Correction Department First

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Correction Department First

John Boone served as Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Correction from 1972 to August 1973. He was the first (and only) African-American to hold this position in the 74-year history of the Department.

Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Sergeant William E. Carter (1858-1918), for whom the Carter Playground in Boston's South End is named, served in the Spanish-American War, the Massachusetts National Guard from 1899 to 1917, and in World War I, where he was killed in action in October 1918.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Bolling Family: Political Phenomenon

The Bolling family represented a phenomenon unprecedented in Boston politics in the early 1980s, when three members held elective office at the same time - Royal Bolling, Sr., served as state senator, while his son Royal Bolling, Jr., served as state representative, and his son Bruce Bolling served

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Massachusetts Legislative Black Caucus

In 1972 the Massachusetts Legislative Black Caucus was founded in an effort to coordinate the efforts of Black elected officials and make them more accountable to the Black community.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Yancey Makes State Ballot

In 1986 Boston City Councilor Charles Yancey was the first African-American representing the Democratic Party to secure a position on a statewide ballot in his bid to become State Auditor.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Black Population in 1970

In 1970, 51 percent of Boston's African-Americans had been born outside of Massachusetts and had migrated to the state, and most of the newcomers (29 percent of the entire Black population) were of southern origin.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

90 Black Churches

The number of Black churches in Boston grew from two in 1830 to five by 1850. One was the Free Church, later named Tremont Temple, established in 1836 as an integrated church protesting segregated seating in Boston's white churches. Today there are over 90 churches that 'identify with the

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

First Federal Judge

David S. Nelson became the first Black federal judge in Massachusetts in 1979.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

First Owner of Pro Team

Peter C. B. Bynoe, a native of Boston, and Bertram Lee, a Boston businessman, became the first African-Americans to own a major professional sports franchise when they purchased the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association in 1989.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Slavery Law in Massachusetts

Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth were the first colonies to authorize slavery through legislation as part of the1641 Body of Liberties, a mere three years after the first Blacks arrived in Boston.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Early State Representatives

The 19th-century African-American state representatives were: Edwin G. Walker, 1866 Charles L. Mitchell, 1866 John J. Smith, 1868, 1869, 1872 George L. Ruffin, 1870, 1871 Joshua B. Smith, 1873, 1874 George W. Lowther, 1878, 1879 Julius C. Chappelle, 1883-86 William O. Armstrong, 1887, 1888 Andrew

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Women's Service Club

The Women's Service Club at 464 Massachusetts Avenue has been a community institution for over 70 years. In 1933 at the height of the Depression it pioneered a successful women's employment program; during World War II it provided services for Black soldiers. It spearheaded efforts to bring

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

First Black Public School

In 1808 the first 'public' school for Boston's African-American children was opened in the basement of the African Meeting House on Beacon Hill. Prince Saunders, and African-American teacher at the African Meeting House school, persuaded white businessman Abiel Smith to donate securities in his

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Microwave Associates

Microwave Associates, Inc. (now called M/A-COM) was founded in 1950 in Boston by two African-American engineers, Louis W. Roberts and Richard M. Walker, and Vess Chigas (a Greek American). In 1956 the company offered public stock and many of Boston's African-Americans invested. Microwave Associates

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

First City Appointment

The first appointment of an African-American to a city position in Boston appears to have been that of W. W. Bryant, who in 1885 was made deputy sealer of weights and measures.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Outstanding Criminal Lawyer

William H. Lewis (1869-1949), long recognized as one of Boston's outstanding criminal lawyers, was the first African-American to hold the position of Assistant United States Attorney General, appointed by President Taft in 1911.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Chancellor of Higher Education

Dr. Franklyn Jenifer was appointed Chancellor of Higher Education in Massachusetts in 1986 by Governor Michael Dukakis, becoming the first African-American to hold this position. In 1990 he became president of Howard University in Washington, D.C.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

First Black School Principal

Maria L. Baldwin of Cambridge became the first Black school principal in Massachusetts when she was appointed to head the Agassiz School in Cambridge in 1899. She remained in the position until 1922.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Dimock Community Health Center

Dimock Community Health Center in the Roxbury section of Boston is the oldest health facility in the city oriented to the care of Black and low income people. Founded in 1863 as the New England Hospital for Woman and Children to provide medical training for white women, the hospital also included

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Plymouth Hospital - 1st Picture

Plymouth Hospital and Nurses' Training School, founded and operated by Dr. Cornelius Garland, a Black doctor, from 1908 to 1928, contributed to the health care needs of Blacks and to Black community development during the first quarter of the 1900s. The hospital building still stands on East

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Voting Rights for Blacks

Prominent businessman Paul Cuffe used his influence to petition the Massachusetts legislature for voting rights for Blacks and American Indians, which were later granted through court action in 1783.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Three Firsts for Black Physician

Dr. Kenneth C. Edelin was the first African-American physician to direct a major clinical department at Boston City Hospital when he was named Director of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1978, a position he held until 1989. Also, as Chairman and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Boston

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Long-Running TV Programs

'Say Brother,' produced by WGBH-TV (Channel 2) for the past 20 years, is the longest running television show targeted to the African-American and minority communities in Boston. 'Urban Update' (formerly 'Black News') on WHDH (Channel 7) is a close second with a nearly 18-year on-air history.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Crispus Attucks

Crispus Attucks, an ex-slave from Framingham was the first to die in the Boston Massacre (1770), which some historians mark as the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. Attucks led a small group of colonists to a British garrison on King Street in Boston. One of the British soldiers panicked

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

New England Slave Trade

The year 1644 was a momentous date in the history of the New England slave trade. Before that time Massachusetts merchants had occasionally brought in Black Africans from the West Indies; but in that year Boston traders imported slaves directly from Africa, when an association of businessmen sent

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Congressional Medal of Honor Winner

Sergeant William Carney of New Bedford, a member of the famed 54th Massachusetts Regiment during the Civil War, was the first African-American awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery at the battle of Fort Wagner in July 1863. The U.S. flag he saved during the battle still hangs in the

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Racial Imbalance in Schools

In July 1964 an advisory committee to the State Board of Education, chaired by Dr. Owen B. Kiernan, reported that segregation existed in 78 percent of the schools in Massachusetts and that racial imbalance was detrimental to sound education in six specific ways, including 'serious conflict with the

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Black Heritage Trail

The Black Heritage Trail on Beacon Hill in Boston is a walking tour which explores the history of the city's 19th-century African-American community. The tour was started in 1963 as an informal walking tour of some 10 sites by J. Marcus Mitchell, the first curator of the Museum of Negro History

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

First U.S. Senator since Reconstruction

In 1962 Edward W. Brooke, a Boston attorney, became the first African-American to be elected Attorney General for the Commonwealth. Two year later, in 1964, he became the first African-American elected to the United States Senate since Reconstruction.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Elma Lewis School

The Elma Lewis School was established in 1950 to give expert training in the arts to children, youth, and adults. Its students have performed on Broadway and in symphony orchestras. During its 40 years of existence, the School has been producing professional artists and changing the quality of life

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

First Federal Position

William C. Nell (1816-1874) was appointed a postal clerk in the U.S. Postal System in 1860, becoming the first African-American to hold a federal civilian job in the city.

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Source: African Americans in Boston: More Than 350 Years

Facts About Women

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