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Holmes, Benjamin M. (1846-1875)
Teacher, news correspondent, and Fisk Jubilee Singer, Benjamin M. Holmes was born a slave around 1846 in Charleston, South Carolina and bound as an apprentice to a black tailor. Holmes was eventually bought by a man named Kaylor, who employed him as a hotel clerk in Chattanooga, Tennessee. While
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by New York University
Oct
9
1875
Dawson, Horace G. (1926- )
Horace G. Dawson, Jr. was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Botswana by President Jimmy Carter in 1979.  After his confirmation by the U.S. Senate he served in that post until 1983.  Dawson was born in Augusta, Georgia on January 30, 1926.  He attended Lincoln University in Pennsylvania where he earned
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by APEX Museum
Jan
14
2004
First Woman Millionaire
Madame C.J. Walker, born Sarah Breedlove on this day, starts a Black hair-care business in Denver, CO; she alters curling irons that were popularized by the French to suit the texture of Black womens hair. She is arguably ther first woman millionaire in the U.S.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
23
1867
Freddy Adu
Freddy Adu of Tema, Ghana, was born in 1989 and moved to the United States with his family at the age of eight. Adu had a nag for soccer from a young age and began competing in neighborhood matches at the age of four. From then on, Adu practiced every day to make his game
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Source: Black History Resources
Vanessa Williams
Vanessa Lynn Williams is a Grammy nominated singer, former beauty queen and television and film actress. She was born on March 18, 1963 in Bronx, New York but soon moved to a more fashionable neighborhood. Her parents, Milton and Helen Williams, both worked as music teachers and so Williams and her
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Source: Black History Resources
Mar
18
1963
Bill Russell
Bill Russell is a celebrated African-American retired basketball player. He played center for the National Basketball Association’s the Boston Celtics team. His relentless effort earned him a twelve-time All-Star title and the NBA Most Valuable Player title. Russell’s remarkable victories made him
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Source: Black History Resources
Sponsored by Intellitech
Feb
12
1934
Al Sharpton
Al Sharpton is a religious leader and political activist. He was born on October 3, 1954, in Brooklyn, New York. His father left the family and Sharpton was raised by his mother. They had to move to the public housing projects, where his mother worked as a maid and supported the family on her
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Source: Black History Resources
Oct
3
1954
Schuyler, Philippa (1931-1967)
Philippa Duke Schuyler was an African American child prodigy, pianist, composer, journalist, and author. She became famous in the 1930s and 1940s for her unique musical talents, mixed-race background, and the abnormal methods her parents used to raise
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Source: Black Past
May
9
1967
University of Mississippi students Caused A Riot
University of Mississippi students and adults from Oxford, Miss., and other Southern communities rioted on the university campus. Two persons were killed and one hundred or more were wounded.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
30
1962
Dr
Dr. Clifton R. Wharton Jr. elected president of Michigan State University and became the first Black to head a major, predominantly white university in the twentieth century.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by BARBinc
Oct
17
1969
Dinkins, David N. (1927- )
In 1989, David N. Dinkins defeated his challenger, former federal prosecutor Rudolph (Rudy) Giuliani, to become the first African American mayor of New York
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Source: Black Past
Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth, born November 26, 1797 was an African American abolitionist and women’s right activist. She was born as Isabella to James who was an African captured from the Gold Coast and Elizabeth Baumfree. James and Elizabeth were bought by Colonel Hardenbergh from slave
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Source: Black History Resources
Sponsored by Diversity In Action
Nov
26
1797
Rust College [Holly Springs] (1866- )
Rust College was founded in 1866 by the Freeman’s Aid Society’s missionaries of the Methodist Episcopal Church with the goal of providing basic education for adults and children who had formerly been enslaved. Located outside Holly Springs, Mississippi, the College is currently affiliated with the
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts
Nkom, Alice (1945- )
Alice Nkom broke barriers for women by becoming the first female barrister in her country of Cameroon. She is also well known among Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) activists worldwide because of her legal advocacy for gay
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by New York University
Condoleezza Rice
Born: /4/954 Birmingham, AlabamaCondoleezza Condi Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. BushBusiness / Schooling:
  • University of
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Frequently Asked Questions About Blackpast.Org
What is
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Source: Black Past
Rhue, Sylvia (1947- )
Sylvia Rhue is a distinguished writer, religious scholar, documentarian, and public speaker. She has engaged in significant work in religious communities around lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender (LGBT) rights and sexuality as well as co-produced an award-winning
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Christo Rey New York High School
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Vaughan was a popular twentieth century African-American Jazz singer. She was recognized for her beautiful voice and often nicknamed ‘Sassy’, ‘Sailor’ and ‘The Divine One’ for her salty speech. Moreover, she won a Grammy Award and was awarded the “highest honor in jazz” by The
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Source: Black History Resources
Mar
27
1924
Delany, Samuel Ray, Jr. (1942- )
Samuel R. Delany, Jr., “Chip,” is an award-winning African American gaywriter, editor, professor, and literary critic. He is the first major AfricanAmerican science fiction writer as well as one of the most influential writersof this genre in the United States.  Hetransformed the field
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Eastern Bank
Apr
1
1942
Sullivan, Louis Wade (1933- )
After witnessing poverty and discrimination in Depression-era Georgia, Louis Wade Sullivan committed his career to education and public service, rising to become Secretary of Health and Human Services under President George H.W. Bush.  He also was the founder and long-time president of Morehouse
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Pride Academy
Simpson, Georgiana (1866-1944)
Georgiana R. Simpson was the second black women to be awarded a Ph.D. in the United States. She received her degree in German from the University of Chicago in 1921, the same year that Sadie Tanner Mossell became the first black woman to be awarded the degree (from the University of
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Source: Black Past
Ragsdale, Marguerita (1948- )
Marguerita Dianne Ragsdale was born in April 1948 in Richmond, Virginia to Lillie and Vernon Ragsdale and raised alongside her five sisters on a farm in McKenney, Dinwiddie County, Virginia. After starting her undergraduate work at Virginia State University in Petersburg, she transferred to
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Source: Black Past
Shelby Davidson
While Shelby Davidson could not viewed as a prolific inventor, he is significant in that he served as a great example of education, determination and
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Source: Black History Resources
Sponsored by Illinois Math and Science Academy
Angela Bassett
Angela Bassett is a well known African American actress and director. She was born in New York in August 1958 to Betty Jane and Daniel Benjamin Bassett. Her ancestors adopted the name of Bassett after William Henry Bassett, who was a slave who adopted the name of his former master. Shortly after
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Source: Black History Resources
Helene Gayle
Born: 8/16/1955 Buffalo, New YorkCEO of McKinsey Social Initiative, a nonprofit organization that implements programs that bring together varied stakeholders to address complex global and social challenges. McKinsey Social Initiatives first program, Generation, addresses the problem of youth
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Museum of African American History in Massachusetts
Elevator and Safety Devices Invented
The elevator as well as safety devices for elevators where invented by Alexander Miles, Patent # 371,207
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Oct
11
1887
Betty Shabazz
Betty Shabazz was the wife of Malcolm X, a prominent leader of the Nation of Islam. Her exact date of birth is not known, but it is believed to be May 28, 1934. She was born in Georgia to unwed teenage parents named Ollie Mae Sanders and Shelman Sandlin, and raised in Detroit. By some accounts, her
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Source: Black History Resources
"Yes We Can": Barack Obama's Road to the White House, 2008
Barack Obamas campaign for the Presidency in 2008 has been described by many political analysts as brilliant and virtually flawless.  Despite his inexperience in national politics and limited experience in state politics (Obama was first elected to political office in 1994), he assembled
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Source: Black Past
Bullard, Eugene James ["Jacques"] (1895-1961)
Eugene James (Jacques) Bullard, the first African American combat aviator, was known as the “black swallow of death” for his courage during missions. He led a colorful life, much of it in
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Source: Black Past
Oct
9
1895
Jordan, June (1936-2002)
June Meyer Jordan, writer, editor, poet, educator, environmental and social activist, was the only child of Granville Ivanhoe and Mildred Maude Fischer Jordan who were Jamaican immigrants. June was born in Harlem on July 9, 1936.  June’s father worked as a night shift postal clerk and her mother
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Source: Black Past
Jul
9
1936
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