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1641 Massachusett colony.
In 1641, the first colony to legalize slavery, and to forbid use of unjust violence in the capture of slaves, was Massachusetts.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1641
The Cotton Bag Fort
A African American Designs The Cotton Bag Fort: When Andrew Jackson assembled his force at New Orleans, his soldiers, many of whom were African American slaves, were outnumbered by the British forces ten to one. Faced with this disadvantage, Jackson consulted with men as to what was the best
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Intellitech
Oct
2
2002
Oscar DePriest elected to Seventy-first Congress
Oscar DePriest elected to Seventy-first Congress from Illinois First Congressional District (Chicago). He was the first congressman from the North and the first Black in Congress since the departure of George H. White in 1901.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
6
1928
Maj
Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler declared slaves contraband of war.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
May
24
1861
Benjamin Banneker
Benjamin Banneker writes letter to then secretary of state Thomas Jefferson. The letter showed the hypocrisy of slavery. Banneker challenged the idea of freedom for whites as the ascribed it to be the same freedom that should be granted to Africans.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
19
1791
Congressman Thaddeus Stevens offered an amendment
Congressman Thaddeus Stevens offered an amendment to Freedmens Bureau bill authorizing the distribution of public land and confiscated land to freedmen and loyal refugees in forty acre lots. The measure was defeated in the House by a vote of 126 to 37. A Black delegation, led by Frederick Douglas
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Feb
5
1866
Lelia Smith Foley becomes the first African A
Lelia Smith Foley becomes the first African American woman to be elected mayor of a U.S. city (Taft, OK)
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
16
1973
Etta Moten sings for President
Etta Moten sings for President and Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt at a White House Dinner. It is the first time an African American actress performs at the White House.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies
Jan
31
1934
Daisy Lampkin dies
Daisy Lampkin, founder of the National Council of Negro Women, died from the effects of a December 1964 heart attack.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
10
1965
African American Shakespearean actor Morgan Smith
African American Shakespearean actor Morgan Smith dies in Sheffield, England. Smith had emigrated to England in 1866.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
22
1882
Eugene A. Marino, SSJ, is consecrated at the first African American auxiliary bi
Eugene A. Marino, SSJ, is consecrated at the first African American auxiliary bishop in the U.S. He is assigned to Washington, D.C.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
12
1974
Lt. Gen. Frank E. Petersen, USMC (Ret.)
Lt. Gen. Frank E. Petersen, was born 1932 in Topeka, Kansas. At the age of 20, he was the first Afro-American to be named a naval aviator
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Oct
28
2001
The Charles R. Drew Postgraduate Medical
The Charles R. Drew Postgraduate Medical School (later Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science) is chartered in Los Angeles. It is the only African American focused medical school west of the Mississippi
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by APEX Museum
Aug
2
1966
Rev. George Leile
Rev. George Leile was the first African American to be ordained a Baptist minister in America. He was an early pastor of the First African Baptist Church of Silver Bluf, South Carolina. Curiously, he supported the British during the American Revolutionary war because of the Britishs promise to free
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1770
Robert N.C. Nix, first African American rep
Robert N.C. Nix, first African American representative from Pennsylvania and 11 term congressman, born
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
9
1905
Miss America
Vanessa Williams is the 1st African American Miss America to be crowned.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by APEX Museum
Sep
17
1983
Broadway Musical 'Dreamgirls' Premieres
On this day in 1981, the spectacular Black musical Dreamgirls premiered on Broadway at the Imperial Theater.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Greater Boston Veterans Collaborative
Dec
20
1981
The South Carolina Gazette reports that Cae
The South Carolina Gazette reports that Caesar, a South Carolina slave has been granted his freedom and a life time annuity in exchange for his cures for poison and rattlesnake bite. Caesar and the famous James Derham of New Orleans are two of the earliest know African American medical
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Illinois Math and Science Academy
May
9
1750
COINTELPRO Memorandum
A memorandum sent to field offices of the FBI set goals for what was termed as a new counterintelligence program against African American Nationalist groups. The objective was to block attempts by targeted groups to coalesce, grow and exist. The agencey believed unity was the first step toward
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
3
1968
Virginia law declares that all non-Christians imported toits territory are to
Virginia law declares that all non-Christians imported to its territory are to be slaves for life; removes voting rights from recently freed slaves and indentured servants.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1670
The Chip Woman's Fortune by Willis Richardson
The Chip Womans Fortune by Willis Richardson, the first dramatic work by an African American playwright to be mounted on Broadway, opens at the Frazee Theatre on Broadway
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by APEX Museum
May
15
1923
Rafer Johnson won the Olympic Decathlon
On Sept. 6, 1960 Rafer Johnson won the Olympic Decathlon--the first for an African American
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
6
1960
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Founded
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, the first organization of black Greek sisterhood was founded on this date at Howard University in Washington, D. C. by Ethel Hedgeman (Lyle).
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
15
1908
The 99th Pursuit Squadron, an all African American
The 99th Pursuit Squadron, an all African American unit is formed and the Tuskegee Training Program is established, the 99th will fly more than 500 missions and more than 3,700 sorties during one year of combat before being combined with the 332nd Fighter Group.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts
Jan
16
1941
Opera singer Marian Anderson born
Opera singer Marian Anderson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Anderson was entered in the New York Philharmonic Competition at age 17 by her music teacher, and placed first over 299 other singers. Awarded a Rosenwald Fellowship in 1930, Anderson went to Europe for a year of study. She
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAP) Boston Chapter
Feb
27
1902
Jimmy Winkfield wins his second Kentucky Derby
Jimmy Winkfield wins his second Kentucky Derby in a row. African American jockeys have won 15 of 28 Derby races.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Eastern Bank
May
1
1902
Mary Eliza Mahoney
Mary Eliza Mahoney, the first African American to graduate from a nursing school, graduates from the nursing program at the New England Hospital for Women and Children
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Greater Boston Veterans Collaborative
Aug
1
1879
Soldier & patriot James Robinson is born. When he won a medal for bravery at th
Soldier & patriot James Robinson is born. When he won a medal for bravery at the Battle of Yorktown, he was promised his freedom for fighting with the Americans. After the war, he was sold back into slavery.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
28
1753
Freeing of Slaves
On May 9, 1862 General Hunter of the Union Army issued a proclomation freeing the slaves of Georgia, Florida and South Carolina. A displeased President Lincoln anulled this act. Lincoln stated, General Hunter is an honest man...He proclaimed all men free within certain states. I repudiated the
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Source: Blackfacts.com
May
9
1862
The Great Blacks in Wax Museum.
In 1983, Doctors Elmer and Joanne Martin opened a wax museum, the first of its kind in the nation, as well as, Baltimore, Maryland of African Americans leaders that were made of
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies
Jan
0
1983
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