Union (AU) in Durban, a successor to the Organization of African Unity (OAU).... Continue →
On May 9, 1963, African leaders met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to finalize the formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), an institution... Continue →
On May 10, 1994, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was inaugurated as the first Black and democratically elected President of South Africa. Held at the Union... Continue →
On May 10, 1951, civil rights attorney and educator Z. Alexander Looby was elected to the Nashville City Council, becoming one of the first Black... Continue →
On May 10, 1919, a violent race riot broke out in Charleston, South Carolina, when a confrontation between white U.S. Navy sailors and Black... Continue →
On May 10, 1837, Pinckney Benton Stewart (P.B.S.) Pinchback was born in Macon, Georgia. Born to a formerly enslaved woman and a wealthy white... Continue →
On May 10, 1967, Carl B. Stokes won the Democratic primary for mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, placing him on the path to becoming the first African... Continue →
On May 10, 1963, in response to Ku Klux Klan intimidation and violence, the Deacons for Defense and Justice was founded in Jonesboro, Louisiana, by a... Continue →
On May 10, 1983, Harold Washington won the general election to become the first African American mayor of Chicago, following a contentious primary... Continue →
On May 10, 1979, Black British and Caribbean activists staged coordinated protests in response to Margaret Thatcher’s harsh immigration rhetoric... Continue →
On May 10, 1801, Haitian revolutionary leader Toussaint Louverture was deceitfully captured by French forces and deported to France. Invited under... Continue →
On May 10, 1903, the African Society was formally established in London to promote African culture, scholarship, and political thought. Founded by... Continue →
On May 10, 1981, the Ghanaian government under President Hilla Limann approved plans to construct a national mausoleum in honor of Kwame Nkrumah,... Continue →
On May 10, 1968, Tom Mboya, a prominent Kenyan politician and architect of the nation’s independence, narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in... Continue →
On May 10, 1983, Prime Minister Maurice Bishop of Grenada delivered a fiery speech warning of increasing U.S. hostility toward his socialist... Continue →
On May 10, 1903, Ethiopia commemorated the decisive victory at the Battle of Adwa (1896) with the first National Unity Day celebration under Emperor... Continue →
On May 11, 1965, Black citizens in Norfolk, Virginia, organized a mass meeting to demand equal rights and full access to the ballot. This gathering... Continue →
On May 11, 1985, the Philadelphia Police Department dropped a bomb on the headquarters of MOVE, a Black liberation group, during a standoff in the... Continue →
On May 11, 1950, Jackie Robinson, the first Black Major League Baseball player of the modern era, testified before the House Un-American Activities... Continue →
On May 11, 1946, Ruben Um Nyobé, a Cameroonian teacher and nationalist, presented a petition to the United Nations on behalf of Cameroon’s... Continue →
On May 11, 1987, Paul Boateng was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Brent South, marking a pivotal moment in British politics. A British... Continue →
On May 11, 1960, anti-apartheid activist Helen Joseph survived a failed assassination attempt outside her home in Johannesburg. Though white, Joseph... Continue →
François Bozizé, future president of the Central African Republic, was born on May 11, 1951, in Mouila, Gabon. His presidency (2003–2013) marked... Continue →
On May 11, 2000, the final volume of South Africa\'s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) report was released. Chaired by Archbishop Desmond... Continue →
On May 11, 1982, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) officially adopted Africa Day as an annual observance across its member nations. Though the... Continue →
On May 11, 1946, Kwame Nkrumah returned to the Gold Coast (now Ghana) after years studying and organizing in the United States and the UK. Upon his... Continue →
Jean-Baptiste Belley, a former slave turned revolutionary leader and French legislator, died on May 11, 1871. Born in Senegal and enslaved in... Continue →
On May 11, 1963, Nguy?n V?n Tr?i, a young Vietnamese electrician and revolutionary with Afro-Asian heritage, was sentenced to death by South... Continue →
On May 12, 1951, Oscar Stanton De Priest, a pioneering African American politician, passed away at the age of 80 in Chicago. Elected in 1928, De... Continue →
In the early hours of May 14, 1970, officers from the Jackson Police Department and Mississippi Highway Patrol opened fire on a women’s dormitory... Continue →
On May 14, 1867, a Black political mass meeting in Mobile, Alabama, ended in violence when a white mob attacked attendees, leading to a deadly riot.... Continue →
On May 15, 1957, André-Marie Mbida made history by becoming the first Prime Minister of Cameroon, then still under French colonial rule. As the... Continue →
On May 16, 1929, John Conyers Jr. was born in Highland Park, Michigan. Conyers would go on to become a towering figure in American politics, serving... Continue →
On May 16, 1868, the U.S. Senate narrowly failed to convict President Andrew Johnson during his impeachment trial. The vote on Article 11 resulted in... Continue →
On this day, rebel leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila seized power in Zaire, ending the 37-year dictatorship of Mobutu Sese Seko. Upon taking control,... Continue →
A major race riot erupted in the Liberty City neighborhood of Miami, Florida, following the acquittal of four white police officers who were charged... Continue →
On this day, President Rutherford B. Hayes appointed Frederick Douglass as the U.S. Marshal for the District of Columbia, making him the first Black... Continue →
On this day, President Richard Nixon formally rejected a list of sixty demands put forth by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), which had been... Continue →
On this day, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered its landmark decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, upholding the constitutionality of racial segregation... Continue →
On May 19, 1965, Patricia Roberts Harris was nominated by President Lyndon B. Johnson to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg, making her the... Continue →
On May 19, 1878, Blanche Kelso Bruce was appointed Register of the U.S. Treasury, becoming the first African American to have his signature appear on... Continue →
On this day, a violent mob attacked the Freedom Riders in Montgomery, Alabama, as they protested segregation in interstate travel. The brutality of... Continue →
At the Republican National Convention held in Chicago on May 20, 1868, Ulysses S. Grant was officially nominated for the presidency. More... Continue →
On this day in 1971, the National Guard was mobilized to suppress a riot in Chattanooga, Tennessee, following rising racial tensions. The unrest led... Continue →
On this day, Blanche Kelso Bruce of Mississippi made history as the first Black man to serve a full term in the United States Senate, and the first... Continue →
On May 21, 1975, Lowell W. Perry was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), following his... Continue →
Amid escalating violence against Freedom Riders in the South, U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy ordered 200 additional U.S. Marshals to... Continue →
Neville Bonner, a respected Aboriginal leader and president of the One People of Australia League, was selected to fill a Senate vacancy, becoming... Continue →
On May 23, 1878, attorney John Henry Smyth was appointed as U.S. Minister to Liberia. A prominent African American diplomat and advocate for civil... Continue →
On this day in 1951, the Municipal Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C. ruled racial segregation illegal, marking a significant local victory in the... Continue →
After a brutal 30-year struggle, Eritrea officially declared independence from Ethiopia on May 24, 1993. The conflict, which began in 1961, was one... Continue →
On this day, abolitionist John Brown led an anti-slavery militia in a violent raid on a pro-slavery settlement near Pottawatomie Creek in Franklin... Continue →
On this day, Anthony Burns, a celebrated fugitive slave, was arrested by United States Deputy Marshals in Boston under the Fugitive Slave Act. His... Continue →
On May 25, 1971, Jo Etha Collier, a young Black woman and high school student, was tragically killed in Drew, Mississippi, by a bullet fired from a... Continue →
At the National Black Economic Development Conference in Detroit, civil rights activist James Forman presented the "Black Manifesto," demanding $500... Continue →
On May 26, 1943, President Edwin Barclay of Liberia became the first African head of state to pay an official visit to a U.S. president at the White... Continue →
In a landmark referendum, over 90% of white Australians voted in favor of two constitutional amendments—one of which allowed Aboriginal Australians... Continue →
The Louisiana Colored Volunteers led an assault on Confederate breastworks at Port Hudson, marking the first major battle in which African American... Continue →
On this day in 1973, Thomas J. "Tom" Bradley was elected as the 38th Mayor of Los Angeles, becoming the first and only African-American to hold the... Continue →
On May 29, 1980, Vernon E. Jordan Jr., then President of the National Urban League, was critically injured in an assassination attempt in Fort Wayne,... Continue →
On this day, President Andrew Johnson unveiled his plan for Reconstruction after the Civil War. His program required former Confederate states to... Continue →
The U.S. Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and allowing settlers in those territories to determine... Continue →
On this day, a house slave revealed the details of Denmark Vesey's planned uprising to white authorities, leading to the unraveling of one of the... Continue →
On this day, the biracial government of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia proclaimed independence from the United Kingdom. However, the move was not internationally... Continue →
?Patricia Roberts Harris, born on May 31, 1924, in Mattoon, Illinois, was a trailblazing American politician, diplomat, and legal scholar. She holds... Continue →
On May 31, 1921, one of the most devastating acts of racial violence in American history began in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma—widely... Continue →
On this day in 1870, the United States Congress passed the first Enforcement Act, a landmark piece of legislation aimed at protecting the civil and... Continue →
On this date in 1966 approximately 2,400 persons attended White House Conference on Civil Rights.
On this date in 1921 - a race riot occurred in Tulsa, Oklahoma. A white mob started the Tulsa race riot, attacking residents and businesses of the... Continue →
On this date in 1868 a constitutional convention convened in Austin. The ninety delegates consisted of eighty whites and ten blacks.
On this date in 1864, Solomon George Washington Dill, poor white ally of Black Republicans was assassinated in his home by white terrorists. Dill had... Continue →
On this date in 1864, the Florida General Assembly (nineteen Blacks, fifty-seven whites) met in Tallahassee.
On this date in 1967 - A Race riot in the Roxbury section of Boston, Massachusetts. Roxbury was a predominantly Black section of the city, which was... Continue →
On this day ion 1943, the Ninety-ninth Pursuit Squadron flew P-40 Warhawks over the Mediterranean Sea for their first combat mission, strafing enemy... Continue →
ON this day in 1899, Black Americans observed day of fasting and prayer called by National Afro-American Council to protest lynching and racial... Continue →
On this day in 1875, James Augustine Healy, the first African American Roman Catholic Bishop, born in Macon, Georgia.
On this day in 1854 - Fugitive slave Anthony Burns was returned to the South from Boston. In 1854, Burns took steps to find freedom. While working in... Continue →
On this date in 1834, the Fifth National Black convention met in New York with 50 delegates from eight states.
On this day in 1854, Anthony Burns, a fugitive slave, was arrested in Boston. His master refused an offer of $1200 made by Boston citizens for his... Continue →
On this day in 1833, Fourth national Black convention met in Philadelphia with sixty-two delegates from eight states. Abraham D. Shadd of... Continue →
On this day in 1922, Samuel L. Gravely was born. Samuel Gravely was appointed captain of the Navy Destroyer Escort, U.S.S. Falgout, the first African... Continue →
On this day in 1832, the Third National Black convention met in Philadelphia with twenty-nine delegates from eight states. Henry Sipkins of New York... Continue →
On this day in 1973, Cardiss R. Collins of Chicago was elected to Congress. She succeeded her late husband.
On this date in 1969, there a Race riot occurred in Hartford, Connecticut.
On this day in 1955, Martin Luther King Jr. is awarded his doctorate from Boston University.
ON this date in 1950, U.S. Supreme Court undermined the legal foundations of segregation in three landmark cases, Sweatt v. Painter, McLaurin v.... Continue →
On this day 1945, Olympic track and field star John Carlos born in New York City. John Carlos would become famous at the 1968 Olympic Summer Games... Continue →
On this day in 1872, the Republican National Convention met in Philadelphia with substantial Black representation from Southern States. For the first... Continue →
On this day in 1783, Oliver Cromwell, soldier in the Revolutionary War, receives an honorable discharge and the Badge of Merit from George Washington... Continue →
On this day in 1977, Joseph Lawson Howze installed as bishop of the Roman Catholic diocese of Biloxi, Mississippi.
On this day in 1966, James Meredith wounded by white sniper as he walked along U.S. Highway 51 near Hernando, Mississippi, on second day of 220-mile... Continue →
On this day in 1950, Frank Petersen enlisted in the Navy. At the age of 20, he was the first Afro-American to be named a naval aviator in the Marine... Continue →
On this day in 1939, Children's Advocate Marian Wright Edelman was born.
On this day in 1863, at the Battle of Milken's Bend a Negro soldier takes his former master prisoner.
On this day in 1831, the Second National Black convention met in Philadelphia. There were fifteen delegates from five states.
On this day in 1790, Jean Baptist Pointe Desable, a French speaking Santo Domingo native, becomes the first permanent resident and thus founder of... Continue →
On this day in 1968, James Earl Ray, alleged assassin of Martin Luther King Jr., captured at London airport.
On this day in 1953, King, Sr., performs the marriage ceremony of King, Jr., and Coretta Scott at the Scott home near Marion, Alabama.
On this day in 1989, Congressman John Conyers D-Michigan announced a call for a reparations study.
On this day in 1964, the U.S. Senate imposed cloture for first time on a civil rights measure, ending Southern Filibuster by a vote of 71-29. Civil... Continue →
On this day in 1941, Marcus Garvey (52) died in London, England.
On this day in 1899, the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks founded in Cincinnati.
On this day in 1967, there was a Race riot in Tampa, Florida. The National Guard was mobilized.
On this day in 1963, Vivian Malone and James Hood, accompanied by U.S. Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach attempt to register at the... Continue →
On this day in 1963, President Kennedy told nation in radio-TV address that segregation was morally wrong and that it was "time to act in the... Continue →
On this day in 1967, U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Virginia law banning inter-racial marriage was unconstitutional.
On this day in 1967, a Race riot occurred in Cincinnati, Ohio. Three hundred persons were arrested, and the National Guard was mobilized.
On this day in 1963, Civil rights groups demonstrated at Harlem construction sites to Protest discrimination in building trades unions.... Continue →
IN this day in 1886, the Georgia State Supreme Court sustained the will of the late David Dickson, thus making Amanda Eubanks, the daughter of a... Continue →
On this day in 1840, the World's Anti-Slavery Convention convenes in London, England.
On this day in 1937, Eleanor Holmes (later Eleanor Norton) is born in Washington, DC. A graduate of the Yale University School of Law, Norton will... Continue →
On this day in 1868, Ex-slave Oscar J. Dunn becomes lieutenant governor of Louisiana. It is the highest executive office held by an African American... Continue →
On this day in 1971, Justice Department filed suit against the St. Louis suburb of Black Jack, charging the community with illegally using municipal... Continue →
On this day in 1971, Vernon E. Jordan Jr., former executive director of the United Negro College Fund, appointed executive director of the National... Continue →
On this day in 1864, Congress passed bill equalizing pay, arms, equipment and medical services of Black troops.
On this day in 1970, Kenneth A Gibson elected the first African American mayor of Newark. In 1976, he will be elected the first African American... Continue →
On this day in 1943, Race riot, Beaumont, Texas. Two killed.
On this date in 1972, Frank Wills, Washington security guard, foiled break-in at offices of Democratic National Committee in first event of the... Continue →
On this date in 1897, William Frank Powell, New Jersey educator, named minister to Haiti.
ON this date in 1871, Author, lyricist, poet and educator James Weldon Johnson, also the first Black executive of the NAACP, is born in Jacksonville,... Continue →
On this date in 1862, Congress authorized President Lincoln to accept blacks in Union Army.
On this date in 1775, Blacks soldiers fought at Battle of Bunker Hill and Breed's Hill. Among the heroes of the battle were Peter Salem and Salem... Continue →
ON this date in 1966, Samuel Nabrit is the first African American to serve on the Atomic Energy Commission
On this date in 1963, Three thousand Black students boycotted Boston public schools as protest against de facto segregation.
ON this date in 1953, Egypt becomes a republic after the forced abdication of King Farouk I.
On this date in 1941, President Roosevelt conferred with A. Philip Randolph and other leaders of the March on Washington movement and urged them to... Continue →
ON this date in 1991, City Auditor Wellington Webb is elected mayor of Denver, Colo. He is the first African American to hold the post.
On June 25, 1968, Lincoln Alexander was elected as the Member of Parliament for Hamilton West, making history as the first Black Canadian to serve in... Continue →
Kenneth Gibson, Mayor of Newark, became the first African American president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
On this date in 1889, it was reported that 94 Black individuals had been lynched in the United States during that year. This was part of the broader... Continue →
On this date in 2001, the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965 was amended in 1998 to include a provision that denied federal financial aid to students... Continue →
On this date in 1991, Clarence Thomas was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court by President George H.W. Bush to replace retiring Justice Thurgood... Continue →
On this date in 1960, Somalia officially gained independence and was formed as a sovereign nation. This date marks the unification of British... Continue →
On this date in 1917, The East St. Louis Race Riot of July 1-3, 1917, was one of the deadliest episodes of racial violence in U.S. history. It was... Continue →
On this date in 1898, during the Spanish-American War, the Tenth Cavalry, a regiment of the famed Buffalo Soldiers, played a crucial role in the... Continue →
On this date in 1893, Walter Francis White was born in Atlanta, Georgia. He was a prominent civil rights activist, writer, and leader of the NAACP... Continue →
On this date in 1889, Frederick Douglass was appointed as the U.S. Minister Resident and Consul General to Haiti by President Benjamin Harrison.... Continue →
On this date in 1868, the North Carolina legislature convened with a historic composition: 21 Black legislators and 149 white legislators. This was a... Continue →
On this date in 1863, the Kingdom of the Netherlands officially abolished slavery in its colonies, including Suriname and the Dutch Caribbean islands... Continue →
On this date in 1925, Medgar Evers was born, in Decatur, Mississippi. He was a civil rights activist and World War II veteran who played a crucial... Continue →
On this date, Thurgood Marshall was born, in Baltimore, Maryland. He made history as the first African American Supreme Court Justice, serving from... Continue →
On this date in 1937, Walter F. White was honored by the NAACP in New York City for his significant contributions to civil rights. As the Executive... Continue →
On this date in 1935, Ed Bullins was born. He was a groundbreaking playwright and a major figure in the Black Arts Movement, known for his works that... Continue →
On this date, President James A. Garfield was shot at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C. by Charles J. Guiteau, a... Continue →
On this date in 1822, Denmark Vesey, a formerly enslaved man and skilled carpenter, was hanged in Charleston, South Carolina, after being accused of... Continue →
On this date, Vermont made history on July 2, 1777, by becoming the first American colony to abolish slavery in its state constitution. This was a... Continue →
On this date in 1775, Prince Hall founded Africa Lodge No. 1 in Boston, Massachusetts, marking a pivotal moment in history as it became the first... Continue →
On this date in 1966, race riots broke out in Omaha, Nebraska, amid growing racial tensions in the city. The unrest was part of a broader wave of... Continue →
On this date in 1848, slavery was abolished in the Danish West Indies, now known as the U.S. Virgin Islands. This historic event was marked by a... Continue →
On this date in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted, marking the United States' formal declaration of independence from Great Britain.... Continue →
On this date in 1999, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) celebrated Caribbean Integration with a focus on strengthening regional cooperation and... Continue →
On this date in 1972, during its National Convention, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) adopted an emergency... Continue →
On this date in 1970, Asbury Park, New Jersey, was the site of significant rioting, with over one hundred people injured. The unrest was fueled by... Continue →
On this date in 1963, Marian Anderson, the renowned African American contralto, and Ralph Bunche, the distinguished diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize... Continue →
On this date in 1875, a violent and tragic event occurred in Vicksburg, Mississippi, where White Democrats targeted and killed several Black... Continue →
On this date in 1868, the Georgia legislature convened in Atlanta following the end of the Civil War and during the Reconstruction period. This was a... Continue →
On this date in 1861, Thaddeus Stevens, a prominent American politician and leader of the Radical Republicans during the Civil War, delivered a... Continue →
On this date in 1827, New York State officially abolished slavery, making it one of the last northern states to do so. The decision came after years... Continue →
On this date in 1975, racial disturbances erupted in Miami, Florida, as tensions between African American communities and law enforcement escalated.... Continue →
On this date in 1966, the National Guard was mobilized in Omaha, Nebraska, following the third consecutive night of violent rioting. The unrest began... Continue →
On this date in 1899, Anna Arnold Hedgeman was born. She made history as the first woman to serve in the cabinet of a New York City mayor. Hedgeman... Continue →
On this date in 1964, Malawi officially proclaimed its independence from British colonial rule. The country, which was previously known as the... Continue →
On this date in 1869, Dr. J.D. Harris, an African American physician, ran for lieutenant governor of Virginia on the Republican ticket. Despite his... Continue →
On this date in 1868, the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution was officially ratified. This amendment is one of the most significant in... Continue →
On this date in 1854, the South Carolina General Assembly met at Janney's Hall in Columbia, marking a historic moment. This session included 85 Black... Continue →
On this date in 1853, the National Black Convention took place in Rochester, New York, with 140 delegates from nine states. This significant... Continue →
On this date in 1965, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) officially elected Roy Wilkins as its new Executive... Continue →
On this date in 1943, Faye Wattleton was born. She is a notable activist, nurse, and the first African American president of Planned Parenthood.... Continue →
On this date in 1876, the Hamburg Massacre took place in Hamburg, South Carolina, when a white supremacist mob attacked a group of Black Republican... Continue →
On this date in 1870, Governor William Woods Holden of North Carolina declared Caswell County in a state of insurrection due to violent resistance... Continue →
On this date in 1868, Francis L. Cardozo was installed as Secretary of State of South Carolina, making him the first Black person to hold a statewide... Continue →
On this date in 1979, Dr. Walter E. Massey was appointed as the director of Argonne National Laboratory, making him the first African American to... Continue →
On this date in 1955, E. Frederic Morrow became the first Black person to hold an executive position in the White House. He served as an... Continue →
On this date in 1927, Attorney William T. Francis was appointed U.S. Minister to Liberia by President Calvin Coolidge. This was a significant... Continue →
On this date in 1863, the siege of Port Hudson was a significant moment in the Civil War. After a long and grueling siege that lasted from May 22 to... Continue →
On this date in 1972 Democratic National Convention opened, in Miami Beach, Florida. It was a historic convention, with Black delegates making up 15%... Continue →
On this date in 1962, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested during a protest in Albany, Georgia, as part of the Albany Movement, a campaign to end... Continue →
On this date in 1927, David Norman Dinkins was born. He later became a prominent American politician and served as the 106th Mayor of New York City... Continue →
ON this date in 1915, Mifflin Wistar Gibbs, an important figure in the African American community, died. Gibbs was born in 1823 in Philadelphia, and... Continue →
On this date in 1954, the first White Citizens’ Council (WCC) was established in Indianola, Mississippi. This organization was created by white... Continue →
On this date in 1905, W.E.B. Du Bois and a group of like-minded African American activists founded the Niagara Movement. This was a significant civil... Continue →
On this date in 1980, John W. Davis dies at the age of 92 in Englewood, New Jersey. John W. Davis was a notable civil rights activist and an... Continue →
On this date in 1967, racial violence erupted in Newark, New Jersey, marking one of the most significant riots during the period of civil unrest in... Continue →
On this date in 1966, the city of Chicago experienced a race riot that was part of a larger wave of unrest in American cities during the 1960s. The... Continue →
On this date in 1963, the National Guard was deployed to impose limited martial law in Cambridge, Maryland, following violent clashes between... Continue →
On this date in 1951, Governor Adlai Stevenson of Illinois called out the National Guard to restore order in Cicero, Illinois, following violent... Continue →
On this date in 1887, Mound Bayou was founded, by Isaiah Montgomery and his fellow freedmen. Isaiah Montgomery was a key figure in the establishment... Continue →
On this date in 1972, during the Democratic National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida, Shirley Chisholm made history by becoming the first African... Continue →
On this date in 1972, the Bureau of Census report from this date, highlighted several significant socio-economic disparities between Black and white... Continue →
On this date in 1965, Thurgood Marshall was appointed as the first Black solicitor general of the United States. He served as Solicitor General under... Continue →
On this date in 1919, during the "Red Summer" of 1919 was a period of intense racial violence and unrest in the United States, where race riots broke... Continue →
On this date in 1868, the Alabama Legislature convened in Montgomery, marking a significant moment in American history. This was the first... Continue →
On this date in 1868, Oscar J. Dunn, a former slave, formally installed as lieutenant governor of Louisiana, the highest elective officer held to... Continue →
On this date in 1863, the New York Draft Riots of 1863 were a violent and tragic expression of racial and class tensions. The riots erupted due to... Continue →
On this date in 1863, the "Enrollment Act" (mandatory draft) takes effect, with exemption for the wealthy, which led to summer draft riots in New... Continue →
On this date in 1863, during the Civil War era in the United States, a violent mob of white rioters destroyed the Colored Orphan Asylum in New York... Continue →
On this date in 1787, the Continental Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance, which effectively excluded slavery from the Northwest Territory. This... Continue →
On this date in 1951, the George Washington Carver National Monument, located in Joplin, Missouri, was established to honor the life and legacy of... Continue →
On this date in 1914, Marcus Garvey’s return to Jamaica marked the beginning of a transformative period for both him and the global Black... Continue →
On this date in 1948, during the Democratic National Convention, the Alabama and Mississippi delegations walked out in protest after the adoption of... Continue →
On this date in 1822, Philadelphia opened its public schools for Black children, which was a significant moment in American history. This move marked... Continue →
On this date in 1970, James McGhee made history as the first African American mayor of Dayton, Ohio. His election was a significant milestone in the... Continue →
On this date in 1822, first African American woman to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, born. Violette A. Johnson made history on July 16,... Continue →
On this date in 1934, Donald Payne, who became the first African American congressman from New Jersey, was born. He served as a member of the U.S.... Continue →
On this date in 1967, the race riot in Cairo, Illinois, was a significant event in the Civil Rights Movement. Tensions between the African American... Continue →
On July 17, 1862, Congress passed the Second Confiscation Act, which was an important step toward granting freedom to enslaved African Americans... Continue →
On this date in 1918, Nelson Mandela was born, in the village of Mvezo, in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. He would go on to become one of... Continue →
On this date in 1964, a race riot broke out in Harlem, New York, which later spread to the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn. This was a... Continue →
On July 19, 1967, more than 1,000 people gathered in Newark, New Jersey, for the first Black Power Conference. This event was a pivotal moment in the... Continue →
On July 19, 1979, President Jimmy Carter announced the resignation of Joseph A. Califano Jr. as Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) and... Continue →
The Durham Riot of 1967 occurred in Durham, North Carolina, and was part of a larger wave of civil unrest that took place in U.S. cities during the... Continue →
On July 19, 1966, Governor James A. Rhodes of Ohio declared a State of Emergency due to severe civil unrest in the city of Cleveland. This... Continue →
On July 19, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order that led to the establishment of the Fair Employment Practices Committee... Continue →
On July 19-20, 1848, Frederick Douglass attended the Seneca Falls Convention, the first women’s rights convention in the United States. He was a... Continue →
On July 19, 1967, a riot broke out in Memphis, Tennessee, as part of the broader civil unrest occurring across the United States during the late... Continue →
On this date in July, Mary Church Terrell was a prominent African American activist who played a pivotal role in advancing civil rights and women's... Continue →
On this date in 1939, Jane M. Bolin was appointed as the first African American female judge in the United States on July 22, 1939. She was appointed... Continue →
On this date in 1962, ,more than 160 activists jailed after demonstration in Albany. By August 1962, the number of arrests had nearly reached 1,000,... Continue →
On July 21, 1896, the National Federation of Afro-American Women and the Colored Women's League merged to form the National Association of Colored... Continue →
On this date in 1864, the first daily Black newspaper, The New Orleans Tribune, is published in English and French. The New Orleans Tribune was the... Continue →
On July 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln read the preliminary version of the Emancipation Proclamation to his Cabinet. This was a pivotal moment... Continue →
On July 22, 1848, President Abraham Lincoln presented a draft of the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet, though it would take a few more years... Continue →
On July 22, 1848, Lester Walton was appointed as the U.S. Minister to Liberia on July 22, 1848. His appointment came during the presidency of James... Continue →
On July 23, 1968, Cleveland, Ohio, experienced significant racial unrest that came to be known as the "Hough Riots" (sometimes referred to as the... Continue →
The Detroit riot of 1967 was a major event in U.S. history, marking a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement. It started with a police raid at... Continue →
The Progressive Party convention held in Philadelphia on July 23, 1948, was a significant event in American political history. It was at this... Continue →
Louis Tompkins Wright, born on July 23, 1924, was a prominent physician and one of the first African American physicians to make significant... Continue →
The Pan-African Congress held its first major meeting in London on July 23, 1900. It was a significant event in the early history of the Pan-African... Continue →
On July 23, 1868, the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, which granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the... Continue →
The Cambridge riot in Maryland on July 24, 1967, was a significant event in the Civil Rights Movement, sparked by racial tensions between... Continue →
The Washington, D.C. Race Riot of July 1919 was one of the many racial disturbances that occurred during the summer of 1919, which became known as... Continue →
The New Orleans race riot of 1900 occurred on July 24, 1900, as part of a period of heightened racial tension in the United States, especially in the... Continue →
Charles S. Johnson, born on July 24, 1893, was a prominent African American sociologist, educator, and civil rights leader. He is perhaps... Continue →
On July 24, 1866, Congress passed a resolution readmitting Tennessee to the Union following the Civil War. Tennessee had been the first state to... Continue →
Anthony Johnson's story is an important part of early colonial history in the United States. Anthony Johnson, originally brought to Virginia... Continue →
The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, where Blacks were used in experiments with syphilis, admitted to by US government officials, 1972
The Moore's Ford Lynching occurred on July 25, 1946, in Walton County, Georgia. It was a horrific and racially charged event in which two African... Continue →
On July 26, 1926, Carter G. Woodson was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP. Woodson, known as the "Father of Black History," received the... Continue →
On July 26, 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9981, mandating the desegregation of the United States Armed Forces. The order... Continue →
July 26, 1847, marks the day Liberia declared its independence, becoming the first independent republic in Africa. The country had been founded by... Continue →
On July 26, 1948, President Harry S. Truman issued Executive Order No. 9981, which desegregated the United States Armed Forces. This historic... Continue →
The race riot that occurred in Philadelphia on July 26, 1918, was part of a wave of racial tensions and violence in the U.S. during that time. It was... Continue →
Spottiswood W. Robinson, born on July 26, 1916, was an American educator and innovator in the field of education. He was particularly influential in... Continue →
Frederick Douglass was indeed a key figure in the first Women's Rights Convention held in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. While he is best known for... Continue →
On July 26, 1847, Joseph Jenkins Roberts, the first native-born President of Liberia, declared the country an independent republic. Liberia, founded... Continue →
The story of Garcia and Fort Negro is a fascinating chapter in American history. After the War of 1812, a group of African Americans,... Continue →
On July 27, 1968, a riot erupted in Gary, Indiana, amid the racial and social tensions that marked the late 1960s in the United States. The unrest... Continue →
On July 27, 1962, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was jailed in Albany, Georgia, during the Albany Movement, a civil rights campaign aimed at... Continue →
The Chicago Race Riot of 1919 was a significant and tragic event in American history. It was part of the larger "Red Summer" of 1919, during which... Continue →
On July 26, 1847, freed African American slaves in Liberia declared their independence from the American Colonization Society and established... Continue →
On July 27, 1816, Fort Blount—more commonly known as Negro Fort—on the Apalachicola River in Florida was attacked by U.S. forces and their Creek... Continue →
The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified on July 28, 1868, meaning it officially became law on that date. It granted citizenship to... Continue →
On July 28, 1917, thousands of Black Americans participated in the Silent Protest Parade in New York City, marching down Fifth Avenue to protest... Continue →
On July 28, 1915, U.S. Marines landed in Haiti, beginning an occupation that lasted until 1934. This intervention was primarily driven by U.S.... Continue →
On July 28, 1918, the National Liberty Congress of Colored Americans, which was held in Washington, D.C., made a significant request to... Continue →
Dr. Bernard A. Harris Jr. was selected by NASA in January 1990 and officially became an astronaut in July 1991. He was qualified for the mission... Continue →
The Hartford riots of 1970 occurred in the aftermath of racial tensions and community frustrations in the city. They were sparked by a combination of... Continue →
The National Association of Negro Musicians (NAMM) played a crucial role in promoting African American musicians and artists. The first convention in... Continue →
The First National Convention of Black Women was held on July 29, 1885, in Chicago, Illinois. It was a significant event in the history of African... Continue →
The Milwaukee riot took place from July 30 to August 3, 1967, during a time of racial tension across the United States. The riot was sparked by an... Continue →
Adam Clayton Powell Jr. was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1944, not July 30, 1945. He represented Harlem, New York, becoming the... Continue →
White Democrats, led by police, attacked a convention of Black and white Republicans in New Orleans. More than 40 persons were killed, and at least... Continue →
On July 30, 1866, Edward G. Walker and Charles L. Mitchell made history by becoming the first African Americans to sit in the legislature of an... Continue →
President Abraham Lincoln issued the "eye-for-eye" order on July 30, 1863, during the Civil War as part of his efforts to address the treatment of... Continue →
The Amistad mutiny is a famous and significant event in American history. On July 30, 1839, a group of enslaved Africans aboard the Spanish slave... Continue →
On July 31, 1960, Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Nation of Islam, publicly advocated for the creation of a separate, autonomous state for African... Continue →
On July 31, 1969, the Louisiana National Guard was mobilized in response to racial disturbances in Baton Rouge. These disturbances stemmed from... Continue →
Whitney Young was born on July 31, 1921, in Lincoln Ridge, Kentucky. He was a prominent African American civil rights leader and the... Continue →
On this date in 1933, Former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Ronald H Brown was appointed head of the Department of Commerce by... Continue →
On August 1, 1961, Whitney Young Jr. was appointed as the executive director of the National Urban League (NUL). His leadership helped transform the... Continue →
on August 1, 1960, Dahomey (now known as Benin) officially gained its independence from France. This was part of a broader wave of independence... Continue →
Adam Clayton Powell Jr. was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1944, becoming the first African American to represent New York in... Continue →
On August 1, 1943, a race riot erupted in Harlem, New York City, following rising tensions between African Americans and the police. The riot was... Continue →
Ronald H. Brown, born on August 1, 1941, was an American politician and businessman. He is perhaps best known for serving as the Secretary of... Continue →
On August 1, 1925, the National Bar Association (NBA) was incorporated in Des Moines, Iowa. It was founded by a group of African American lawyers and... Continue →
On August 1, 1920, the National Convention of Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) was held in New York City. This event... Continue →
August 1, 1838, marks a significant moment in history—the official abolition of slavery in the British Caribbean. This day, known as Emancipation... Continue →
On August 1, 1868, Governor Henry C. Warmoth of Louisiana called for federal military intervention in the state, highlighting a severe... Continue →
On August 1, 1867, Tennessee became the first Southern state to grant African American men the right to vote. This significant development occurred... Continue →
On August 1, 1867, General Philip H. Sheridan, who was overseeing the Reconstruction efforts in Louisiana, dismissed the New Orleans Board of... Continue →
On August 1, 1834, the Slavery Abolition Act came into effect, officially ending slavery throughout the British Empire. This legislation was... Continue →
The arrival of the first Africans at Jamestown in 1619 is often considered the beginning of the history of Black America. These individuals were... Continue →
Jewell Jackson McCabe, born on August 2, 1945, is an American civil rights activist, community leader, and philanthropist. She is known for her... Continue →
The race riot in Jersey City, New Jersey, on August 2, 1964, was part of a wave of racial tensions and unrest that occurred across the United States... Continue →
On August 2, 1982, Jackie Robinson was honored by the U.S. Postal Service with a commemorative stamp. The stamp featured an image of Robinson, who... Continue →
On August 2, 1920, Marcus Garvey, the prominent Jamaican political leader, orator, and activist, presented his "Back to Africa" program during the... Continue →
On August 3, 1865, the provisional governor of Florida, William Marvin, issued a proclamation that officially abolished slavery in the state. This... Continue →
On August 3, 1781, during the American Revolutionary War, African American soldier James Armistead Lafayette played a pivotal role in... Continue →
The Congress of African Peoples (CAP) convention, held in Atlanta on August 3, 1970, was a significant event in the history of African American... Continue →
On August 3, 1957, Archibald J. Carey, a prominent Chicago minister and attorney, made history by being appointed as the first Black chairman of the... Continue →
Calvin Coolidge became the 30th president of the United States on August 3, 1923, after the sudden death of President Warren G. Harding. Coolidge was... Continue →
On August 4, 1897, Henry Rucker was appointed as the Collector of Internal Revenue for Georgia by President William McKinley. This was a significant... Continue →
On August 4, 1964, the bodies of three civil rights workers—James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner—were discovered in an earthen dam... Continue →
On August 4, 1953, a Black family moved into the Trumbull Park Homes, a public housing project in the South Deering neighborhood of Chicago. This... Continue →
George Washington Williams was a remarkable figure in American history. Born in 1849, he was a soldier, lawyer, historian, and politician.... Continue →
Robert Purvis was born on August 4, 1810. He was a prominent abolitionist, philanthropist, and activist for African American rights. Often... Continue →
On August 5, 1968, Senator Edward Brooke was named temporary chairman of the Republican National Convention in Miami, Florida. Edward Brooke was the... Continue →
On August 5, 1966, during the Chicago Freedom Movement (also known as the Chicago Open Housing Movement), Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was pelted with... Continue →
On August 5, 1962, Nelson Mandela was arrested by the South African authorities. He had been on the run for over a year, during which he was actively... Continue →
On August 5, 1892, Harriet Tubman was granted a pension by the U.S. Congress for her services during the Civil War. Tubman, famous for her... Continue →
On August 5, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln reversed a policy that had been implemented earlier during the Civil War regarding the distribution of... Continue →
On August 6, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law, a landmark piece of federal legislation aimed at eliminating... Continue →
On August 6, 1989, Congressman George Thomas "Mickey" Leland tragically died in a plane crash in Ethiopia. He was aboard a cargo plane that crashed... Continue →
Sir Alexander Bustamante, Jamaica's first prime minister, passed away on August 6, 1967. He was a key figure in Jamaica's struggle for independence... Continue →
On August 6, 1962, Jamaica gained independence from the United Kingdom. This day marked a significant turning point in the country's history, as... Continue →
On August 6, 1941, in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and involved a violent altercation between Black and white soldiers, resulting in the... Continue →
In 1870, Tennessee saw significant political shifts, marked by the suppression of Black voters and political violence aimed at maintaining... Continue →
On August 6, 1861, the First Confiscation Act was signed into law in the United States. This law was an important step in the fight against slavery,... Continue →
On August 6, 1795, Absalom Jones was ordained a deacon in the Episcopal Church, making him the first African American to hold this position... Continue →
The courthouse shoot-out on August 7, 1970, refers to an event in the United States that occurred in New York City. The incident involved a violent... Continue →
The courthouse shootout on August 7, 1970, was a significant and tragic event in U.S. history. It occurred at the Marin County Courthouse in San... Continue →
On August 7, 1966, a race riot broke out in Lansing, Michigan, which was part of a larger wave of racial unrest across the United States during the... Continue →
On August 7, 1960, Black and white students in Atlanta staged kneel-in demonstrations at segregated churches as part of the Civil Rights Movement.... Continue →
Charles H. Mahoney was confirmed by the Senate on August 7, 1954, as the first African American U.S. delegate to the United Nations. His appointment... Continue →
On the night of August 7, 1930, James Cameron’s life took a dramatic and traumatic turn. As a teenager, he and two other young Black men—Thomas... Continue →
1893 was a particularly brutal year for racial violence in the United States, with at least 118 reported lynchings of Black individuals. Lynching was... Continue →
On August 7, 1893, the Fifty-third Congress of the United States convened. During this session, George W. Murray, a Black congressman from South... Continue →
On August 4, 1968, a riot broke out in Miami, Florida, during the Republican National Convention being held in nearby Miami Beach. The unrest was... Continue →
On August 4, 1989, Congressman George Thomas "Mickey" Leland tragically died in a plane crash. He was a U.S. Representative from Texas, known... Continue →
Julian Dixon, an American politician, was born on August 8, 1934. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California,... Continue →
The Boston African Society was established on August 8, 1796, by a group of free African Americans in Boston. It was founded with 44 members... Continue →
On August 9, 1995, the United Nations declared this day as the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, not August 8. The day is... Continue →
On August 9, 1961, James B. Parsons made history by becoming the first African American to be appointed to a federal district court in the... Continue →
The Jacksonville race riot occurred on August 9, 1960, in Jacksonville, Florida, following a series of sit-in demonstrations that had taken place... Continue →
Robert N.C. Nix was born on August 9, 1905. He was an important figure in American history, notably serving as the first African American to be... Continue →
On August 9, 1848, the Free Soil Party was officially organized at a convention in Buffalo, New York. This party emerged from the growing... Continue →
On August 10, 1981, a significant boycott organized by PUSH (People United to Save Humanity), a civil rights organization led by the Reverend Jesse... Continue →
On August 10, 1944, a significant race riot occurred in Athens, Alabama, during a period of heightened racial tensions in the United States. This... Continue →
on August 10, 1894, George Washington Murray, an African American inventor and politician, read into the Congressional Record a list of 92 patents... Continue →
On August 10, 1827, a race riot occurred in Cincinnati, Ohio, a significant event in the city's history. The riot was triggered by rising racial... Continue →
On August 11, 1965, the U.S. Senate confirmed Thurgood Marshall's nomination as the U.S. Solicitor General. Marshall became the first African... Continue →
The Watts Riots, also known as the Watts Rebellion, started on August 11, 1965, in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. The riots were... Continue →
The race riot in Paterson, New Jersey, on August 11, 1964, was part of a series of racial disturbances that erupted across the United States... Continue →
Carl Thomas Rowan was born on August 11, 1925, in Baltimore, Maryland. He was a prominent American journalist, author, and civil rights advocate.... Continue →
Thaddeus Stevens, a prominent U.S. Congressman from Pennsylvania, passed away on August 11, 1868. He was a key figure in the Radical... Continue →
The Mississippi Plan of 1890 was a strategy used by white lawmakers in Mississippi to disenfranchise Black voters through legal and constitutional... Continue →
On August 12, 1977, Stephen Biko, the leader of the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa, was arrested at a police roadblock under the... Continue →
On August 12, 1965, a race riot erupted on the West Side of Chicago, following tensions related to civil rights, police brutality, and economic... Continue →
On August 12, 1965, Jonathan Myrick Daniels, an Episcopal seminarian from Massachusetts, was murdered in Hayneville, Alabama, by Tom Coleman, a white... Continue →
On August 12, 1964, a race riot erupted in Elizabeth, New Jersey, as part of a wave of racial unrest that swept across the United States during the... Continue →
On August 12, 1922, the home of Frederick Douglass, known as Cedar Hill, was officially designated a national shrine in Washington, D.C. This... Continue →
On August 12, 1890, the Mississippi Constitutional Convention began. This convention was convened to draft a new state constitution, largely in... Continue →
On August 13, 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower established the Government Contract Compliance Committee. This committee was created to ensure... Continue →
On August 13, 1906, an incident known as the Brownsville Raid occurred in Brownsville, Texas, involving a group of African American soldiers from the... Continue →
On August 14, 1908, Springfield, Illinois, experienced a devastating race riot that profoundly impacted the African American community and the... Continue →
On August 14, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln met with a group of Black leaders at the White House. This meeting was part of his ongoing exploration... Continue →
Congresswoman Maxine Waters was born on August 15, 1938, in St. Louis, Missouri. She is known for being a long-serving U.S. Representative from... Continue →
Andrew Young, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, resigned on August 15, 1979, under pressure from President Jimmy Carter's administration.... Continue →
The race riot in Dixmoor, a suburb of Chicago, occurred on August 15, 1964. It was sparked by racial tensions between African American residents and... Continue →
The burning of Shady Grove Baptist Church in Leesburg, Georgia, on August 15, 1962, was a significant event in the Civil Rights era. The church,... Continue →
On August 15, 1824, the first group of freed American slaves, known as the "American Colonization Society" (ACS), established Liberia as a colony.... Continue →
Marcus Garvey was born on August 17, 1887, in St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica. He became one of the most influential leaders in the history of the Black... Continue →
On August 18, 1964, South Africa was officially banned from the Olympic Games. This decision came after the International Olympic Committee (IOC)... Continue →
On August 18, 1989, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a leading anti-apartheid activist in South Africa, defied apartheid laws by delivering a sermon in... Continue →
On August 18, 1963, youth members of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) Council in Oklahoma City began a series... Continue →
On August 19, 1958, a series of sit-ins took place at lunch counters in Oklahoma City, marking a significant event in the Civil Rights Movement. This... Continue →
On August 19, 1954, Ralph J. Bunche was named Undersecretary-General of the United Nations. Bunche was an influential African American diplomat and a... Continue →
On August 19, 1950, Edith Sampson made history as the first African American woman to be appointed as a representative to the United Nations. She was... Continue →
On August 19, 1791, Benjamin Banneker, a self-taught African American mathematician, astronomer, and writer, wrote a powerful letter to Thomas... Continue →
On August 20, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Act (EOA) into law as part of his War on Poverty initiative. This... Continue →
On August 20, 1944, Dr. Charles R. Drew was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP for his pioneering work in blood plasma preservation and storage.... Continue →
William Herbert Gray III, also known as Bill Gray, was born on August 20, 1941. He was a prominent American politician, pastor, and advocate for... Continue →
The First National Negro Convention was held on August 20, 1830, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This event was a significant moment in African... Continue →
On August 20, 1619, a significant event occurred in American history when the first recorded Africans arrived in Jamestown, Virginia, aboard a Dutch... Continue →
On August 21, 1972, the Republican National Convention opened in Miami Beach, Florida. The convention was significant because it was the first time... Continue →
The Fourth Pan-African Congress met in New York City from August 21 to 28, 1927. It was a significant event in the history of Pan-Africanism,... Continue →
On August 21, 1831, Nat Turner led one of the most significant slave revolts in U.S. history. Known as Nat Turner's Rebellion, the event took place... Continue →
Black Panther Party Co-founder Huey P. Newton was gunned down by a member of the Black Guerilla Family drug ring.
On August 22, 1979, two hundred Black leaders met in New York for a significant gathering known as the National Black Political Convention. This... Continue →
Jomo Kenyatta, the first President of Kenya, passed away on August 22, 1978, at the age of 83. He played a pivotal role in the country's struggle for... Continue →
On August 22, 1844, a significant event took place in Boston when a mass meeting of African Americans gathered to protest the segregation of public... Continue →
At the National Convention of Colored Citizens in Buffalo, New York, in 1843. Henry Highland Garnett, a prominent abolitionist, made a... Continue →
The Haitian Revolution began on August 22, 1791, when enslaved people in the northern part of the colony of Saint-Domingue (modern-day Haiti)... Continue →
On August 23, 1900, the National Negro Business League (NNBL) was founded in Boston by Booker T. Washington. The League's primary goal was to promote... Continue →
The Houston race riot of 1917 took place from August 23 to 30, 1917, in Houston, Texas. It was a violent conflict between Black residents,... Continue →
John V. DeGrasse was indeed admitted to the Massachusetts Medical Society on August 24, 1854. The Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) is one of the... Continue →
On August 24, 1950, Edith Sampson, a Chicago attorney, made history as the first Black representative (alternate delegate) in the U.S. delegation to... Continue →
The National Emigration Convention held on August 24, 1854, in Cleveland, was an important gathering of African American leaders and activists who... Continue →
On August 25, 1886, the American National Baptist Convention (ANBC) was organized. It was a significant event in African American religious history,... Continue →
James M. Nabrit Jr. was indeed appointed as an ambassador to the United Nations on August 25, 1961. He was an important figure in civil rights and... Continue →
1886 was a tragic year in the history of racial violence in the United States, particularly against African Americans. The 74 reported lynchings of... Continue →
On August 26, 1943, Congressman William L. Dawson of Chicago was recommended as the Democratic Party's vice-presidential candidate. At that time,... Continue →
On August 26, 1874, a horrific event took place in Tennessee where sixteen African Americans were lynched. This was part of a larger pattern of... Continue →
On August 27, 1998, civil rights marchers gathered in Washington D.C. to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Martin Luther King's historic "I Have a... Continue →
Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia passed away on August 27, 1975, under mysterious circumstances, though many regard his reign as one of significant... Continue →
On August 28, 1963, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom took place in Washington, D.C. This historic event is best known for Dr. Martin... Continue →
Rev. Channing E. Phillips made history on August 28, 1968, when he became the first Black person to be nominated for president by a major U.S.... Continue →
On August 28, 1966, the National Guard was mobilized in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to protect civil rights marchers protesting against racial segregation.... Continue →
On August 28, 1964, a race riot erupted in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This was part of a larger wave of racial unrest in the 1960s, fueled by... Continue →
On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.... Continue →
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom took place on August 28, 1963. It was a historic event in the Civil Rights Movement, where over 250,000... Continue →
On August 28, 1962, a significant event occurred during the Civil Rights Movement. Seventy-five ministers and laymen, both Black and white, were... Continue →
Emmett Till's kidnapping and lynching on August 28, 1955, in Money, Mississippi, is a tragic and pivotal moment in American history. Emmett, a... Continue →
The Second Pan-African Congress met in London from August 28 to September 1, 1921. It was an important event in the Pan-African movement, bringing... Continue →
On August 29, 1970, a significant and tragic event occurred in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during a confrontation between the police and the Black... Continue →
The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was a landmark piece of legislation, though its impact was somewhat limited at the time. It was primarily designed to... Continue →
On August 30, 1983, Lt. Col. Guion S. Bluford Jr. made history as the first African American astronaut to go to space. He flew aboard the Space... Continue →
On August 30, 1969, the National Guard was mobilized in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to control racial disturbances that erupted during a period of... Continue →
The race riot in Michigan on August 30, 1966, is often referred to as the Detroit Rebellion or Detroit Riot, which was a significant racial conflict.... Continue →
On August 30, 1956, a white mob in Mansfield, Texas, attempted to prevent the enrollment of Black students at Mansfield High School. This occurred... Continue →
Carrie Saxon Perry, born on August 30, 1931, in Hartford, Connecticut, made history as the first African American woman to serve as mayor of a major... Continue →
Roy Wilkins, born on August 30, 1901, was an influential American civil rights leader and the second Executive Director of the NAACP (National... Continue →
On August 30, 1854, during the American Civil War, Union General John C. Fremont, who was commanding the Department of the West, issued a... Continue →
The 1843 Liberty Party Convention in Buffalo marked an important moment in the participation of Black Americans in the political process. This was a... Continue →
On August 30, 1800, a storm indeed forced the suspension of an attack on Richmond, Virginia. This event is associated with Gabriel's Rebellion, an... Continue →
On August 31, 1979, President Jimmy Carter nominated Donald McHenry to succeed Andrew Young as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations... Continue →
On August 31, 1970, Lonnie McLucas, a member of the Black Panther Party, was convicted in New Haven, Connecticut, of conspiracy to murder Alex... Continue →
On August 31, 1962, Trinidad and Tobago became an independent nation, separating from British colonial rule. This marked a significant moment in the... Continue →
Gen. Daniel ("Chappie") James Jr. promoted to rank of four-star general and named commander-in-chief of the North American Air Defense Command.
On this date in 1875, White Democrats attacked Republicans at Yazoo City, Mississippi. One white and three Blacks were killed.
The first Black person to graduate from Harvard Dental School is Robert T Freeman on this date in 1867.
On September 1, 1875, a violent incident occurred in Yazoo City, Mississippi, where white Democrats attacked Republicans. This was during the period... Continue →
On September 2, 1975, the first Black Justice of the Florida Supreme Court, Justice Joseph W. Hatchett, was sworn in. He made history as the first... Continue →
On September 2, 1956, the Tennessee National Guard was sent to Clinton, Tennessee, to restore order after protests erupted over the integration of... Continue →
On September 2, 1945, during World War II, the United States had a significant number of African Americans who served in the armed forces. A total of... Continue →
On September 2, 1945, World War II officially ended with the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.... Continue →
On September 2, 1864, General William Tecumseh Sherman occupied Atlanta, marking a significant moment in the American Civil War. This strategic... Continue →
On September 3, 1970, representatives from 27 African nations gathered in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, for the first Congress of African People (CAP).... Continue →
On September 3, 1918, during World War I, five soldiers from the British Army were hanged for desertion. The soldiers were executed for abandoning... Continue →
Charles Hamilton Houston was born on September 3, 1895. He was a prominent African American lawyer and civil rights activist who played a pivotal... Continue →
On September 3, 1891, John Stephens Durham was appointed as the minister to Haiti. He served as a U.S. diplomat during the presidency of Benjamin... Continue →
On September 3, 1891, cotton pickers in the United States, particularly in the South, organized a union and went on strike. This marked a significant... Continue →
On September 3, 1868, the Georgia legislature expelled 28 Black representatives from the lower house after they were deemed ineligible to hold... Continue →
On September 3, 1865, the Freedmen's Bureau, established by Congress in 1865 to aid formerly enslaved African Americans in the South, was ordered to... Continue →
September 3, 1838, is a significant day in history as it marks the day Frederick Douglass, the renowned abolitionist, and writer, escaped from... Continue →
On September 3, 1783, Richard Allen, who would later become the founder of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, purchased his freedom. Born... Continue →
On September 4, 1957, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus deployed the National Guard to prevent nine Black students from entering Central High School in... Continue →
On September 4, 1949, a concert by Paul Robeson in Peekskill, New York, was disrupted by a violent mob, preventing the performance from taking place.... Continue →
The Clinton Massacre took place on September 4, 1875, in Clinton, Mississippi. It was a violent event that occurred during the Reconstruction era,... Continue →
On September 4, 1865, Bowie State College (now known as Bowie State University) was established in Bowie, Maryland. It is one of the oldest... Continue →
On September 4, 1781, a group of settlers, including Black settlers, founded the city of Los Angeles, California. The settlement was established... Continue →
Leopold Sedar Senghor, a prominent poet and politician, was elected as the first President of Senegal on September 5, 1960. He played a key role in... Continue →
George Washington Murray, born near Rembert, South Carolina, on September 22, 1853, was a prominent African American figure in the late 19th... Continue →
John W. Cromwell was born on September 5, 1846. He was an important figure in American history, particularly known for his work as a writer,... Continue →
On September 6, 1988, Lee Roy Young made history by becoming the first African American to be inducted into the Texas Rangers, which is one of the... Continue →
On September 6, 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Walter E. Washington as the commissioner and "unofficial" mayor of Washington, D.C. This... Continue →
The race riot in Atlanta on September 6, 1966, was a significant event during the Civil Rights Movement. It occurred when racial tensions,... Continue →
Leander Jay Shaw Jr. was born on September 6, 1930. He was an important figure in the history of the Florida judicial system, serving as the Chief... Continue →
The Atlanta Life Insurance Company was established on September 6, 1905. It was founded by Alonzo Herndon, an African American entrepreneur, and... Continue →
On September 6, 1876, a race riot occurred in Charleston, South Carolina, during the Reconstruction era following the Civil War. This was a period... Continue →
On this date in 1865, Thaddeus Stevens, powerful U.S. congressman, urged confiscation of estates of Confederate leaders and the distribution of land... Continue →
On this date in 1848, the National Black Convention met in Cleveland with some seventy delegates. Frederick Douglass was elected president of the... Continue →
On September 6, 1865, Thaddeus Stevens, a prominent Republican congressman and a leading advocate for radical Reconstruction, did indeed propose the... Continue →
On September 6, 1848, the National Black Convention was held in Cleveland, Ohio. This gathering was an important event in the history of the... Continue →
John Brown Russwurm made history as one of the first African Americans to graduate from college in the United States. He graduated from Bowdoin... Continue →
On September 6, 1781, Jordan Freeman, an African American soldier, is recorded as having died after killing Major William Montgomery during the... Continue →
The start of Integration for MD public schools, and Washington DC public school, 1954
On this date in 1981, Roy Wilkins (80), longtime executive director of the NAACP, in New York passes away.
On this date in 1925, prominent Detroit Doctor Ossian Sweet, arrested on murder charges after shots were fired into a mob in front of the Sweet home... Continue →
On this date in 1875, Mississippi Governor Ames requested federal troops to protect Black voters. Attorney General Edward Pierrepont refused the... Continue →
On this date in 1800, Zion AME Church dedicated in New York City.
On this date in 1981, Vernon E. Jordan resigned as president of the National Urban League and announced plans to join a Washington law firm. He was... Continue →
On this date in 1962, Two churches burned near Sasser, Georgia. Black leaders asked the president to stop the "Nazi-like reign of terror in southwest... Continue →
On this date in 1957, Nashville's new Hattie Cotton Elementary School with enrollment of 1 Black and 388 whites virtually destroyed by dynamite... Continue →
On this date in 1957, Rev. F.L. Shuttlesworth mobbed when he attempted to enroll his daughters in "white" Birmingham school.
On this date in 1957, the first civil rights bill to pass Congress since reconstruction was passed by President Eisenhower, 1957
On this date in 1915, the father of Black history, Carter G Woodson, founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) . The... Continue →
On this date in 1884, John R Lynch Presides over Republican National Convention
On this date in 1817, Captain Paul Cuffe (58), entrepreneur and activist, dies in Westport, Massachusetts.
On this date in 1806, Abolitionist Sarah Mapps Douglass was born
Early in the Morning on this date in 1739, a Slave rebellion in Stono, South Carolina, was led by a rebel named Jemmy. Early on the morning of... Continue →
On this day in 1973, a commemorative stamp was issued by the U.S. Postal Service to honor Henry Ossawa Tanner, the first African American artist... Continue →
On this date in 1962, Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black vacated an order of a lower court, ruling that the University of Mississippi had to admit... Continue →
On this date in 1961, Jomo Kenyatta returns to Kenya from exile to lead his country.
on this date in 1930, Charles E. Mitchell, certified public accountant and banker from West Virginia, named minister to Liberia.
On this date in 1913, George W. Buckner, a physician from Indiana, named minister to Liberia.
On this date in 1847, John Roy Lynch, served in the 43rd, 44th, and 47th Congresses representing the State of Mississippi as a Republican, born. He... Continue →
On this date in 1974, Haile Selassie I is deposed from the Ethiopian throne.
On September 11, 1962, a tragic incident occurred during voter registration efforts in the American South, particularly in Mississippi. This event... Continue →
Joseph Harrison Jackson (September 11, 1900 – August 18, 1990) was a prominent African American pastor and leader within the National Baptist... Continue →
Charles Evers, born on September 11, 1923, was an influential American civil rights leader and the brother of Medgar Evers, who was also an important... Continue →
On September 11, 1885, Moses A. Hopkins was appointed as the U.S. Minister to Liberia by President Grover Cleveland. Hopkins was an African American... Continue →
On September 11, 1851, the Christiana Riot (also known as the Christiana Resistance) took place in Christiana, Pennsylvania. This event was a... Continue →
A reference from the Pennsylvania Gazette on September 11, 1740, is considered one of the earliest documented mentions of an African American... Continue →
On September 11, 1974, Haile Selassie I, the last Emperor of Ethiopia, was deposed after a military coup led by the Derg, a Marxist-Leninist... Continue →
On this date in 1986, the National Council of Negro Women sponsors its first Black Family Reunion at the National Mall in Washington.
On this date in 1974, Eugene A. Marino, SSJ, is consecrated at the first African American auxiliary bishop in the U.S. He was assigned to Washington,... Continue →
On this date in 1974, Haile Selassie deposed by military leaders after fifty-eight years as the ruling monarch of Ethiopia.
On this date in 1956, Black students entered Clay, Ky., elementary school under National Guard protection. They were barred from the school on... Continue →
On this date in 1972, Two Blacks, Johnny Ford of Tuskegee and A.J. Cooper of Prichard elected mayors in Alabama.
On this date in 1971, Fifteen hundred troopers and officers stormed the Attica Prison. Thirty-two convicts and ten guards were killed. Investigation... Continue →
On this date in 1962, Mississippi Governor Ross R. Barnett defied the federal government in impassioned speech on statewide radio-television hookup,... Continue →
On this date in 1962, President Kennedy denounced the burning of churches in Georgia and supported voter registration drive in the South.
On this date in 1867, Gen. E.R.S. Canby ordered South Carolina courts to impanel Blacks jurors.
On this date in 1663, the First serious slave conspiracy in colonial America. Plot of white servants and slaves in Gloucester County, Va., was... Continue →
US Cabinet member, Constance Baker Motley was born, 1921
On this date in 1940, Blacks were allowed to enter all branches of the US Military Service, when President Franklin D Roosevelt signs Selective... Continue →
On this date in 1874, White Democrats seized statehouse in Louisiana coup d'etat. President Grant ordered the revolutionaries to disperse, and the... Continue →
Inmates seized Attica State Correctional Facility (N.Y.) and held several guards hostage. They issued a list of demands which included coverage by... Continue →
On this date in 1969, Large-scale racial disorders were reported in Hartford, Connecticut. Five hundred were arrested and scores were injured.
On this date in 1964, Rev. K.L. Buford and Dr. Stanley Smith were elected to Tuskegee City Council and became first Black elected officials in... Continue →
On this date in 1963, Four Black girls killed in bombing of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham.
On this date in 1923, Governor said Oklahoma was in a "state of Virtual rebellion and insurrection" because of KKK activities. Martial Law was... Continue →
On this date in 1898, the National Afro-American Council was founded in Rochester, New York. Bishop Alexander Walters of the AME Zion Church was... Continue →
On this date in 1876, White terrorists attacked Republicans in Ellenton, South Carolina. Two whites and thirty-nine Blacks were killed.
On this date in 1830, Philadelphia held the First National Negro Convention.
On this date in 1791, Jonathan Edwards Jr. (1745-1801) preached a strong anti-slavery sermon before "the Connecticut Society for the Promotion of... Continue →
On this date in 1971, Six Klansmen arrested in connection with the bombing of ten school buses in Pontiac, Michigan.
ON this date in 1928, more than 3000 African Americans died when Lake Okeechobee flooded Western Palm Beach County, Florida, with a 10-15 foot tidal... Continue →
On this dated in 1848, the French abolish slavery in all there territories.
On this date in 1787, U.S. Constitution approved at Philadelphia convention with three clauses protecting slavery.
On this date in 1991, ground is broken for the Harold Washington wing of the DuSable Museum in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by artist and poet Margaret... Continue →
On this date in 1983, Vanessa Williams crowned Miss America. Vanessa Williams was the 1st African American Miss America to be crowned.
On this date in 1973,Illinois becomes the first state to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday as a holiday.
On this date in 1962, Fourth Black church burned near Dawson, Georgia. Three white men later admitted burning the church. They were sentenced to... Continue →
On this date in 1861, it was the First day of school for freedmen founded at Fortress Monroe, Va., with a Black teacher, Mary Peake.
On this date in 1990, Atlanta, Ga., led by Mayor Maynard H. Jackson, is selected as the site of the XXV Olympiad Summer Games.
On this date in 1980, Cosmonaut Arnold Tamayo, a Cuban, becomes the first black sent on a mission in space. Arnold Tamayo, along with Soviet... Continue →
On this dated in 1948, Ralph J. Bunche confirmed by United Nations Security Council as acting UN mediator in Palestine.
On this date in 1945, One thousand white students walked out of three, Gary, Ind. schools to protest integration. There were similar disturbances in... Continue →
On this date in 1895, Booker T. Washington delivers the Atlanta Exposition Address at a business convention. Due to his view points, many dubbed his... Continue →
On this date in 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Law.
On this date in 1981, more than 300,000 demonstrators from labor and civil rights organizations protested the social policies of the Reagan... Continue →
On this date in 1956, theFirst international conference of Black writes and artists met at the Sorbonne in Paris.
On this date in 1881, Booker T. Washington opens Tuskegee Institute in Alabama
On this date in 1868, White Democrats attacked demonstrators, who were marching from Albany to Camilla, Ga., and killed nine Blacks. Several whites... Continue →
On this date in 1962, Governor Barnett personally denied James H. Meredith admission to the University of Mississippi.
On this date in 1958, Martin Luther King Jr. stabbed in chest by a deranged Black woman while he was autographing books in a Harlem department store.... Continue →
On this date in 1847, William A. Leidesdorf elected to San Francisco town council receiving the third highest vote. Leidesdorf, who was one of the... Continue →
On this date in 1830, the First Negro Convention of Free Men agreed to start their boycott on slave-produced goods.
On this date in 1830, the First National Black convention met at Philadelphia's Bethel AME church and elected Richard Allen president. Thirty-eight... Continue →
On this date in 1664, Maryland enacted first anti-amalgamation law to prevent widespread intermarriage of English women and Black men. Other colonies... Continue →
On this date in 1989, General Colin Powell named Chairman of the joint Chiefs of Staff.
On this date in 1966, National Guard mobilized to stop rioting in Dayton, Ohio.
On this date in 1961, Southern Regional Council announced that Sit-in movement had effected twenty states and more than one hundred cities in... Continue →
On this date in 1947, Archbishop Joseph E. Ritter said he would excommunicate St. Louis Catholics who continued to protest integration of parochial... Continue →
On this date in 1872, John Henry Conyers of South Carolina became the first Black student at Annapolis Naval Academy. He later resigned.
On this date in 1832, Maria W. Stewart (1803-1879) addresses the New England Anti-Slavery Society meeting in Boston's Franklin Hall on the evils of... Continue →
On this date in 1814, Blacks fight in the land and water battles of the War of 1812. A large number of Black sailors fought with Matthew Perry and... Continue →
On this date in 1814, Andrew Jackson issued Proclamation at Mobile, Ala., urging free Blacks "to rally around the standard of the eagle" in the War... Continue →
On this date in 1961, Interstate Commerce Commission issued regulation prohibiting segregation on interstate buses and in terminal facilities.
On this date in 1954, actress Shari Belafonte, daughter of singer Harry Belafonte, born in New York City.
On this date in 1905, a race riot in Atlanta occurred and ten Blacks and two whites killed. Martial law proclaimed.
On this dated in 1863, the First Black person to Serve on the DC board of education, Mary Church Terrell was born.
On this date in 1862, President Lincoln, in preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, warned South that he would free slaves in all states in rebellion... Continue →
On this date in 1951, President Kennedy named Thurgood Marshall to U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Executive Order 11246 enforces affirmative action for the first time Issued by President Johnson, the executive order requires government contractors... Continue →
On this date in 1986, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone said the United States "intelligence levels are lower than those in Japan because of... Continue →
On this date in 1977, John T. Walker installed as the first Black bishop of the Episcopal diocese of Washington.
On this date in 1962, U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered Board of Higher Education of Mississippi to admit Meredith to the university or be held... Continue →
On this date in 1957, President Eisenhower ordered federal troops to Little Rock, Ark., to prevent interference with school integration at Central... Continue →
On this date in 1957, Soldiers of 101st Airborne Division escorted nine Black students to Central High school.
On this dated in 1931, Representative Cardiss Robertson Collins, elected the U.S. House of Representatives was born
On this date in 1883, National Black convention met in Louisville, Kentucky.
On this date in 1825, Author Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was born. In 1859, she became the first black woman to publish a short story. Her only... Continue →
Barbara W Hancock becomes the first Black woman named a White House fellow, 1974
ON thi sdate in 1962, A Black church was destroyed by fire in Macon, Georgia. This was the eighth church burned in Georgia since August 15.
On this date in 1962, Governor Barnett again defied court orders and personally denied Meredith admission to the University.
On this date in 1861, The Secretary of the Navy authorizes the enlistment of African Americans in the Union Navy. The enlistees could achieve no rank... Continue →
On this date in 1962, Mississippi barred Meredith for the third time. Lt. Gov. Paul Johnson and a blockade of state patrolmen turned back Meredith... Continue →
On this date in 1962, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., becomes the first African American member of the Federal Trade Commission. He was also appointed a... Continue →
On this date in 1957, an order alerting regular army units for possible riot duty in other Southern cities canceled by Army Secretary Wilbur M.... Continue →
School integration began in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Md., public schools.
On this date in 1966, the National Guard was mobilizing in San Francisco.
On this date in 1950, Charles H. Houston awarded the Spingarn Medal posthumously for his pioneering work in developing the NAACP legal campaign.
On this date in 1940, Black leaders protested discrimination in the armed forces and war industries at a White House meeting with President Roosevelt.
On this date in 1877, John Mercer Langston named minister of Haiti.
On this date in 1867, Louisiana voters endorsed constitutional convention and elected delegates in first election under Reconstruction acts. The vote... Continue →
On this date in 1862, First Louisiana Native Guards, the first Black regiment to receive official recognition, mustered into army. Regiment was... Continue →
On this date in 1827, Hiram R. Revels, first Black U.S. senator, was born free in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Black Panther party founded in Oakland, California by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale.
On this date in 1962, Some twelve thousand federal soldiers restored order on the University of Mississippi campus. James H. Meredith, escorted by... Continue →
On this date in 1951, The Twenty-fourth Infantry Regiment, last of all-Black units military units authorized by Congress in 1866, deactivated in... Continue →
Thurgood Marshall is sworn in, and becomes the first Black Supreme Court Justice.
William Tecumseh Sherman occupied Atlanta. In series of battles around Chaffin's Farm in suburb of Richmond, Black troops captured entrenchments at... Continue →
ON this date in 1986, the U.S. Senate overrides President Ronald Reagan's veto of legislation imposing economic sanctions in South Africa.
On this date in 1986, President Ronald Reagan appointed Edward J. Perkins ambassador to South Africa.
On this date in 1935, Robert H Lawrence (Named the first Black astronaut), was born on this date.
ON this date in 1949, the First Black radio station, WERD, begins operating in Atlanta, Georgia.
On this date in 1935, Ethiopia, one of the only two independent African nations at the time, was invaded by Facist Italy under Benito Mussolini. The... Continue →
ON this date in 1904, Mary McLeod Bethune opened Daytona Normal and Industrial School in Daytona Beach, Florida. In 1923 the school merged with... Continue →
On this date in 1856, Timothy ("T.") Thomas Fortune was born on this day.
On this date in 1996, Congress passed a bill authorizing the creation of 500,000 Black Revolutionary War Patriots Commemorative coins.
On this date in 1988, the Martin L. King, Jr. Federal Building is dedicated in Atlanta, Ga. It is the first federal building in the nation to bear... Continue →
ON this date in 1982, Rayford Logan, educator, historian, author, dies
On this date in 1969, Howard N. Lee and Charles Evers are elected the first African American mayors of Chapel Hill, N.C. and Fayette, Miss.,... Continue →
On this date in 1864, the New Orleans Tribune, the first black daily newspaper, was founded by Dr. Louis C. Roudanez. The newspaper, published in... Continue →
On this date in 1864, National Black convention met in Syracuse, New York.
ON this date in 1966, The Kingdom of Lesotho declared its independence
Congresswoman, Yvonne Burke, born, 1932.
On this day in 1777, African Americans Replaced Reluctant Whites as, losses on the field of battle and rising White desertions reduced the... Continue →
On this date in 1872, Educator, Booker T Washington, leaves Malden, West VA to enter Hampton Institute.
On this date in 1869, the First Reconstruction legislature (27 Blacks, 150 whites) met in Richmond, Virginia.
On this date in 1867, Monroe Baker, a well-to-do Black businessman, named mayor of St. Martin, Louisiana, two years after the end of slavery. Monroe... Continue →
On this date in 1971, John A. Wilkinson's marriage to Lorraine Mary Turner was the first legalized interracial marriage in North Carolina. Wilkinson... Continue →
ON this date in 1868, Black state convention at Macon, Georgia, protested expulsion of Black politicians from Georgia legislature.
ON this date in 1847, National Black convention met in Troy, N.Y., with more than 60 delegates from nine states. Nathan Johnson of Massachusetts was... Continue →
On this date in 1873, Henry E. Hayne, secretary of state, accepted as the first student of color at the University of South Carolina medical school.... Continue →
ON this date in 1821, William Still, Chronicler of The Underground Railroad Records, was born.
Police officers and Blacks exchanged sniper fire on Chicago's West Side. One youth was killed and nine policemen were injured.
On this date in 1941, Activist and 1988 candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, Rev Jesse Jackson, born in Greenville, Sounth Carolina.
On this date in 1775, Council of general officers decided to bar slaves and free Blacks from Continental Army.
ON this date in 1991, Korean store owner shoots and kills teenager Latasha Harlins in the back of the head. Despite widespread protests, the store... Continue →
On this date in 1984, W Wilson Goode becomes the 1st African American mayor of Philadelphia
On this date in 1940, the White House released a statement which said that government "policy is not to intermingle colored and white enlisted... Continue →
ON this date in 1823, Mary Ann Shadd, publisher of Canada's first antislavery newspaper, The Provincial Freeman and the first woman in North American... Continue →
ON this date in 1978, Congressman Ralph H. Metcalfe (68) dies in Chicago.
On this date in 1966, The Black Panther Party Founded October 10, 1966 Oakland, California by Huey P. Newton annd Bobby Seale
On this date in 1961, Otis M. Smith appointed to Michigan Supreme Court. Otis M. Smith Scholarship
On this date in 1901, Frederick Douglass Patterson, veterinarian and founder of the United Negro College Fund, born
On this date in 1874, South Carolina Republicans carried election with reduced margin. Republican tickets was composed of four whites and four... Continue →
On this date in 1972, Prison uprising, Washington, D.C., jail.
On this date in 1939, the NAACP organizes the Education Fund and Legal Defense.
On this date in 1865, Jamaican national hero, Paul Bogle, leads a successful protest march to the Morant Bay Courthouse.
On this date in 1814, General Jackson Reneges On His Promise: General Jackson, on order to prepare to meet Packenham, the British General, in the... Continue →
ON this date in 1972, 46 Black and white sailors injured in race riot on the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk of North Vietnam.
On this date in 1945, Jesse James Payne was lynched in Madison County, Florida.
ON this date in 1980, an unprovoked slayings of six Blacks in Buffalo, New York, triggered demands for national investigation. Spingarn Medal awarded... Continue →
ON this date in 1970, Angela Davis arrested in New York City and charged with unlawful flight to avoid persecution for her alleged role in California... Continue →
On this date in 1926, First Black naval aviator, Jesse Leroy Brown was born.
ON this date in 1919, a Race riot occurred in , Elaine, Phillips County, Arkansas. Five whites and 25 to 50 Blacks reported killed. 76 Blacks were... Continue →
On thus date in 1901, First Black delegate to United Nations, Edith Sampson was born.
On this day, Martin Luther King Jr became the youngest man ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
On this date in 1999, the governor of Pennsylvania, Thomas Ride, signs the death warrant for Mumia Abu-Jamal. Mumia is charged with the early... Continue →
ON this date in 1999, Former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere dies at the age of 77 from leukemia. Nyerere was lauded as one of the greatest... Continue →
ON this date in 1971, Two killed in Memphis racial disturbances.
On this date in 1969, a race riot occurred in Springfield, Massachusetts.
On this date in 1958, the District of Columbia Bar Association votes to accept African Americans as members.
On this date in 1916, Sophomore tackle Paul Robeson is excluded from the Rutgers football team when Washington and Lee University refused to play... Continue →
Judge Clarence Thomas is confirmed as the 106th associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, its second African American.
On this date in 1974, National Guard mobilized to restore order in Boston school busing crisis.
ON this date in 1949, William Hastie nominated for the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He was the first Black to sit on the court.
ON this date in 1883, U.S. Supreme Court declared Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional.
On this date in 1877, the Forty-fifth Congress (1877-79) convened. One U.S. senator, Blanche K. Bruce, Mississippi. Three U.S. congressmen: Richard... Continue →
On this date in 1859, John Brown whom was an abolitionist took direct action to free slaves by force. He led a raid on Harpers Ferry, in mid-October... Continue →
Nation of Islam's Minister Louis Farrakhan called over one million black men together in Washington DC for "A Day of Atonement and Reconciliation".... Continue →
On this date in 1984, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Awarded Nobel Peace Prize, African activist.
On this date in 1973, Maynard Jackson elected mayor of Atlanta.
ON this date in 1968, John Carlos and Tommie Smith staged Black Power demonstration on victory stand after winning 200-meter event at Olympics in... Continue →
ON this date in 1940, Benjamin Oliver Davis Sr. named the first Black general in the regular army.
On this date in 1922, Leon Howard Sullivan was born on this day.
On this date in 1917, Fannie Lou Hamer was born.
On this date in 1901, Booker T. Washington dined at the White House with President Roosevelt and was criticized in the South.
On this date in 1895, National Medical Association founded in Atlanta.
On this date in 1876, Race riot, Cainhoy, South Carolina. Five whites and one Black killed.
On this date in 1872, South Carolina Republicans carried election with a ticket of four whites and four Blacks: Richard H. Gleaves, lieutenant... Continue →
ON this date in 1859, John Brown attacked Harpers Ferry, Virginia, with thirteen white men and five Blacks. Two of the five Blacks were killed, two... Continue →
On this date in 1855, more than one hundred delegates from six states held a Black convention in Philadelphia. John Mercer Langston, one of the first... Continue →
On this date in 1849, George Washington Williams, the first major Black historian, born in Bedford Springs, Pennsylvania.
On this date in 1871, President Grant suspended the writ of habeas corpus and declared martial law in nine South Carolina counties affected by Klan... Continue →
On this date in 1817, Samuel Ringgold Ward, minister, abolitionist, author, born on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
On this date in 1787, Prince Hall submitted, to the State Legislature of Boston, Massachusetts, a petition asking for equal educational rights. His... Continue →
Martin Luther King Jr. arrested in Atlanta sit-in and ordered to serve four months in the Georgia State Prison for violating a probated traffic... Continue →
On this date in 1983, Grenada's U.S. educated Prime Minister Maurice Bishop killed in a military coup.
ON this date in 1960, John F. Kennedy, Democratic presidential candidate, called Mrs. Martin Luther King Jr. and expressed his concern about the... Continue →
On this date in 1870, First Blacks elected to the House of Representatives. Black Republicans won three of the four congressional seats in South... Continue →
On this date in 1870, Republicans swept South Carolina elections with a ticket of six whites and two Blacks: Alonzo Ransier, lieutenant governor;... Continue →
Sixty leading Southern Blacks issued "Durham Manifesto" calling for fundamental changes in race relations after a Durham, North Carolina, meeting.
Born October 20, 1904 in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, Enolia Pettigen McMillan became the first female president of the National Association for the... Continue →
On this date in 1950, The first NBA Black Assistant Coach and first Black chief scout, Earl Lloyd, becomes the first Black person to play in an NBA... Continue →
On this date in 1872, John H Conyers becomes the first African American to enter the US Naval Academy.
On this date in 1865, Jamaican national hero, George William Gordon, is unfairly arrested and sentenced to death.
Birthday of Bobby Seale in Dallas, TX, co-founder and former chairman of the Black Panther Party.
ON this date in 1963, some 225,000 students boycotted Chicago schools in Freedom Day protest of de facto segregation.
On this date in 1955, the first black post office open, Atlanta Georgia.
On this date in 1950, Charles Cooper joins the NBA and becomes one of the first Blacks to play in an NBA game.
On this date in 1950, Nat Clifton joins the NBA and becomes one of the first Blacks to play in an NBA game.
On this date in 1906, 3000 blacks demonstrated and rioted in Philadelphia to protest a theatrical presentation of Thomas Dixon's The Clansman. 62... Continue →
NAACP petition on racism, "An Appeal to the World," presented to United Nations at Lake Success.
On this date in 1911, Three organizations the Committee for Improving the Industrial Conditions of Negroes in New York, the Committee on Urban... Continue →
On this date in 1775, Continental Congress approved resolution barring African Americans from the army. Although, throughout the war, Washington, the... Continue →
On this date in 1994, William Jefferson Clinton presented her with the Charles Frankel Award from the National Endowment for the Humanities
On this date in 1948, Rep. Kweisi Mfume who was born Frizzell Gray in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1996 Mfume became president of the NAACP.
On this date in 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia. American Blacks held mass meetings of protest and raised funds for the Ethiopian defenders.
On this date in 1923, Department of Labor said some 500,000 Blacks had left the South in the preceding twelve months.
On this date in 1892, In New Orleans, 25,000 Black workers strike.
On this date in 1988, two units of the Ku Klux Klan and eleven individuals are ordered to pay $ 1 million to African Americans who were attacked... Continue →
On this date in 1976, Gov. George Wallace granted a full pardon to Clarence ("Willie") Norris, the last known survivor of the nine Scottsboro Boys... Continue →
On this date in 1958, ten thousand students, led by Jackie Robinson, Harry Belfonte and A. Phillip Randolph, participated in the Youth March for... Continue →
On this date in 1940, Committee on the Participation of Negroes in the National Defense Program met with President Roosevelt.
On this date in 1940, Benjamin O Davis becomes the first Black general in US Army.
On this date in 1876, President sent federal troops to South Carolina.
On this date in 1868, White terrorists killed several Blacks in St. Bernard Parish, near New Orleans.
On this dated in 1868, B.F. Randolph, state senator and chairman of the state Republic party, assassinated in daylight at Hodges Depot in Abbevile,... Continue →
On this date in 1749, British Parliament legalizes slavery in the colony known now as the state of Georgia.
On this dated in 1981, Andrew Young, Former UN Ambassador, elected mayor of Atlanta.
On this date in 1978, President Carter signed Hawkins-Humphrey full employment bill.
On this date in 1960, Martin Luther King Jr. released on bond from the Georgia State Prison in Reidsville. Political observers said the Kennedy call... Continue →
On this date in 1981, Edward M. McIntrye elected first Black mayor of Augusta, Georgia.
On this date in 1862, First Kansas Colored Volunteers repulsed and drove off superior force of rebels at Island Mound, Missouri. This was the first... Continue →
On this date in 1798, Founder of The Underground Railroad, Levi Coffin was born.
On this date in 1969, U.S. Supreme Court said school systems must end segregation "at once" and "operate now and hereafter only unitary schools." In... Continue →
On this date in 1947, President's Committee on Civil Rights condemned racial injustices in America when ity published the formal report, "To Secure... Continue →
On this date in 1929, the stock market collapsed bringing on the beginning of the Great Depression. By 1937, 26 percent of Black males were... Continue →
On this date in 1979, Richard Arrington was elected the first Black mayor of Birmingham, Alabama.
On this date in 1966, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale students at a California college create the Black Panther Party for Self Defense.
On this dated in 1954, Defense Department announced elimination of all segregated regiments in the armed forces.
On this date in 1831, Nat Turner is captured after his role in the Slave Revolt that took place in Southampton county, Virginia on August 21, 1831.
On this dated in 1969, a Race riot occurred in Jacksonville, Florida.
On this dated in 1820, The "Emancipator," the first anti-slavery magazine, was issued monthly from April 30 to October 31, 1820. It was edited and... Continue →
On this date in 1995, South Africans voted in their first all-race local government elections, completing the destruction of the apartheid system.
On this date in 1989, Renowned attorney Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander dies in Philadelphia.
President Ronald Reagan signs law designating the third Monday in January Martin Luther King Jr Day, in 1983
On this date in 1976, Jimmy Carter, former governor of Georgia, elected president with strong support from Black voters.
On this date in 1976, Seventeen Black congressmen reelected.
On this date in 1954, Charles C. Diggs Jr. of Detroit elected Michigan's first Black congressman.
On this dated in 1930, upon the death of the Ethiopian Empress Zawditu, Haile Selassie was crowned emperor of Ethiopia.
On this date in 1889 Menelik II was crowned Negusa-Nagast (King of Kings) of Abysinnia, Ethiopia. By 1899 Abysinnia had extended as far as Kenya in... Continue →
On this dated in 1880, Republican James A. Garfield elected president.
On this date in 1875, Democrats suppressed Black vote by fraud and violence and carried Mississippi election. "The Mississippi Plan" staged riots,... Continue →
Carol Mosely Braun, a Democrat from Illinois, becomes the 1st African American woman elected to the United States Senate.
On this dated in 1983, Jesse Jackson announces his candidacy for the office of President of the US.
On this date in 1981, Thurman L Milnet was elected mayor of Hartford CT, 1981
On this date in 1981, Coleman Young reelected mayor of Detroit. Thurman L. Milner elected mayor of Hartford, Connecticut. James Chase elected mayor... Continue →
On this date in 1979, Klansmen fired on an anti-Klan rally in Greensboro, N.C., and killed five persons.
On this date in 1974, Harold Ford elected congressman from TN.
On this date in 1970, Twelve Blacks elected to the Ninety-second Congress, including five new congressmen: Ralph H. Metcalfe (Ill.), George Collins... Continue →
On this dated in 1970, Wilson Riles elected superintendent of Public instruction in California. Richard Austin elected secretary of state in Michigan.
On this date in 1964, A.W. Willis, Jr., was elected to the General Assembly making him the first black to hold this position.
On this date in 1964, John Conyers Jr. elected to House of Representatives from Detroit.
ON this date in 1945, Irving C. Mollison, a Chicago Republican, sworn in as U.S. Customs Court judge in New York City.
On this date in 1942, William L. Dawson elected to Congress from Chicago.
On this date in 1896, Republican William McKinley defeated Democratic candidate William J. Bryan in presidential race.
On this date in 1896, South Carolina State College established.
On this date in 1883, A political coup and a race riot occurred. White conservatives in Danville, Virginia, seized control of the local government,... Continue →
On this date in 1874, James Theodore Holly, a Black American who emigrated to Haiti in 1861, elected bishop of Haiti. He was consecrated in a... Continue →
On this date in 1868, First Black elected to Congress John W. Menard, defeated a white candidate, 5,107 to 2,833, in an election in Louisiana's... Continue →
On this date in 1868, Arkansas Governor Powell Clayton declared martial law in ten counties and mobilized the state militia due to a Ku Klux Klan... Continue →
On this date in 1997, in a low-turnout election on this day, Chuck E. Burris defeated the incumbent, Pat Wheeler, by 278 votes to 260; a third... Continue →
On this date in 1988, the Martin L. King, Jr, federal Building is dedicated in Atlanta, Ga. It is the first federal building in the nation to bear... Continue →
On this date in 1978, William Howard Jr., elected president of the National Council of Churches.
On this date in 1969, Howard N. Lee and Charles Evers are elected the first African American mayors of Chapel Hill, N.C. and Fayette, Miss.,... Continue →
On this date in 1953, Hulan Jack was elected first Black Borough President of Manhattan, NYC.
On this date in 1884, Grover Cleveland won election and became the first Democratic president of the United States since the Civil War.
On this date in 1874, Democrats swept off-years elections, winning a majority in the House of Representatives.
On this date in 1872, Three Blacks elected to major offices in Louisiana elections: C.C Antoine, lieutenant governor; P.G. Deslonde, secretary of... Continue →
On this date in 1872, P.B.S. Pinchback was elected congressman at large. Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback (May 10, 1837 – December 21, 1921) was... Continue →
On this date in 1872, Fourth Black official, Treasurer Antoine Dubuclet, won elections in 1870 and 1874.
On this date in 1750, Jean-Baptist-Point Du Sable was a black pioneer, trader and founder of the settlement that later became the city of Chicago.
On November 4, 1980, four African American politicians were elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. They officially took office on January 3,... Continue →
Shirley Chisholm, a New York Democrat, is the 1st African American woman elected to Congress.
On this date in 1986, The governor of Arizona refuses to recognize Dr Martin Luther King Jr's birthday as a national holiday.
On this date in 1974, George Brown was elected Lt Governor of Colorado, becoming one of the first two Black Lt Governors in the USA.
ON this date in 1974, Harold Ford of Memphis elected to House of Representatives.
On this date in 1974, Spingarn Medal awarded Damon J. Keith "in tribute to his steadfast defense of constitutional principles as revealed in a series... Continue →
On this date in 1974, State Sen. Mervyn M. Dymally elected lieutenant governor of California. State Sen. Georgia L. Brown elected lieutenant governor... Continue →
On this date in 1974, Walter E. Washington, became the first elected mayor of Washington, D.C., in the twentieth century.
On this date in 1970, National Guard mobilized in Henderson, N.C., due to riots.
On this date in 1968, Shirley Chisholm becomes first Black woman to be elected to Congress, representing Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, NYC.
On this date in 1968, a record number of Black congressmen and the first Black woman representative were elected to Congress. The nine Black... Continue →
ON this date in 1917, U.S. Supreme Court decision (Buchanan v. Warley) struck down Louisville, Ky., ordinance which required Blacks and whites to... Continue →
ON this date in 1917, Emmett J. Scott, former secretary to Booker T. Washington, was appointed special assistant to the Secretary of War. His role... Continue →
On this date in 1912, Woodrow Wilson elected president.
On this date in 1867, First Reconstruction constitutional convention (eighteen Blacks, ninety whites) opened in Montgomery, Alabama.
On this date in 1862, Frazier A Boutelle is commissioned as second lieutenant in the Fifth New York Calvary.
Thomas Bradley was elected mayor of Los Angeles at a time when Blacks represented only 15 percent of the Los Angeles electorate, becoming one of the... Continue →
On this date in 1990, Sharon Pratt Dixon (now Kelly) was elected mayor of Washington, D.C., making this a first for a woman of any race.
On this date in 1976, Benjamin Hooks, Federal Communications Commission member, named to succeed Roy Wilkins as executive director of the NAACP.
On this date in 1973, Coleman Young was elected mayor of Detroit, becoming one of the first two Black mayors of city's with over a million citizens.
On this date in 1973, Spingarn Medal presented to Wilson C. Riles, superintendent of public instruction, California, "in recognition of the stature... Continue →
In one voting day, ninety-seven Blacks were elected to state legislatures, seven were elected to mayor, and four hundred to local governments in the... Continue →
On this date in 1962, Edward W. Brooke elected attorney general of Massachusetts. Gerald Lamb elected treasurer of Connecticut. Otis M. Smith elected... Continue →
ON this date in 1928, Oscar DePriest elected to Seventy-first Congress from Illinois' First Congressional District (Chicago). He was the first... Continue →
On this date in 1928, Spingarn Medal presented to Charles W. Chestnutt, the first Black to receive widespread critical recognition as a novelist. He... Continue →
ON this date in 1920, James Weldon Johnson became the first Black executive secretary of the NAACP.
On this date in 1920, Spingarn Medal awarded to W.E.B. Du Bois for "the founding and calling of the Pan African Congress."
On this date in 1906, President Roosevelt ordered discharge of three companies of Twenty-fifth Regiment for alleged involvement in the Brownsville... Continue →
On this date in 1900, Republican William McKinley defeated William Bryan in presidential elections.
On this date in 1888, Republican Benjamin Harrison elected president.
On this date in 1868, Jonathan Gibbs, minister and educator, appointed secretary of state by the Florida governor.
On this date in 1860, Abraham Lincoln elected president.
On November 6, 1934, Arthur W. Mitchell defeated incumbent Oscar De Priest in Chicago's First Congressional District election, becoming the first... Continue →
On November 7, 1989, David Dinkins was elected as the first African American mayor of New York City. Prior to his mayoralty, Dinkins served as... Continue →
Carl Stokes was elected mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. Stokes was sworn in on November 13 becoming the first African American to lead a major U.S.... Continue →
Supreme Court in Baltimore case banned segregation in public recreational facilities. The Interstate Commerce Commission banned segregation on... Continue →
On November 7, 1989, Lawrence Douglas Wilder was elected governor of Virginia, becoming the first African American to be elected as governor of a... Continue →
On November 7, 1978, five African American politicians were elected to the U.S. Congress, marking a significant moment in Black political... Continue →
November 7, 1978, marked a significant political upset in the U.S., particularly affecting two prominent Black politicians: ? Mervyn Dymally... Continue →
On November 7, 1972, Barbara Jordan was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, becoming the first African American woman from a Southern state... Continue →
On November 7, 1970, race riots erupted in Daytona Beach, Florida, reflecting the intense racial tensions prevalent in the United States during that... Continue →
1967 was a year of intense civil unrest in the United States, marked by numerous racial uprisings and protests against racial injustice, economic... Continue →
On November 7, 1967, Edward W. Brooke was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP for his outstanding public service. Who Was Edward W. Brooke? ... Continue →
On November 7, 1934, Arthur Wergs Mitchell made history by defeating Oscar DePriest in a Chicago election, becoming the first Black Democratic... Continue →
On November 7, 1916, Colonel Charles Young was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP for his outstanding military service and leadership in... Continue →
1916 was a particularly violent year in American history regarding racial violence and lynching. While the exact number of lynchings that occurred on... Continue →
On November 7, 1916, incumbent President Woodrow Wilson was re-elected, narrowly defeating Republican nominee Charles Evans Hughes. Wilson secured... Continue →
On November 7, 1876, the U.S. presidential election between Republican Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrat Samuel J. Tilden ended in dispute and... Continue →
One of the most successful slave revolts in U.S. history took place aboard the Creole, a ship transporting over 130 enslaved people from... Continue →
On November 7, 1837, Elijah Parish Lovejoy, an abolitionist journalist and newspaper editor, was murdered by a pro-slavery mob in Alton,... Continue →
On November 7, 1775, Lord Dunmore's Proclamation was issued, marking a significant moment in Black history during the American Revolution. ? Lord... Continue →
Edward W. Brooke Elected to the U.S. Senate On November 8, 1966, Edward W. Brooke, a Republican from Massachusetts, made history by becoming: ... Continue →
On November 8, 1960, Otis M. Smith made history by being elected Auditor General of Michigan, making him the first African American chosen in... Continue →
On November 8, 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy defeated Vice President Richard M. Nixon in one of the closest presidential elections in U.S. history.... Continue →
On November 8, 1938, Crystal Bird Fauset made history by becoming the first African American woman elected to a state legislature in the United... Continue →
On November 8, 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected as the 32nd President of the United States, defeating incumbent President Herbert Hoover in a... Continue →
In Wilmington, North Carolina, a violent white mob—led by prominent white citizens, including politicians and businessmen—carried out a violent... Continue →
The year 1892 marked one of the deadliest years for racial violence in the United States, with 161 recorded lynchings of Black Americans by... Continue →
On November 8, 1892, Grover Cleveland, a Democrat, was elected as the 24th President of the United States, defeating the incumbent Republican... Continue →
On November 8, 1870, former Confederate General John C. Brown, a Democrat, was elected Governor of Tennessee, defeating Republican candidate William... Continue →
Benjamin Banneker was born on this day in Ellicott Mills, Maryland, to a free African American woman and a formerly enslaved father. Despite having... Continue →
William L. Dawson, a trailblazing African American politician, passed away on this day in 1970. He represented Chicago, Illinois in the U.S. House of... Continue →
Arkansas Governor Powell Clayton declared martial law in ten counties due to widespread racial violence perpetrated by the Ku Klux Klan during the... Continue →
On this day, Andrew T. Hatcher made history as the first African American associate press secretary to a U.S. president, serving under President John... Continue →
After being captured for leading the Southampton, Virginia slave rebellion, Nat Turner was interviewed in jail by Thomas R. Gray, a Baltimore lawyer.... Continue →
On this day, a white supremacist mob violently overthrew the multiracial, elected government of Wilmington, North Carolina, in what is now recognized... Continue →
George Henry White, an outspoken Republican and the last African American Congressman of the Reconstruction era, represented North Carolina’s... Continue →
Ken Saro-Wiwa, a Nigerian author, environmentalist, and human rights activist, was executed by the Nigerian military regime along with eight other... Continue →
After centuries of Portuguese colonial rule, Angola declared its independence on November 11, 1975. The independence movement was led by liberation... Continue →
Nat Turner, an enslaved preacher and leader of one of the most significant slave rebellions in American history, was executed by hanging in... Continue →
On November 12, 1977, Ernest Nathan "Dutch" Morial was elected as the first African-American mayor of New Orleans, marking a significant milestone in... Continue →
On this day, South Africa was suspended from participating in the United Nations General Assembly due to its apartheid policies, which... Continue →
In the early months of the American Revolutionary War, General George Washington, under pressure from Southern slaveholding interests, issued an... Continue →
Carl B. Stokes made history by becoming the first African American elected mayor of a major U.S. city when he won the Cleveland mayoral election on... Continue →
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s decision declaring segregation on Montgomery, Alabama city buses unconstitutional. This landmark... Continue →
In a pivotal civil rights decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Hansberry v. Lee, a case involving racially restrictive housing covenants in... Continue →
On this day in Warsaw, New York, the Liberty Party—the first political party in the United States founded explicitly to oppose slavery—was... Continue →
On this day, U.S. Marshals escorted four six-year-old Black girls—Leona Tate, Tessie Prevost, and Gail Etienne—into McDonogh 19 Elementary... Continue →
On this day, the Liberty Party—the first political party in the United States dedicated solely to the abolition of slavery—held its founding... Continue →
A report released by the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith revealed a significant increase in Ku Klux Klan activity across the United... Continue →
John Mercer Langston, a prominent abolitionist, educator, and politician, died at the age of 67 in Washington, D.C. He was the first African American... Continue →
On November 15, 1884, the Berlin Conference convened in Berlin, Germany, under the leadership of German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Representatives... Continue →
On November 16, 1972, a tragic incident unfolded at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Student protests concerning the university's... Continue →
In the 1873 Mississippi state election, African Americans achieved unprecedented political success during the Reconstruction era. Alexander K. Davis... Continue →
Andrew Young, a prominent civil rights leader and close associate of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives... Continue →
On November 7, 1972, incumbent President Richard Nixon was re-elected in a landslide victory over Democratic Senator George McGovern, carrying 49 out... Continue →
In a major milestone for Black political representation, sixteen African Americans were elected to the U.S. Congress—the largest number to date at... Continue →
George Latimer, an escaped enslaved man, was captured in Boston, Massachusetts, after fleeing from Virginia with his pregnant wife. His arrest led to... Continue →
On November 18, 1993, South Africa’s Black and white leaders approved a new interim constitution, marking a historic step toward ending apartheid... Continue →
Over 900 people, most of them African American, died in a mass murder-suicide at the People’s Temple Agricultural Project (commonly known as... Continue →
Robert Edward Chambliss, a former member of the Ku Klux Klan, was convicted of first-degree murder for his role in the 1963 bombing of the 16th... Continue →
On this day, the citizens of South Carolina voted in favor of holding a constitutional convention as part of the Reconstruction process following the... Continue →
President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 11063, prohibiting discrimination in the sale, leasing, or rental of properties owned or operated by... Continue →
Robert C. Weaver, an economist, government official, and civil rights advocate, was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP for his leadership in the... Continue →
On November 20, 1922, Louisiana Governor John M. Parker met with President Warren G. Harding to discuss escalating violence perpetrated by the Ku... Continue →
Mary Burnett Talbert, a prominent educator, activist, and former president of the National Association of Colored Women (NACW), was awarded the... Continue →
African Americans in South Carolina held a Colored People's Convention at Zion Presbyterian Church in Charleston to demand equal rights, universal... Continue →
By this date in 1922, at least 51 African Americans had been reported lynched across the United States during that year alone. These acts of racial... Continue →
Randall Robinson (founder of TransAfrica), Walter Fauntroy (congressional delegate), and Mary Frances Berry (U.S. Civil Rights Commissioner) were... Continue →
On this date, Wallace D. Fard Muhammad began teaching in Detroit, Michigan, marking the founding of the Nation of Islam (NOI). He taught a unique... Continue →
President John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was assassinated at age 46. While not African American himself, JFK played a... Continue →
Oscar J. Dunn, the first African American elected as Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana (and the highest-ranking Black elected official in U.S. history... Continue →
On November 22, 1865, the Mississippi legislature passed one of the first sets of Black Codes in the post-Civil War South. These laws severely... Continue →
On this day, 1,000 Black activists from 25 states gathered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to officially establish the National Black Independent... Continue →
On this date, reports indicated that 57 African Americans had been lynched in 1905 in the United States. Lynching was a brutal and widespread form of... Continue →
The Louisiana Constitutional Convention of 1867 convened at the Mechanics Institute in New Orleans, with a groundbreaking delegation of forty-nine... Continue →
Shortly after the Civil War, on November 24, 1865, Mississippi became the first former Confederate state to pass the so-called Black Codes. These... Continue →
On this day, more than 150 delegates from Baptist churches across eleven U.S. states gathered in Montgomery, Alabama, to organize the Baptist Foreign... Continue →
Stephen Atkins Swails (1832–1900) was a notable African American figure during the Reconstruction era. After serving with distinction in the 54th... Continue →
On November 24, 1874, Robert Brown Elliott, a distinguished African American politician and orator, was elected Speaker of the South Carolina House... Continue →
On November 25, 1955, the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) issued an order banning racial segregation on interstate buses and in bus terminals,... Continue →
Ralph J. Bunche, diplomat and scholar, received the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP for his distinguished service as a United Nations mediator in the... Continue →
On this day, the St. Louis chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) initiated a sit-in campaign to challenge and end racial segregation in... Continue →
After a landmark legal battle in the United States, 35 survivors of the Amistad revolt departed from New York aboard the ship Gentleman to return to... Continue →
Benjamin O. Davis Sr., the first African American to achieve the rank of general in the U.S. Army, died at age 93 in Chicago. Commissioned as an... Continue →
On this day, William Henry Lewis was appointed Assistant Attorney General of the United States by President William Howard Taft, becoming the first... Continue →
On this day, Macon B. Allen was elected judge of the Inferior Court of Charleston, becoming the first African American to hold a major judicial... Continue →
On this day, federal troops withdrew from Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, after nearly two months of protecting the Little Rock Nine... Continue →
Dorothy Height was elected as the fourth national president of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) in November 1957. She served in this role... Continue →
Mickey Leland, a Democratic Representative from Texas, was born on this day in Lubbock, Texas. A passionate advocate for the poor and... Continue →
After a landmark legal battle in the United States, the formerly enslaved Africans who had taken control of the Spanish schooner La Amistad set sail... Continue →
Coleman A. Young, the first African American mayor of Detroit, passed away on this day at age 79 due to respiratory failure caused by advanced... Continue →
The Ku Klux Klan trials began in the Federal District Court in Columbia, South Carolina, marking one of the earliest large-scale federal attempts to... Continue →
James Robinson, an enslaved African American who became a decorated soldier in the Revolutionary War, was born on this day in 1753. He fought... Continue →
Adam Clayton Powell Jr., a groundbreaking politician, minister, and civil rights activist, was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He became the first... Continue →
During a wave of civil rights activism across the South, Freedom Riders were violently attacked by a white mob at the bus station in McComb,... Continue →
On this date, the Continental Congress moved to officially allow the enlistment of Black men—both free and enslaved—into the American Army during... Continue →
Coleman A. Young, the first African American mayor of Detroit, was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP “in recognition of his singular... Continue →
Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, students at Merritt College in Oakland, California, founded the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. The... Continue →
Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman elected to the U.S. Congress, was born in Brooklyn, New York, to immigrant parents from Barbados... Continue →
Samuel Raymond Scottron, an African American inventor and businessman, received a U.S. patent for a curtain rod (Patent No. 481,720). Scottron held... Continue →
?James D. Lynch was elected as Mississippi's Secretary of State in 1869, becoming the first African American to hold this position in the state. He... Continue →
On this day, Rosa Parks, a 42-year-old Black seamstress and NAACP member, refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus in... Continue →
In a message to Congress, President Abraham Lincoln proposed using federal bonds to compensate states that voluntarily abolished slavery by the year... Continue →
The 43rd Congress (1873–1875) convened with a historic number of seven African American representatives, all elected during the Reconstruction... Continue →
In a message to Congress, President Abraham Lincoln recommended using federal bonds to compensate any state that voluntarily abolished slavery before... Continue →
On this date, the First Continental Congress enacted the Continental Association, a trade boycott against Great Britain in response to the Coercive... Continue →
On this day, Massachusetts became the first English colony in North America to give statutory recognition to slavery with the passage of the Body of... Continue →
While the exact date when Maya Angelou was invited to compose a poem for President Bill Clinton's inauguration isn't publicly documented, she... Continue →
Charles C. Diggs Jr. was born on December 2, 1922, in Detroit, Michigan. He became the first African American elected to Congress from Michigan,... Continue →
The 54th Congress of the United States (1895–1897) convened on this day with George W. Murray of South Carolina serving as the only African... Continue →
The 52nd Congress of the United States convened with only one African American representative: Henry P. Cheatham of North Carolina. A Republican and... Continue →
On this date, reports confirmed that 113 African Americans had been lynched in the United States during the year 1891 alone. This horrifying figure... Continue →
The institutions you mentioned—North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (North Carolina A&T), Delaware State University, and... Continue →
Radical white abolitionist John Brown was executed by hanging after his failed raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry in October 1859. His goal... Continue →
On December 3, 1964, J. Raymond Jones was elected leader of New York City's Democratic organization, Tammany Hall, becoming the first African... Continue →
On this day, President Harry S. Truman established a presidential committee to monitor and enforce compliance with anti-discrimination provisions in... Continue →
The 48th U.S. Congress (1883–1885) convened with two Black representatives: James E. O’Hara of North Carolina Robert Smalls... Continue →
On this day, the Virginia Constitutional Convention convened in Richmond as part of Reconstruction efforts following the Civil War. For the first... Continue →
On this date in 1865, Selection of the first Inter-racial jury is formed.
The Twenty-Fifth Corps was officially established within the Union Army of the James, becoming the largest all-Black unit in the history of the U.S.... Continue →
On this day, the Society of Colored People in Baltimore began keeping records in a notebook that continued until September 7, 1845. This group is... Continue →
Fred Hampton and Mark Clark, leaders of the Black Panther Party, were killed during a pre-dawn raid by the Chicago Police Department, coordinated... Continue →
On this date, journalist Emmett J. Scott published early reports highlighting the growing movement of African Americans from the rural South to the... Continue →
On this day, the modern Ku Klux Klan was officially chartered by the Fulton County Superior Court in Georgia. This marked the formal rebirth of the... Continue →
On this day, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) organized nationwide protests against the film The Birth of a... Continue →
On this day, the South Carolina Constitutional Convention adopted a new state constitution designed to systematically suppress Black voting rights.... Continue →
The American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS) was officially organized in Philadelphia by prominent abolitionists including William Lloyd Garrison, Arthur... Continue →
On this day, General George Washington delivered his emotional farewell address to his officers of the Continental Army at Fraunces Tavern in New... Continue →
On this day, New York City became the first city in the United States to enact legislation prohibiting racial and religious discrimination in private... Continue →
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. received the Spingarn Medal, the highest honor awarded by the NAACP, for his outstanding leadership during the Montgomery... Continue →
Carl Murphy, publisher of the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper, was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP for his outstanding contributions as a... Continue →
In response to Rosa Parks’ arrest for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger, the Montgomery Bus Boycott was launched on this day. That... Continue →
President Harry S. Truman issued Executive Order 9808, establishing the President’s Committee on Civil Rights. This was the first national... Continue →
On this date in 1946, Spingarn Medal presented to Thurgood Marshall, director of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, "for his distinguished... Continue →
In response to post–World War II racial violence, including lynchings and mob attacks on Black veterans and civilians, President Harry S. Truman... Continue →
On this day, educator and civil rights leader Mary McLeod Bethune founded the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) in New York City. The... Continue →
The 47th Congress (1881–1883) convened with two African American Representatives: Robert Smalls of South Carolina, a formerly enslaved man... Continue →
On or around December 6, 1849, Harriet Tubman escaped enslavement in Dorchester County, Maryland. Risking her life, she later returned to the South... Continue →
On this day, Lee P. Brown made history by being elected the first African American mayor of Houston, Texas. A former police chief and federal "drug... Continue →
On this day, Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. was confirmed as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. His nomination faced opposition from civil... Continue →
?On December 6, 1960, in Tucson, Arizona, approximately 500 store owners signed pledges committing to nondiscrimination practices. This collective... Continue →
Sergeant Thomas Shaw, a member of the 9th Cavalry Regiment—one of the original Buffalo Soldier units—was awarded the Medal of Honor for his... Continue →
The 44th Congress of the United States (1875–1877) convened with a historic high of eight African American members, the largest number during the... Continue →
Pinckney Benton Stewart (P.B.S.) Pinchback was elected president pro tempore of the Louisiana State Senate on this day in 1871, and shortly after... Continue →
The first National Black Labor Convention convened in Washington, D.C., bringing together African American workers and leaders from across the... Continue →
On December 6, 1869, James H. Harris of North Carolina was elected President of the National Convention of Colored Men, a significant assembly... Continue →
In 1982, John E. Jacob succeeded Vernon E. Jordan Jr. as president of the National Urban League, a historic civil rights organization focused on... Continue →
Doris “Dorie” Miller, a mess attendant from Waco, Texas, displayed extraordinary bravery during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor while serving... Continue →
Sir Milton Margai was born on this day in Gbangbatoke, Sierra Leone. A trained medical doctor and respected statesman, Margai became the first Prime... Continue →
The year 1885 was marked by the lynching of 74 Black individuals in the United States. However, there is no specific record of 74 Black individuals... Continue →
The 49th Congress (1885–1887) convened on December 7, 1885, with two African American representatives serving: James E. O’Hara of North... Continue →
In Vicksburg, Mississippi, white Democrats orchestrated a violent coup against the legally elected Reconstruction government. Tensions had been... Continue →
On this day, William B. Gibbs Jr., a Black teacher and principal in Montgomery County, Maryland, filed Gibbs v. Board of Education, challenging... Continue →
On this day, Kurt L. Schmoke was inaugurated as the first African American mayor of Baltimore, Maryland. A Rhodes Scholar and Yale Law graduate,... Continue →
U.S. Representative George W. Collins of Illinois died in a plane crash near Chicago Midway Airport at age 47. Collins had served in Congress since... Continue →
On this day, the NAACP filed its first lawsuit in a landmark campaign to equalize the salaries of Black and white teachers in the segregated South.... Continue →
Sammy Davis Jr., legendary African American singer, dancer, actor, and comedian, was born in Harlem, New York. A child prodigy who began performing... Continue →
President Abraham Lincoln issued his Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, offering a full pardon and restoration of property (except for... Continue →
On December 9, 1995, Kweisi Mfume, then a Democratic Congressman from Maryland, was unanimously elected as the President and Chief Executive Officer... Continue →
Craig Washington, a Democratic state legislator, won a special election to represent Texas’ 18th Congressional District, succeeding the late Mickey... Continue →
Ralph J. Bunche, diplomat, scholar, and the first African American to receive the Nobel Peace Prize (1950), passed away at age 67 in New York City.... Continue →
On this day, Tanganyika, a territory in East Africa, gained independence from British colonial rule. It became a sovereign nation with Julius Nyerere... Continue →
On this day, Pinckney Benton Stewart (P.B.S.) Pinchback became the Governor of Louisiana, making him the first African American to serve as governor... Continue →
The Georgia Constitutional Convention of 1867 began in Atlanta, with 33 Black delegates and 137 white delegates participating. This marked a... Continue →
On this date in 1950, Ralph J. Bunche, director of the UN Trusteeship division and former professor of political science at Howard University,... Continue →
On this day, William H. Rehnquist was confirmed as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. His confirmation faced strong opposition from... Continue →
The U.S. Supreme Court reversed the convictions of sixteen African American students who had been arrested for participating in a peaceful lunch... Continue →
On this day, 13 African American soldiers of the 24th Infantry Regiment were executed by hanging at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, without the chance to... Continue →
John E. Bush, born into slavery, rose to become a respected teacher, real estate developer, and civic leader in Arkansas. In 1898, he was appointed... Continue →
On this day, Pinckney Benton Stewart (P.B.S.) Pinchback became the first African American to serve as governor of a U.S. state—Louisiana. He... Continue →
On this day, Willie L. Brown Jr., a longtime California political powerhouse and former Speaker of the California State Assembly, defeated incumbent... Continue →
On this day, Kenya officially gained independence from British colonial rule, ending decades of struggle. Jomo Kenyatta, a key leader in the... Continue →
More than 700 demonstrators, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., were arrested in Albany, Georgia, during five mass marches to city hall protesting... Continue →
On December 12, 1938, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a pivotal decision in Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada, marking a significant step toward... Continue →
On this day, George H. Williams was appointed as the U.S. Attorney General by President Ulysses S. Grant. While Williams himself was not Black, his... Continue →
On this day, Joseph H. Rainey became the first African American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives for South Carolina. He was sworn in to... Continue →
On December 13, 1957, Daniel Ahmling Chapman Nyaho presented his credentials as Ghana's first Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the... Continue →
Menelik II, the visionary emperor who modernized Ethiopia and defended its sovereignty, died on this day in 1913. His reign (1889–1913) was marked... Continue →
Under increasing pressure and facing troop shortages, General George Washington reversed a previous policy and allowed free Black men to enlist in... Continue →
John Mercer Langston, a pioneering lawyer, educator, and politician, was born on this day in Louisa County, Virginia. Born free in a slaveholding... Continue →
On this day, George Washington, the first President of the United States, died at his Mount Vernon estate. In his last will and testament, Washington... Continue →
In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, approximately 1,500 Black demonstrators gathered to protest segregation and racial injustice. In response, police used... Continue →
On December 15, 1943, the Spingarn Medal was presented to William H. Hastie in recognition of his distinguished career as a jurist and his unwavering... Continue →
On December 16, 1976, President-elect Jimmy Carter nominated Andrew Young to serve as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, making him... Continue →
On this day, the Booker T. Washington Memorial Half Dollar was officially issued by the United States Mint. It was the first U.S. coin to honor an... Continue →
Charles Caldwell, a formerly enslaved man who became a state senator and militia leader during Reconstruction, was assassinated in Clinton,... Continue →
John Anthony Copeland Jr. and Shields Green, two Black men who joined abolitionist John Brown in his raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry,... Continue →
On December 17, 1971, Congressman Charles C. Diggs Jr. of Michigan resigned from his position as a delegate to the United Nations. This action was... Continue →
On this day, the League of Nations officially granted South Africa a Class C mandate to administer South West Africa (present-day Namibia) following... Continue →
Henry Adams was born enslaved in Forks of the Road, Louisiana. After gaining freedom, he became a Union Army soldier, political leader, and civil... Continue →
On this day, Queen Nzinga (also spelled Nzingha or Njinga), the legendary ruler of Ndongo and Matamba in present-day Angola, passed away. Known as... Continue →
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, upheld the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066, which led to the internment of over 120,000 Japanese... Continue →
On this day, the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution was officially ratified, formally abolishing slavery and involuntary servitude... Continue →
South Carolina became the first state to secede from the United States, declaring itself an independent commonwealth, which marked a major step... Continue →
George Henry White, born on December 18, 1852, in Bladen County, North Carolina, was a prominent African American attorney, educator, and politician... Continue →
On this date, reports indicated that 67 African Americans were lynched in the United States during the year 1910. Lynching was a brutal form of... Continue →
On this day, the Baltimore City Council passed the first city ordinance in the United States mandating racial segregation in housing, requiring that... Continue →
The gubernatorial election in Georgia on December 19, 1871, was a pivotal event during the Reconstruction era, marked by significant political... Continue →
Jefferson Franklin Long of Macon, Georgia, became the first African American from Georgia elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He won a... Continue →
Robert H. Wood, born in 1844 to Susie Harris, an African American housekeeper, and Dr. Robert Wood, a white physician and former mayor of Natchez,... Continue →
On this day, South Carolina became the first state to secede from the United States, a key event leading to the American Civil War. The decision was... Continue →
On December 21, 1988, civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, alongside other prominent Black leaders, advocated for the adoption of the term... Continue →
On December 21, 1976, Patricia Roberts Harris was appointed as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by President-elect Jimmy Carter,... Continue →
On December 21, 1959, residents of Deerfield, Illinois, approved a referendum that effectively blocked plans for an interracial housing development.... Continue →
P.B.S. Pinchback, a major Reconstruction-era political leader and the first African American to serve as a U.S. state governor (Louisiana,... Continue →
A year-end report released on this date revealed that 59 Black Americans were lynched in the United States during 1921. These extrajudicial killings,... Continue →
In response to escalating violence against Black citizens and Republicans during the Reconstruction era, President Ulysses S. Grant issued a... Continue →
South Carolina enacted one of the first sets of Black Codes following the Civil War, aiming "to regulate the relations of persons of color." These... Continue →
Arthur Wergs Mitchell, born on December 22, 1883, near Lafayette, Alabama, was the first African American elected to the U.S. Congress as a Democrat.... Continue →
Charles Lenox Remond, a pioneering abolitionist and orator, died on this day in 1873. He was the first Black lecturer employed by the Massachusetts... Continue →
On this day in 1863, Robert Blake, serving as a powder boy aboard the USS Marblehead, became the first Black American awarded the Naval Medal of... Continue →
Henry Highland Garnet, a minister, abolitionist, and diplomat, was born into slavery in Kent County, Maryland. He became a prominent figure in the... Continue →
On December 24, 1992, Mike Espy was confirmed as the first Black Secretary of Agriculture in U.S. history. Appointed by President-elect Bill Clinton,... Continue →
On this day, approximately five thousand African Americans departed Edgefield County, South Carolina, in what became known as the “Edgefield... Continue →
Tennessee initiated the modern Jim Crow era by enacting a law mandating segregated railroad cars, becoming the first state to formalize such racial... Continue →
The United Order of True Reformers, an African American fraternal organization, was officially established in Richmond, Virginia. Founded by William... Continue →
On Christmas Day in 1971, Rev. Jesse Jackson founded Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity) in Chicago. The organization aimed to improve... Continue →
Charles Caldwell, a formerly enslaved man and Reconstruction-era politician, was assassinated in Clinton, Mississippi. He had made history as the... Continue →
Reports from across the American South indicated that many freedmen had left plantations, anticipating a general distribution of land. General Rufus... Continue →
Following the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, African Americans in Birmingham, Alabama, launched a campaign of mass resistance against... Continue →
By the end of 1908, records from anti-lynching activists and institutions like the Tuskegee Institute documented that 89 Black individuals were... Continue →
David Ruggles, often considered the first African American bookseller, died in Northampton, Massachusetts. He opened his bookstore in 1834 in New... Continue →
William and Ellen Craft escaped from slavery in Georgia in a daring journey. Ellen, who was light-skinned, disguised herself as a white male... Continue →
The second day of the first-ever Kwanzaa celebration honored Kujichagulia, meaning "self-determination" in Swahili. Kwanzaa, created by Dr. Maulana... Continue →
In a decisive ruling, Judge Devane declared that “every segregation act of every state or city is as dead as a doornail,” reinforcing the legal... Continue →
On this day, Karen Farmer broke racial barriers by becoming the first African American admitted to the Daughters of the American Revolution. She... Continue →
George H. White was the final Black member of Congress during the post-Reconstruction period, serving North Carolina’s 2nd congressional district... Continue →
The date December 28, 1918, is tied to a tragic and telling report in U.S. history. On that day, The Chicago Whip, a Black newspaper, reported that... Continue →
The American Colonization Society (ACS) was founded with the mission of resettling free African Americans to Africa, specifically to what would... Continue →
Robert C. Weaver, born on this day, became the first African American appointed to a U.S. presidential cabinet. In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson... Continue →
On this day in 1845, Texas was admitted to the United States as the 28th state, entering the Union as a slave state. This move heightened tensions... Continue →
Thomas J. "Tom" Bradley was born on December 29, 1917, in Calvert, Texas. He moved with his family to Los Angeles around 1924, where he later... Continue →
Two U.S. courts issued temporary injunctions to stop the eviction of approximately 700 Black sharecroppers in Haywood and Fayette counties,... Continue →
Josiah T. Walls, the first Black man elected to the U.S. Congress from Florida, was born on this day in 1842. Born into slavery in Virginia, Walls... Continue →
On this day in 1953, Hulan Jack was sworn in as the Borough President of Manhattan, becoming one of the first African Americans to hold such a... Continue →
Residents of Rochester, New York, joined Frederick Douglass in a solemn vigil on the eve of the Emancipation Proclamation. As midnight approached,... Continue →
Alarmed by the potential impact of the British Governor Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation—which offered freedom to enslaved people who joined British... Continue →
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