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Gibson, Althea (1927-2003)
Althea Gibson, a sharecropper’s daughter, entered the world of sports when segregation severely limited opportunities for African Americans. She eventually became the first black athlete to cross the color line of international tennis and
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Source: Black Past
Aug
25
1927
Subban, Pernell-Karl Sylvester “P.K.” (1989- )
Pernell-Karl Sylvester “P.K.” Subban is a Canadian-born professional ice hockey defenceman for the Nashville (Tennessee) Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL). Subban was born on May 13, 1989, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada to Karl and Maria Subban. Subban also has four other
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Source: Black Past
First Indian Home Guard Regiment
The First Indian Home Guard Regiment was a tri-racial Union regiment first organized in Kansas in May 1862. The regiment was made up of Creek and Seminole Indians, African Creeks and African Seminoles with white officers commanding the unit.  Though their numbers were few, the blacks in the unit
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by NSBE Boston
Dec
7
1862
(1857) Abraham Lincoln, “The Dred Scott Decision and Slavery,"
? The Dred Scott Decision handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court on March 6, 1857 was supposed to end the decades-long debate about slavery in the United States.  It did just the opposite, inflaming passions particularly in the North.  In the follow speech, Abraham Lincoln, then a private citizen, p
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Source: Black Past
African American and Black History Blog
African American and Black History Blog
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Source: Black History Resources
Sponsored by Prospanica Boston Professional Chapter
Perspective Articles Guidelines
Revised August 6, 2012
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Source: Black Past
Aug
6
2012
First Kansas Colored Infantry (1862-1865)
The First Kansas Colored Infantry Regiment was established through the efforts of James H. Lane, the U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1861 to 1866. As Kansas joined the Union on the eve of the Civil War in 1861, Lane recruited African-Americans to fight against the Confederacy. He called for all
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Source: Black Past
Barbara Jordan: Elected to Congress
When Jordan was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1972 she became the first African-American woman to represent a previously Confederate state in Congress.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) Boston Professional Chapter
Nov
7
1972
Morrison, Chloe Anthony Wofford "Toni" (1931- 2019)
Born Chloe Anthony Wofford on February 18, 1931 in Lorain, Ohio to parents George and Ella Ramah Wofford, novelist Toni Morrison grew up in a working class family.  She received a B.A. degree from Howard University after majoring in English and minoring in the classics.  Wofford earned an
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Source: Black Past
Feb
18
1931
Ford, Harold Sr. (1945- )
Harold Eugene Ford, Sr., a United States Representative from Tennessee from 1975 to 1997, was born on May 20, 1945 in Memphis, Tennessee to Vera Davis and Newton Jackson Ford, a funeral home director.  Ford’s family was part of the local black elite dating back to the beginning of the 20th
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Source: Black Past
May
20
1945
Is The Help Realistic? It Depends.
In the essay below, Associate Professor Trysh Travis of the University of Floridas Center for Women’s Studies and Gender Research Center explores some of the controversy surrounding Kathryn Stocketts novel The Help, which has also become a major film of the same name.  She argues that many people
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Source: Black Past
Jordan, Mosina H. (1943- )
In 1995, career Foreign Service Officer Mosina H. Jordan was nominated by President Bill Clinton to serve as ambassador to the Central African Republic (CAR). After U.S. Senate confirmation she arrived in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic and presented her credentials on November
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Source: Black Past
Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley, born on March 10, 1972 in Norfolk, Virginia, is a popular American musician and recording artist. He attended Salem High School at Virginia Beach. Having interest in music since his childhood, he was known as “DJ Tim” or “DJ Timmy Tim”. The first
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Source: Black History Resources
Sponsored by Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies
Mar
10
1972
The United States Colored Troops (1863-1865)
The United States Colored Troops (USCT) was the designation given to the approximately 175 regiments of non-white soldiers that served during the Civil War. The troops were primarily African American, but Native Americans, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders were all included within the
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Source: Black Past
Jan
1
1863
Ella Fitzgerald Born
Ella Fitzgerald, First Lady of Song, born. In 1934, an awkward sixteen-year-old girl made her singing debut at the Harlem Apollo Theatre amateur night in New York City. She intended to dance, but she lost her nerve when she got on stage. The man said, do something while youre out there, the singer
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
25
1918
Black History Month Special Feature, 2012 - Scientists and Technicians of the Manhattan Project
Scientists and Technicians of the Manhattan Project
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Source: Black Past
Documentary Films on Blackpast.org - African American LGBTQ History - Director
Films - By Director | Films - By Title | Films by Year | Films - By Subject | Entire Site Bibliography
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Source: Black Past
Bridges, Leon (1932- )
Leon Bridges is recorded as the founder of the second African American-owned firm in Seattle. He was born on August 18, 1932 in Los Angeles, California. In high school he was told by a counselor that he couldnt become an architect because he was black, and then while a student in high school he met
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Source: Black Past
Aug
18
1932
Bethune-Cookman University [Daytona Beach] (1904- )
Bethune-Cookman University is a private liberal arts institution in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is an Historically Black College University (HCBU) with a strong foundation in the United Methodist
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Source: Black Past
Florence Griffith Joyner
Florence Dolorez Griffith Joyner was an American athlete, who is considered to be one of the fastest women of all time. She was also known for being a trend setter on the field, with her fashionable outfits and long nails. She was born in Los Angeles, California on December 21, 1959 and raised in
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Source: Black History Resources
Dec
21
1959
South Carolina was declared "independent
South Carolina was declared an independent commonwealth. BLACKS IN CONFEDERACY: Confederacy was the first to recognize that Blacks were major factors in the war. South impressed slaves to work in mines, repair railroads and build fortifications, thereby releasing a disproportionately large
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by APEX Museum
Dec
18
1859
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
Michael Jordan
Born: 2/17/1963 Brooklyn, New YorkMichael Jeffrey Jordan, also known by his initials, MJ, is an American former professional basketball player. He is also a businessman, and principal owner and chairman of the Charlotte Hornets.Business / Schooling: Awards / Achievements:
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Source: Blackfacts.com
United Negro College Fund (1944– )
The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) was founded on April 25, 1944 by Frederick Patterson, President of the Tuskegee Institute, and Mary McLeod Bethune, an advisor to the Franklin Roosevelt Administration, to provide a steady, consistent stream of funding to 27 financially struggling small
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Source: Black Past
Apr
25
1944
Isiah Thomas
Isiah Lord Thomas III is a retired professional basketball player who played with the Detroit Pistons from 1981 to 1994. He was born on April 30, 1961 in Chicago, Illinois and was the youngest of nine siblings. He attended a private school called St. Joseph High School in Illinois, which took him
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Source: Black History Resources
Sponsored by National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA) Boston Professional Chapter
Apr
30
1961
Tubman, Harriet Ross (c. 1821-1913)
Dubbed “The Moses of Her People,” escaped slave Harriet Tubman assisted hundreds of slaves on the Underground Railroad, leading them from Maryland to safety in Pennsylvania.  Born enslaved and raised in Dorchester County, Maryland to Benjamin and Harriett Greene Ross, Harriett was both
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Source: Black Past
Jun
2
1863
Barbara Jordan
Barbara Jordan (21 Feb 1936 – 17 Jan 1996) was the leader of the Civil Rights Movement and an American politician. She was not just a democrat but the first African-American, man or woman, to be elected post Reconstruction to the Texas Senate. On her death, Jordan became the first African-American
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Source: Black History Resources
Sponsored by National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA) Boston Professional Chapter
Dash, Stacey (1967- )
Stacey Lauretta Dash is an American actress and talk show host. She is most widely known for co-staring in the film Clueless (1995), which later turned into a television series (1996-1999). She is also cited for her recurring role in The Cosby Show (1984–1992), The Fresh Prince of Bel Air
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Source: Black Past
32nd and 33rd WAACS Headquarters Companies (World War II)
Organized in the fall of 1942, Iowa, the all-black Thirty-Second and Thirty-third Womens Auxiliary Army Companies would become the first contingent of WAACS assigned to a military installation in the United States during World War II. Composed of nearly 200 auxiliaries and seven officers, company
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Source: Black Past
Dec
4
1942
Al-Shabaab (2006- )
Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen, more commonly known as Al-Shabaab (meaning youth), is a clan-based jihadist terrorist group in East Africa. Originating as the militant youth wing of the Somali Council of Islamic Courts (ICU), which took over southern Somalia in June 2006, the group splintered off
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Source: Black Past
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