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First African American
Harry S. McAlphin - First African American to accredited to attend White House press conference.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Feb
8
1944
The Great Migration
The Great Migration began. Approximately two million Southern Blacks moved to Northern industrial centers in the following
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Greater Boston Veterans Collaborative
Dec
4
1915
First Black Secretary of State: Colin L. Powell
Colin Luther Powell is sworn in by President George W. Bush as Secretary of State. He is the first black secretary of state in U.S. history.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
20
2001
Two Black students chanced enrollement in Univer.
Two Black students, escorted by federalized National Guard troops, enrolled at University of Alabama despite the opposition of Gov. George C. Wallace.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
11
1963
Blanche Kelso Bruce elected to US Senate
Blanche Kelso Bruce elected to a full six-year term in the U.S. Senate by the Mississippi legislature.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Feb
3
1874
Henry Lewis
On this day Henry Lewis becomes the first African American to lead a symphony orchestra in the United States.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Feb
15
1968
Governor Adlai Stevenson, called out National
Governor Adlai Stevenson, called out National Guard to stop rioting in Cicero, Illinois. Mob of 3,500 tried to keep Black family from moving into all-white city.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
12
1951
Spingarn Medal: Edward W. Brooke
Spingarn Medal presented to Edward W. Brooke for his public service as the first Black U.S. senator since Reconstruction.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Museum of African American History in Massachusetts
Nov
7
1967
Alex Haley, renowned author, dies
American biographer, scriptwriter, author who became famous with the publication of the novel ROOTS, which traces his ancestry back to Africa and covers seven American generations as they are taken slaves to the United States. The book was adapted to television series, and woke up an interest in
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Feb
10
1992
Executive Order 9808
In the aftermath of World War II, mob violence and lynching of Black Americans, in conjunction with the continuing controversy about segregation in American society, led President Harry S. Truman to issue Executive Order 9808 on this day which set up a committee to study the protection of civil
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
5
1946
Jesse Jackson announces his candidacy for the office of President of the US
Jesse Jackson announces his candidacy for the office of President of the US
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
3
1983
Virgie Ammons patents fireplace damper actuator
Virgie M. Ammons of Eglon, West Virginia
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
30
1975
Col.B.O. Davis Jr.
Col. B.O. Davis Jr. Named commander of Godman Field (Ky.) and became the first Black to head an Army Air Force base in the United States.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
21
1945
Marian Anderson and Ralph Bunche
Marian Anderson and Ralph Bunche receive the first Medals of Freedom from President John F. Kennedy, the creator of the award.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association (MBLA)
Jul
4
1963
Anti-Lynching Bill proposed
Black Congressman George H. White, North Carolina, introduced a bill to make lynching of Americans a federal offense. The bill died in committee. One report contends that in 1900, 105 Africans were lynched in the United States.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
20
1773
Interruption of Protest March
Race riot in Memphis, Tenn. interrupted protest march led by Martin Luther King Jr. in support of striking sanitation workers. National Guard called up.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
28
1968
Blacks Declared Non-Citizens of US
The Acting Commissioner of General Lands for the United States, J.S. Wilson, stated that blacks were not citizens of the United States, and therefore were not legally entitled to preempt public lands.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Museum of African American History in Massachusetts
Mar
7
1859
1st black to hold exec. position in White House
E. Frederic Morrow appointed administrative aide to President Eisenhower and became the first Black to hold an executive position on the White House staff.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
9
1955
TransAfrica's Randall Robinson, congressional delegate Walter Fauntroy, and US
TransAfricas Randall Robinson, congressional delegate Walter Fauntroy, and US Civil Rights Commissioner Mary Francis Berry are arrested at a sit-in against apartheid at the South African Embassy in Washington, DC
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
21
1984
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
Charles Wesley
Charles Wesley, historian, educator, and administrator, was born on this day. His published works included, Neglected History, Collapse of the Confederacy, Negro Labor in the United States, and 1850-1925: A Study of American Economic History.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
2
1895
Jewel Plummer Cobb, cancer research biologist
Jewel Plummer Cobb, cancer research biologist, President of California State University, Fullerton, the first African American to hold such as position in the CSU system, born.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Association of Latino Professionals For America (ALPFA) Boston Professional Chapter
Jan
17
1924
Henrietta Bradberry patents Bed Rack
Bradberry invented the Bed Rack, Patent No. 2,320,027 on May 25, 1943, to attach to the bed frame and allow the bed clothes to hang on it while allowing the bed to air out.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
May
25
1943
Dr. Herman Branson -- Physicist, Chemist
Born: August 14, 1914
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Greater Boston Veterans Collaborative
Aug
14
1914
Rebecca J. Cole--2nd Black Female Physician
Born: March 16, 1846
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association (MBLA)
Aug
14
1922
Chenault Promoted in American Express
Kenneth Chenault become the first Chief Operating Officer and President of American Express. By 2001, it is speculated that he will become CEO. This will be the first time an AFrican American heads one of the main financial companies.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1997
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
Laurent Kabilia becomes new President of Zaire and renames itthe Democratic Re
Laurent Kabilia becomes new President of Zaire and renames it the Democratic Republic of the Congo.The country was previously under the 37 year rule of Dictator Mobutu SeSE sEKO. cONGO HAS DEMOCRACY.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
May
17
1997
National Guard mobilized to quell disturbances at
National Guard mobilized to quell disturbances at Ohio State University. Black and white students were demanding an end to ROTC programs and the admission of additional Black students.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
May
21
1970
Death of P.B.S. Pinchback
Death of P.B.S. Pinchback (84), major Reconstruction politician, Washington, D.C.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
21
1921
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