Blackfacts - Just the Facts!

1451 Black Facts in Topic 'New York City'

Jackie Robinson

Born: 1/31/1919 Cairo, GeorgiaDied: 10/24/1972 Stamford, ConnecticutJackie Robinson was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) second baseman who became the first African American to play in the major leagues in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when the Brooklyn Dodgers

Source: Blackfacts.com

Apr

15

1947

Breakdance History - 1970s to Today

The history of breakdance takes us back to the 1970s. Breakdance is a dynamic dance style that is a major component of the hip-hop culture. Breakdancing developed in the South Bronx of New York City during the late 20th century, coinciding with the disco

Source: ThoughtCo

James, G. Winston (1967- )

Poet, author, and essayist, G. Winston James was born in Kingston, Jamaica. He immigrated with his family to the United States in 1971 at the age of three, grew up in Paterson, New Jersey, and graduated from Paterson Catholic Regional High School. James, who has lived in New York and Florida for

Source: Black Past

Sarah Thompson Garnet becomes the first African American female principal in the New York City public school system.

Source: Blackfacts.com

Apr

30

1863

Whitfield, Lynn (1953– )

Lynn Whitfield is an American actress and producer. Whitfield is best known for her performance as Josephine Baker in the HBO biographical drama film, The Josephine Baker Story (1991), where she won a Primetime Emmy Award for outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries and a movie along with a Golden

Source: Black Past

May

6

1953

The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed | An Online Reference Guide to African American History by Professor Quintard Taylor, University of Washington

1603 Mathieu Da Costa, a free black explorer, guides the French through parts of Canada and the Lake Champlain region of what is now New York state. 1603

Source: Black Past

Clarence Willi Norris, last surviving member of the Scottsboro Boys, died at age

Clarence Willi Norris, last surviving member of the Scottsboro Boys, died at age 76 whiel a patient at the Bronx Community Hospital. Norris was one of nine African American teenagers accused of the 1931 rape of two white prostitutes in Alabama. The case was tried several times between 1931 and 1937

Source: Blackfacts.com

Jan

22

1989

Timeline 1800-1859: African American History and Women

[Previous] [Next] • Ohio Constitution adopted, outlawing slavery and prohibiting free blacks from voting • James Callendar accused Thomas Jefferson of keeping as his concubine, one of his own slaves -- Sally Hemings. The accusation was first published in the Richmond Recorder. • (February 11) Lydia

Source: ThoughtCo

Born: 8/8/1866 Nanjemoy, MarylandDied: 3/9/1955 New York City, New YorkMatthew Henson was the first African-American Arctic explorer, an associate of Robert Peary on seven voyages over a period of nearly 23 years. They made six voyages and spent a total of 18 years in expeditions.Henson served as

Source: Blackfacts.com

Singer Sarah Vaughn

Jazz singer Sarah Vaughn was born in Newark, New Jersey.

Source: Blackfacts.com

Mar

27

1924

First Black to Sing a Romantic Lead

The first Black to sing a romantic lead at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City was Mattiwilda Dobbs as Gilda in Rigoletto.

Source: Blackfacts.com

Nov

9

1956

Silent Parade in protest of lynchings

Ten thousand Blacks marched down Fifth Avenue, New York City, in silent parade protesting lynchings and racial indignities.

Source: Blackfacts.com

Jul

28

1915

James Baldwin , in full James Arthur Baldwin (born August 2, 1924, New York, New York—died December 1, 1987, Saint-Paul, France), American essayist, novelist, and playwright whose eloquence and passion on the subject of race in America made him an important voice, particularly in the late 1950s

Source: Brittanica

Nov

17

1962

Walter F. White honored by NAACP

Walter F. White, an Atlanta-born writer and civil rights leader, was honored by the NAACP in New York City for his work as the organizations Executive Secretary, his investigations of lynchings, and his lobbying for a federal anti-lynching law.

Source: Blackfacts.com

Jul

2

1937

African Americans in New York City

African Americans constitute one of the longer-running ethnic presences in New York City. The majority of the African American population largely claims descent from West and Central Africa by way of importation to the American South via the Atlantic slave trade (and a rarer presence of those

Source: ThoughtCo

Johnson, Francis Hall (1888-1970)

Composer and musician Hall Johnson was born in Athens, Georgia in 1888 to Alice Virginia Sanson Johnson and William Decker Johnson, a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. His musical talent was apparent from childhood when he studied piano with his older sister, Mary, and taught

Source: Black Past

Black Hebrew Israelites

Black Hebrew Israelites (also called Black Hebrews, African Hebrew Israelites, and Hebrew Israelites) are groups of African Americans who believe that they are descendants of the ancient Israelites. Black Hebrews adhere in varying degrees to the religious beliefs and practices of both Christianity

Source: ThoughtCo

First Black newspaper, Freedom's Journal,

First Black newspaper, Freedoms Journal, published in New York City.

Source: Blackfacts.com

Mar

16

1827

Vanessa L. Williams born

Actress-singer and the first black Miss America Vanessa L. Williams is born in Millwood, New York.

Source: Blackfacts.com

Mar

18

1963

Russell, Lillian

Russell, Lillian, 1861–1922, American singer and actress, b. Clinton, Iowa. Her original name was Helen Louise Leonard. She first appeared in light opera in 1879. In the early 1880s her introduction by Tony Pastor at his casino in New York City launched her career as The American Beauty. After

Source: Fact Monster - Black History

(1963) Robert C. Weaver, "The Negro as an American"

In 1966 Robert C. Weaver became the first African American to hold a cabinet post when President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him Secretary of the new created Department of Housing and Urban Development. Weaver, however had held a series of federal government and academic positions going back to

Source: Black Past

Jun

13

1963

Johnson, James Weldon (1871-1938)

James Weldon Johnson, composer, diplomat, social critic, and civil rights activist, was born of Bahamian immigrant parents in Jacksonville, Florida on June 17, 1871. Instilled with the value of education by his father, James, a waiter, and teacher-mother, Helen, Johnson excelled at the Stanton

Source: Black Past

Jun

17

1871

Louis, Joe (Joseph Louis Barrow) lo͞o´ĭs [key], 1914–81, American boxer, b. Lafayette, Ala. His father, a sharecropper, died when Louis was four years old, and in 1926 his stepfather took the family to Detroit, where Louis became interested in boxing. At 18 he began an amateur career in the

Source: Fact Monster - Black History

African-American Dancers

Pearl Primus was the first African-American modern dancer. Throughout her career, Primus used her craft to express social ills in United States’ society. In 1919, Primus was born and her family immigrated to Harlem from Trinidad. While studying anthropology at Columbia University, Primus began her

Source: ThoughtCo

African-American Tennis Champion Althea Gibson Quotes

Althea Gibson, a sharecroppers daughter raised on welfare mostly in New York City, learned tennis through public clubs. She rose to become the first African-American to play at in the Forest Hills and in the Wimbledon championships, and the first African-American to win either. Althea Gibson broke

Source: ThoughtCo

Ray, Charlotte E. (1850-1911)

Charlotte E. Ray, the first African American woman to practice law in the United States, was born on January 13, 1850 in New York City, New York. Her father, Reverend Charles Bennett Ray, was a prominent New York abolitionist and minister who served as pastor of the Bethesda Congregational Church

Source: Black Past

Richard Wright , (born Sept. 4, 1908, near Natchez, Miss., U.S.—died Nov. 28, 1960, Paris, France), novelist and short-story writer, who was among the first black American writers to protest white treatment of blacks, notably in his novel Native Son (1940) and his autobiography, Black Boy

Source: Brittanica

Nash, Charles Edmund (1844-1913)

Republican Charles Edmund Nash served in the 44th Congress as Louisiana’s only black representative. Nash was born in Opelousas, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, on May 23, 1844. Before his time in Congress Nash attended common schools, was a bricklayer in New Orleans, and had enlisted as a private

Source: Black Past

May

23

1844

Classical Conductor Dean Dixon born.

Classical Conductor Dean Dixon is born in 1915 in Harlem, NY. Fluent in Swedish, French and German, Dixon became one of Europes best known conductors after leaving the US in 1949. He conducted the Goteborg (Sweden) Symphony for 10 years before being named conductor for the Hessian Radio Symphony in

Source: Blackfacts.com

Jan

10

1915

Towns, Edolphus (1934- )

Currently in his 13th term in Congress, Edolphus Towns is a Democratic Representative from the State of New York. Towns was born in Chadbourn, North Carolina on July 21, 1934, and attended the public schools of Chadbourn before graduating with a B.S. degree from North Carolina Agricultural and

Source: Black Past

Jul

21

1934

Shuffle Along, first of a succession of popular

Shuffle Along, first of a succession of popular musicals featuring Black talent, opened at the 63rd Street Music Hall, New York City.

Source: Blackfacts.com

May

23

1921

(1838) James McCune Smith, “The Abolition Of Slavery And The Slave Trade In The French And British Colonies”

James McCune Smith (1813-1865) was a prominent physician and abolitionist. Smith was educated in the African Free School in New York City. When failing to be admitted to any American college, he enrolled in Glasgow University in Scotland in 1832 and earned three degrees including his medical

Source: Black Past

Jun

9

1838

Slavery abolished in New York State

Slavery abolished in New York State.

Source: Blackfacts.com

Jul

4

1827

Winifred Sweet Black

Winifred Sweet Black , née Winifred Sweet (born Oct. 14, 1863, Chilton, Wis., U.S.—died May 25, 1936, San Francisco, Calif.), American reporter whose sensationalist exposés and journalistic derring-do reflected the spirit of the age of yellow

Source: Brittanica

May

25

1936

Left of Black with Martha Biondi

Left of Black - Season 3, Episode 19

Source: AA Studies Research Guide

Katherine Dunham (1910-)

American dancer, choreographer, and scholar. She was a pioneer in the use of folk and ethnic choreography, and considered one of the founders of the anthropological dance movement. With Aida in 1963, she became the first Black to choreograph for the Metropolitan Opera in New York city.

Source: Blackfacts.com

Sep

6

2001

Lorraine Hansberry

Born: 5/19/1930 Chicago, IllinoisDied: 1/12/1965 New York City, New YorkLorraine Vivian Hansberry was an American playwright and writer. Hansberry inspired Nina Simones song To Be Young, Gifted and Black. She was the first black woman to write a play performed on Broadway.Business

Source: Blackfacts.com

Granville Woods

The magnitude of an inventors work can often be defined by the esteem in which he is held by fellow inventors. If this is the case, then Granville Woods was certainly a respected inventor as he was often referred to as the “Black Thomas

Source: Black History Resources

May

23

2013

African-American neighborhood

African-American neighborhoods or black neighborhoods are types of ethnic enclaves found in many cities in the United States. Generally, an African American neighborhood is one where the majority of the people who live there are African American. Some of the earliest African-American neighborhoods

Source: ThoughtCo

(2004) Al Sharpton, “Speech Before the 2004 Democratic National Convention"

In 2004 Rev. Al Sharpton of New York City, campaigned for the Democratic nomination for President. Sharpton saw himself as the successor to Rev. Jesse Jackson who campaigned for the Presidency on behalf of the impoverished and oppressed. Although he did not garner as much support as Jackson did

Source: Black Past

Coleman, Bonnie Watson (1945– )

Bonnie Watson Coleman has served as the U.S. House of Representatives for New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District since January 3, 2015. The 12th District includes Princeton University and major parts of the Middlesex and Mercer Counties. Coleman is the first African American woman to represent

Source: Black Past

Portrait of Black Chicago

The captions are John White`s own, written some time after he took his photographs. In some cases White used virtually the same caption for several

Source: Archives Library Information Center (ALIC)

Viro "Black Sam" Small makes his wrestling debutat Owney's Bastile in New York

Viro Black Sam Small makes his wrestling debut at Owneys Bastile in New York; he is the first known black wrestler in the U.S.

Source: Blackfacts.com

Jan

1

1870

Fifth national Black convention met in New York

Fifth national Black convention met in New York with fifty delegates from eight states.

Source: Blackfacts.com

Jun

2

1834

New Political Party

Liberty party, the first antislavery political party, organized at Warsaw, New York. Samuel Ringgold Ward and Henry Highland Garnet were among the earliest supporters of the new political departure.

Source: Blackfacts.com

Nov

13

1839

Juanita Hall Singer & Actress dies

Juanita Long Hall was born November 6, 1901 (or 1902) in Keyport, New Jersey, and died February 29, 1968, in Bayshore, New York. This singer, actress, and choral director was best-known for her role as Bloody Mary in the 1949 Broadway stage production of South Pacific.

Source: Blackfacts.com

Feb

29

1968

Damon Wayans is an African American actor and comedian who is famous for his role on the popular sitcom “In Living Color”. He was born in New York City to a social worker named Elvira Wayans and a supermarket manager named Howell Wayans. The family were strict Jehovah’s Witnesses and

Source: Black History Resources

Gordone, Charles (1925- )

Charles Gordone was born Charles Edward Fleming on October 12, 1925 in Cleveland, Ohio to parents William and Camille Fleming. He took his stepfather’s surname of Gordon when his mother remarried when he was five years old. The family moved to Elkhart, Indiana, his mother’s hometown, when Charles

Source: Black Past

Nov

13

1995

Jolson, Al jōl´sən [key], 1888–1950, American entertainer, whose original name was Asa Yoelson, b. Russia. He emigrated to the United States c.1895. The son of a rabbi, Jolson first planned to become a cantor but soon turned to the stage. After his New York City debut in 1899, he worked in

Source: Fact Monster - Black History

African Company / African Grove Theatre

The African Company was the first known black theatre troupe. In 1816, William Henry Brown (1815-1884), a retired West Indian steamship steward, acquired a house on Thomas Street in lower Manhattan, New York. He offered a variety of instrumental and vocal entertainments on Sunday afternoons in his

Source: Black Past

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