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Portrait of Black Chicago
The captions are John Whites own, written some time after he took his photographs. In some cases White used virtually the same caption for several
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Source: Archives Library Information Center (ALIC)
The First Black Psychic!
Shirley Ajayi was the first African American given a part on a television show as a psychic! The show lasted for about one year[actually six months] in Chicago, Illinois since the show was seasonal! Shirley started her career the minute her predictions came true! She was renamed Aura and hired to
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
28
1986
Michelle Obama
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama was born on January 17, 1964. Brought up in Chicago, Illinois, she comes from a multiracial family. She started her school life in Chicago, more specifically in Whitney Young High School and was on the honor roll for four years as well as serving as treasurer for
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Source: Black History Resources
Sponsored by BARBinc
Hayes, Charles Arthur (1918-1997)
African American Congressman, Charles Arthur Hayes, will forever be remembered for his commitment to legislate equal rights for black labor workers.  After noticing racism aimed toward black workers in his hometown of Cairo, Illinois, Hayes moved to Chicago and started unionizing activities in
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Source: Black Past
James B. Parsons
James B. Parsons named chief judge of the Federal District Court in Chicago and became the first Black to hold that position.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
18
1955
Ida Bell Wells-Barnett
Born: 7/16/1862 Holly Springs, MississippiDied: 3/25/1931 Chicago, IllinoisIda Bell Wells-Barnett, more commonly known as Ida B. Wells, was an African-American journalist, newspaper editor, suffragist, sociologist, Georgist, and an early leader in the Civil Rights MovementBusiness
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Source: Blackfacts.com
President Eisenhower
President Eisenhower named J. Earnest Wilkins of Chicago assistant secretary of labor.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
4
1954
Boseman, Benjamin Anthony (1840-1881)
Benjamin A. Boseman, physician, politician, and postmaster, was free born in New York in 1840 to Benjamin A. and Annaretta Boseman.  He was the oldest of five children, two girls and three boys.  Boseman grew up in Troy, New York where his father served as a steward on the steamboat Empire in the
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Eastern Bank
Feb
23
1881
Martin Luther King was denied freedom of speech!
When martin Luther King came to chicago in the late 60s, no church would let him speak, but one! All the others said he was a radial
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by APEX Museum
Jun
26
1967
Browder v. Gayle (1956)
June 5, 1956
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Source: Black Past
Townsend, Willard S. (1895-1957)
African American labor leader Willard S. Townsend was born on December 4, 1895, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Willard and Cora Elizabeth Townsend. In 1938 he organized railway workers of several Chicago, Illinois stations to form the International Brotherhood of Redcaps and remained the union’s president
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Source: Black Past
Feb
3
1957
Eleven People Arrested After Sit-In
Seven whites and four Blacks arrested after all-night sit-in at Englewood, N.J., city hall. Four Black mothers arrested after sit-in at Chicago elementary school. Mothers later received suspended $50 fines. Protests, picketing and demonstrations continued for several weeks against de facto
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by BARBinc
Feb
2
1962
Musician Herbie Hancock born
Contemporary jazz composer and musician Herbie Hancock was born in Chicago, Illinois.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
12
1940
White Students Support For Segregation
One thousand white students walked out of three, Gary, Ind. schools to protest integration. There were similar disturbances in Chicago and other Northern and Western metropolitan areas.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
18
1945
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. was a legendary singer and recording artist who came to be known as the “Prince of Soul”. Gaye was born on April 2, 1939 in Washington, D.C. He was raised by his father “Reverend Marvin Gay Sr.” who was a very strict guardian. Gaye was musically
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Source: Black History Resources
Apr
2
1939
Davis, Shani (1982- )
Shani Davis became the first African American to win a gold medal an individual event in the Winter Olympics and the first African American male to win a gold when he competed in the men’s 1,000-meter speedskating championship in the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Diversity In Action
Coleman, John A.(1852- ? )
John A. Coleman was born a slave in 1852 in Talladega County, Alabama. After he received his freedom at the end of the Civil War, Coleman attended the newly established Talladega College for three years. He worked on a Mississippi River steamboat and then migrated to New York
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by APEX Museum
Roberta Martin, gospel great born
Born this day in Helena, AR --- died Jan. 18, 1969 Worked with gospel greats like Thomas Dorsey and Theodore Frye. Sis. Martin became owner of one of the largest gospel publishing houses in Chicago.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Feb
12
1907
Ambassador
Clifton Wharton is sworn in as ambassador to Norway. Clifton Wharton was the 1st Black person to earn a PhD in economics from University of Chicago in as well as the first Black president of Michigan State, predominantly White university.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
9
1961
Cardiss R. Collins
Cardiss R. Collins of Chicago elected to Congress. She succeeded her late husband.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
5
1973
Curtis Mayfield, singer born
Curtis Mayfield was born on the 3rd of june 1942 in Chicago, Illinois, where he quickly
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
3
1942
Race riot, Dixmoor, a Chicago suburb
Race riot, Dixmoor, a Chicago suburb. (8/15-16).
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
15
1964
Dash, Julie (1952- )
Filmmaker Julie Dash was born on October 22, 1952 in Queens, New York. She received her B.A. in film production from City College of New York in 1974 and went on to earn a two-year fellowship to the Center for Advanced Film Studies at the American Film Institute (AFI) in Los Angeles.  At AFI, Dash
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Source: Black Past
Oct
22
1952
Who Is Black In America (Full Show, No Commercials)
Great show that touches on a MAJOR issue that effects far more people than the few that are willing to admit
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Source: Smithsonian Black History Teaching Resources
Otis Boykin
Otis F. Boykin was born on August 29, 1920 in Dallas, Texas. After graduating high school, he attended Fisk College in Nashville, Tennessee. He graduated in 1941 and took a job as a laboratory assistant with the Majestic Radio and TV Corporation in Chicago, Illinois. He undertook various tasks but
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Source: Black History Resources
Irving C. Mollison
Irving C. Mollison, a Chicago Republican, sworn in as U.S. Customs Court judge in New York City.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
3
1945
First convention of the National Association
First convention of the National Association of Negro Musicians; held in Chicago. It awarded its first scholarship to the young Marian Anderson.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
29
1919
James B. Parsons
James B. Parsons becomes the first African American chief judge of a federal court, the U.S. District Court of Chicago. In 1961, Parsons became the first African American district court judge
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
19
1975
(1901) Congressman George H. White's Farewell Address To Congress
In January 1901, at the beginning of a new century, George H. White was ending his term as a Congressman from North Carolina’s Second Congressional District. Realizing that he was bringing to a close a thirty two year period when nearly forty Southern African Americans sat in Congress, White used
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Greater Boston Veterans Collaborative
Taye Diggs
Taye Diggs was born on January 2, 1971 in Newark, New Jersey. He is the oldest of five children born to Marcia and Andre Young. Diggs grew up in Rochester, New York where he attended Allendale Columbia School. He later transferred to School of the Arts. He also received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from
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Source: Black History Resources
Jan
2
1971
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