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Barney L. Ford, Gold Miner, born
Early Colorado gold miner, hotel magnate and entreprenuer, former slave Barney L. Ford, was born in Stafford Court House, Virginia. Through a number of business dealings, Ford became a wealthy man but was dogged by a series of tragic accidents. The restaurants and hotels he owned in
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Diversity In Action
Jan
22
1822
Eric Holder
Name at birth: Eric
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
Freedom’s Journal (1827-1829)
Freedom’s Journal was the first African American owned and operated newspaper in the United States. A weekly four column publication printed every Friday, Freedom’s Journal was founded by free born African Americans John Russwurm and Samuel Cornish on March 16, 1827 in New York City, New York. The
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Source: Black Past
Mar
16
1827
From Slave to Litigant: African Americans in Court in the Post-Civil War South
In the following article Melissa Milewski, a graduate student in history at New York University, describes her research which has uncovered the surprising success of African American litigants in court cases in the post-Civil War
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Source: Black Past
Jan
1
1854
Albany State University (1903- )
Albany State University is a historically black university in Albany, Georgia. It was founded in 1903 by Joseph Winthrop Holley, a native of South Carolina.  This son of former slaves was inspired by the writings of W.E.B. DuBois to try to improve conditions for the South’s African American
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by New York University
Merriwether, Raymond (1924–2011)
Raymond (Ray) Merriwether, prominent Seattle, Washington African American architect, real estate developer, and newspaper owner, was born in Taylor, Texas on June 19, 1924 to Colie and Annie Merriwether.  After graduating from high school Merriwether attended barber school and served a short time
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by BARBinc
May
23
2011
Skinner, Elliot Percival (1924-2007)
Elliott Percival Skinner, a leading late 20th Century anthropologist, also served as the United States ambassador to the Republic of Upper Volta (the West African country renamed itself Burkina Faso in 1984).  Skinner was born on June 20, 1924 in Port of Spain, Trinidad.  During World War II, he
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Christo Rey New York High School
Apr
1
2007
Perkins, Marvin (1963– )
Marvin Perkins is an accomplished recording vocal artist, a sought-after public speaker, and a leader in the effort to correct misunderstanding and incorrect assumptions about blacks, especially in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
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Source: Black Past
Smith, Charles Z. (1927-2016)
On July 18, 1988, Charles Z. Smith became the first African American to serve on the Washington Supreme Court.  He was appointed to the court by Washington’s then Governor Booth Gardner and was subsequently elected to his position on the court for a two-year term in 1988.  Justice Smith was elected
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Source: Black Past
George H. White
George H. White, the only African American member of the U.S. House of Representatives, (1896) and the first to introduce an antilynching bill, born. He also founded Whitesboro, N,J, as a haven for African Americans escaping Southern racism.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
18
1852
What Comes Naturally: The Loving v. Virginia Case in Historical Perspective
When Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter decided to get married in June 1958, laws banning interracial marriage had been in effect for nearly three centuries.  The colonies of Maryland, Virginia, and Massachusetts had banned intermarriage in 1664, 1691, and 1705.  After the American Revolution, states
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Source: Black Past
Jun
12
1967
Washington (State) Omnibus Civil Rights Act of 1957
Washington (State) Omnibus Civil Rights Act of 1957
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Source: Black Past
Henry E
Henry E. Hayne, secretary of state, accepted as a student at the University of South Carolina. Scores of Blacks attended the university in 1874 and 1875.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by BARBinc
Oct
7
1873
Amo, Anton Wilhelm (1703? -1753)
Anton Wilhelm Amo, also known as Antonius Guilielmus Amo Afer ab Aximo in Guinea, was the first intellectual of African ancestry to study in Germany. He obtained a doctorate degree in philosophy and held lectures at the universities of Halle and Jena. Having spent forty years of his life in
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Source: Black Past
Ossie Davis
Ossie Davis was a twentieth century renowned African-American film and television artist and Broadway actor. Besides that, he was also known for his work as a playwright, poet and author. Being an actor and author, Davis had a sensitive side which made him conscious of social problems faced by his
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Source: Black History Resources
Feb
9
2005
Cowboys of Color in South America
In the following account North Carolina State University historian Richard Slatta explores the little known history and heritage of South American cowboys of African and mixed race
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Source: Black Past
DePriest, Oscar (1871-1951)
A child of the early post-reconstruction south, Oscar DePriest was born in Florence, Alabama on March 9, 1871.  In 1878 his family moved to Salina, Kansas. Sometime in the late 1880s DePriest moved to Chicago, Illinois where he found work as a house painter and decorator.  DePriest created his own
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Greater Boston Veterans Collaborative
May
12
1951
United Construction Workers Association
The United Construction Workers Association (UCWA) was founded in 1970 by Tyree Scott, an electrician who had become a Seattle civil rights activist.  At the request of the American Friends Service Committee, Tyree Scott left the Central Contractors Association which he had created in 1968, to
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Source: Black Past
University of Arkansas Pine Bluff (1873- )
The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff was created by the Arkansas Legislative Act of 1873. The University was established for the convenience and well-being of the poorer classes” which meant African Americans in the state.  The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff is the oldest
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Source: Black Past
Wells, Nathaniel (1779 – 1852)
Nathaniel Wells, a former slave, plantation owner, and businessman who lived during the 18th and 19th centuries, was also the first person of African ancestry to become a High Sheriff in England. Wells was born on September 10, 1779 on the island of St. Kitts in the Caribbean to William
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Source: Black Past
May
13
1852
Meeks, Gregory W. (1953- )
U.S. Congressman Gregory W. Meeks was born on September 25, 1953 in East Harlem, New York City. He was raised in a public housing project in East Harlem and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in History with a minor in Political Science from New York’s Adelphi University. He earned his Juris
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Source: Black Past
Sep
25
1953
Dillard University [New Orleans] (1869- )
Dillard University is a private, Historically Black liberal arts college located in New Orleans, Louisiana.  It is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church.  Dillard University is a result of the merger between Straight College and New Orleans University in
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Source: Black Past
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
(1957) Dwight Eisenhower, “Address on Little Rock"
The Little Rock Crisis erupted in September 1957 when Arkansas Governor Orval M. Faubus used state National Guard troops to prevent nine African American students from attending the then all-white Central High School.  On September 20, Federal Judge Ronald Davis ordered Governor Faubus to remove
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Source: Black Past
Sep
24
1957
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
The Obama White House
West Wing Week 01/19/17 or, Obama, Farewell - Duration: 6 minutes, 12
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Source: Black Inventors
Cicely Tyson
Cicely Tyson is a legendary African American actress. She is known for her remarkable performance in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and The Help, and has been nominated for a BAFTA Award and won two Emmy Awards. She was also nominated for highly prestigious Academy Award and the Golden
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Source: Black History Resources
(1968) Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co.
No. 645 Argued: April 1-2, 1968 --- Decided: June 17, 1968
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Source: Black Past
Jun
17
1968
Williams, Sidney (1942- )
Former professional football player, businessman, and diplomat, Sidney Williams was born in Shreveport, Louisiana on March 24, 1942. Raised in Houston, Texas, he attended the city’s Phillis Wheatley High School and upon graduation in 1959 enrolled at Southern University in Baton
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Greater Boston Veterans Collaborative
(1970) Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, “I Am For the Equal Rights Amendment.”
Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm became in 1968 the first African American woman elected to Congress.  Four years later in 1972, she launched a bid to become the Democratic nominee for President of the United States, another first for an African American woman.  Throughout her career in Congress
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Source: Black Past
Aug
10
1970
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